Yates

Assignment one
Observation Notes
Background informationThe Walking Dead is a television show based on life after the outbreak of a zombie
apocalypse. The first season of the show starts with Rick Grimes in a coma, and waking
up to the epidemic already underway. Rick Grimes is a police officer and his best friends/
partner is Shane Walsh. Ricks first reaction is to find his wife and son, Lori and Carl. He
finds nobody in town but a few zombies and a man and his son named Morgan and
Duane. He then sets off to Atlanta to find them. He meets up with a smaller group that is
scavenging for food in the city. Little did Rick know, his wife, son and best friend are in
that same group but at base just outside of the city. After meeting back up with his family
the audience finds out that Lori and Shane has been having a relationship but only
because Shane had told Lori that Rick was dead. Once Lori saw that Rick was very much
alive, there was no doubt that she wanted to be with him. Rick and Lori was officially a
happy couple again. Shane on the other hand is not too pleased with the facts.
Figured World - A figured world is a platform in which social interaction occurs and
is significant.
The figured world I have chosen to observe is the Walking Dead. I think this figured
world is the best fit for me because its my favorite show on Netflix and Ive already
watched all the seasons twice because I love it so much. I dont see me having trouble
staying invested and focused on this show just because its so appealing to me to watch it.
My figured world is The Walking Dead. The main objective of this world is to
stay alive. In this place there are, zombies, murderers, thieves, rapists, and pretty much
anyones worst nightmares. This figured world is so big that there can be anything
happening at the same time and often times there is always something happening whilst
something else is going down as well. For example someone could be scavenging a
grocery store while someone else is on the lookout killing zombies and risking their life.
There could be a group cooking dinner for their camp and another camp thats 20 miles
away planning to raid another campsite. Some of the rules and conventions are as
follows; it is acceptable to carry a weapon on you at all times in case of an emergency. It
is acceptable to break into abandoned houses and take food that you may found left
behind. Communication is usually done verbally. Loud noises are not acceptable because
they can cause attraction of attention. They shouldnt be expected but only on a rare
occasion may one occur. While some behaviors are tolerated and accepted in this figured
world that may not be elsewhere, there are also some that are not appropriate. For
instance, walking in somewhere unaware of the inhabitants is not acceptable. Stealing
someones personable items is just as big of a, no, no as it is in todays everyday life.
You also dont want to travel alone a lot of places because a lot of times its not safe.
Some communities of practice I expect to find in my figured world are groups of
survivors staying together to keep each other safe. There could be a gang of really bad
people that are out to take all your belongings.
Actors- Actors are the characters in the figured world that play a role of importance.
Rick Grimes- Working as a cop was Rick Grimes everyday life before the epidemic, but
his day-to-day activities honestly havent changed in the aspect of morality. He is the

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protagonist and is usually in charge of anything major such as search missions, or
scavenging missions. He has a wife and a son both of which he has unconditional love
and would do anything for, as you will see throughout my observations. Ricks attitude
throughout the series reflects on his caring morality. When carl gets hurt, he worries so
much, to the point of tears. He is one of the characters with the biggest heart in the show
and would do just about anything for anyone. Ever since the apocalypse has occurred,
ricks demeanor has changed from very open about people in the world to a very
protective state of mind.
Shane Walsh- Shane Walsh is Rick Grimes partner/ best friend. He has a jealous
personality that makes him seem like an ass at times. Shane is very hard headed and
thinks he is right 105% of the time. Walking around with his chest out is his usual
persona. Although he is pretty stuck up, he does have a big heart for Carl, Ricks son.
Lori Grimes- Lori grimes can be identified as Ricks wife or Carls mom. Lori is a very
caring mother and husband and she doesnt let anything get in between that. The best
reference of her is a mother bear.
Daryl Dixon- A down to earth, courageous, and sympathetic, but rugged man is Daryl
Dixon. Hes the backbone of this group. He walks around with a crossbow as his weapon
of choice, and rarely uses anything different. He has one of the biggest hearts out of all
the characters but tries to play tough and portray himself differently. He has a soft spot
for Carol and her daughter Sophia. Daryl is an impressive man with a good shot and a big
brain. Hes one of the biggest assets the group of survivors have.
Artifacts- An emotion, object, or something that represents something of importance.
Shanes jealousy- Shanes jealousy over Rick and Loris relationship plays a big role in
the show. We find out that Shane and Lori had an intimate relationship when rick was
supposedly dead. Now that Lori is back with Rick, it feels like Shane will do almost
anything to get what he once had back. But will he?
Weapons- Weapons in this show could be considered the key to life. Guns, knives, pointy
objects, and even a good brain can be considered weapons. They symbolize both safety
and power. If you dont have a weapon out in the open with a bunch of zombies about to
attack you, you can pretty much say goodbye. They will protect you against anything that
may be trying to harm you. You have more control over people if you have a gun in this
figured world. Using a gun to persuade someone may be wrong, but it will get the job
done.
Communities of Practice- Communities of practice are groups of people that have a
common goal or common set of values that they put into action every day.
Group of survivors- Shane, Rick, Carl, Lori, Glenn, Daryl, Dale, T-Dogg, Carol and a
few other random survivors that have teamed up to try and survive. Surviving alone is
near to impossible, but with a large group? This group will serve as the basis for the
whole show with some characters going out and new ones coming in. They stick together
and they argue at times but they always end up coming back together. A group decision
can turn out to be the smartest decision a lot of times.
The Dead- The zombies as a whole. Each and every zombie will not stop at anything to
taste your blood. They travel in swarms at times and other times alone. Swarms of them
are harder to escape because they will circle up and you will have nowhere to run.

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Practices of the Community- Practices of the community are tasks that help to better
the community. They serve as objectives that each person in a community strives to
do.
Finding a safe haven- A common goal of the entire group is to find somewhere that
everyone feels reasonably safe. They would all like things to go back to normal, and the
easiest place for that to happen is somewhere they can forget about all the traumatizing
events that happen out in the wild such as massive swarms of zombies trying to eat you
or another human being tying to take whats yours. A good safe haven could include a
good resource to food, such as a farm, access to water, and a bountiful amount of
trustworthy people that you know wants the same things you do. At first Rick thought
Atlanta might be a safe haven, but it turned out that it had been ran down just like most of
the other cities. They will keep moving until they find a place that is reasonably safe and
try and make it feel like a home.
Scavenging- The people in the survival group have to go looking for food in various
abandoned houses and stores. They will team up in smaller groups and scope the place
out. They have to be very careful most of the time because you never know when a
walker is waiting behind the door. This is how they supply the group with food and
water. This feeds the show by giving it some action and tension.
Domain- A domain is an important factor in a community that strives all actors to
better themselves or to just go about day-to-day life.
Ricks Courage- Rick's expertise of courage carries the whole group as a team. They feed
off of his fearlessness weather they accept it or not. It pushes them to do things they
probably wouldnt do if Rick didnt push them. Without rick they wouldnt be nearly as
successful at surviving the harsh conditions that the world now has to offer.
Killing of the dead- All characters seem to have some kind of expertise in this
throughout the show. This Domain drives the show; it's what makes it run. Without this
domain, it wouldnt be a show.
Literacy Practices- Any way of communication between characters.
Radio- Rick's radio is used to communicate to Morgan and to leave him messages about
where to find him.
Walkers laying on the ground dead- Whenever anyone comes upon a group of dead
walkers, it serves as some kind of communication pattern that this place has been
occupied and people have killed all of these zombies.
Face to face interaction- Talking serves as the most common form of communication in
this series as cell phones dont really work out in the wild. They inform each other of
where zombies. Sometimes they yell directions on how to kill a zombie an easier way. A
lot of times they talk face to face just like we do in our everyday lives.
Observation notes:
Episode 1 Season 2
3:00- Rick and the group have given up on Atlanta because of the massive amounts of
herding zombies that overtook it and now they are moving on 125 to Fort Benet where
they hope is safe and Walker free. They have been losing some of their group lately and
this could be the only chance they have to save the rest of them. Rick leaves Morgan and

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his son a message on his radio hoping that he will hear it and in excess, try and find them
to live with them. Morgan helped Rick get on his feet after waking up in a hospital after
the apocalypse had begun. He had no idea what was going on but Morgan was the first
human he came in contact with. Morgan taught him the basics on how to survive out in
the new world.
10:00- Rick and Lori talk about their trip to the Grand Canyon with Carl that they never
finished because Carl got so sick. They are on the road to Fort Benet and all of a sudden
they come up on a large pile of cars on the freeway and are trying to maneuver around
when the radiator hose on their RV busts forcing them to come to a halt. While the RV is
broken down, some of the members decide to go look for water, food, and other items
that may be of assistance to them during their trip. Siphoning gas out of cars is what Tdogg decides to do. The gas stations no longer dispense gas so this is one of the only
options to obtain fuel.
20:00- Shane finds a huge truck full of big plastic water bottles like the ones you can find
at an office with the Styrofoam cups on the side. They can take it as a helpful resource to
use when they run out of water. While the team is scavenging for items, rick is on the
lookout and spots a huge mass of walkers. They quickly hide under cars and anywhere
they can get out of reach of the zombies. Meanwhile, Andrea is stuck inside the RV
occupied by learning how to put together a gun when she doesnt notice all the walkers
approaching, and one intrudes on her and walks onto the RV. She struggles to get the gun
put together, and trying to give herself more time, run to the bathroom and tries to hold
the door shut. Dale happens to be on top of the RV and hands her down a screwdriver
through the vent, which ultimately saves her life, as she is able to use it to stab the
zombie. T- dogg has cut his arm open pretty bad on the side of a car door, which attracted
all the walkers to him, but he manages to stay alive with the help of Daryl. He shot it with
his crossbow.
30:00- While the last of the walkers are dissipating into the distance, the team is still
hiding. Two walkers smell Carol's daughter, Sophia, who was underneath a car and she
runs off into the woods. Rick follows her and tries to hide her and diverge the walkers
away from her. Unfortunately Sophia in a worried daze, thinks the coast is clear and tries
to run back to her mom for safety. She gets lost on her way back. Rick kills the walkers
and then comes back to find Sophia gone and suspects that she just ran back up to the
road. When he gets back shes not there. The crew winds up getting the RV running
again. Rick and Daryl decide to look for Sophia by following her tracks, which seem to
have veered off the path Rick told her to follow.
40:00- Shane tells Lori that he is secretly going to slip away from the group to get away
from her and Rick. He is having trouble accepting that rick is still alive after he left Rick
for dead at the hospital. He assumed that if he didnt come back he could be the one to
take care of Lori and fall in love with her. Daryl and Rick continue to look for Sophia off
the beaten trail. They find a walker that was walking along the path her footprints led to
and killed it. They had to find out if it had eaten Sophia so cutting the stomach of the
walker was necessary to find out if the inevitable was true. The results werent too
satisfying to say the least. They couldnt find any circumstantial evidence that the walker

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had eaten Sophia. Carol, Sophias mother, was very upset when she found out that her
daughter couldnt be found and was appalled that they werent going to continue
searching. Meanwhile carl finds a bag full of weapons. Rick and the other men decide to
teach everyone weapon safety and awareness with these guns and knives since most of
them are basic and easy to use.
50:00- The team goes looking for Sophia the next day and on their way to find her they
found a tent, which raised some suspicion. They found nothing in it except a dead man.
They then hear ringing bells at a church believing it could be people that have found her
or even her herself ringing the bells so that they will hear her. Excited, they then run
towards the sound. They find the church, burst in, and kill two walkers. Still no sign of
Sophia and the whole group is let down. Come to find out, Glenn finds a box and figures
out the bells are on a timer. It wasnt Sofia ringing them and they are now just as lost in
their search as they were before. The whole group is very distraught that they cannot find
her and exhausted from looking.
60:00- While tensions rise between Lori and Shane, Shane is furthering his idea to run off
from the group, but Andrea overhears him talking about it to Lori and then wants go with
him. He feels as if it would just be an extra person to take care of, but she argues that she
could help him by, saving his ass if his ass ever needed to be saved. Rick tries to talk to
Christ someway in the church. He argues that he tried to put his faith elsewhere before
this, such as his family, job, friends, etc. He tries to ask god for a sign to help him along
the way. Maybe he will be answered. The group decides to head back to the RV. On their
trek back they spot a deer in the distance of the woods. A moment of silence and
tranquility occur. Carl slowly walks up to the deer in hopes of touching it. Pretty soon the
quiet landscape is shattered by a gunshot. Both Carl and the dear are pierced with the
bullet and fall motionless on the ground. The episode ends with him falling on the
ground.
Episode 2 Season 2
3:00- The scene opens with a flashback from before the epidemic outbreak. Lori is
chatting with her friend on a bench while waiting for Carl to get out of school. She states
that she doesnt know if her love for rick is still present. While in the middle of
conversing, two police cars drive up and Lori instantly realizes that they are there to
speak to her. The two cops are Ricks best friend and partner, Shane, and an unknown
officer. Shane hesitantly reports to Lori that rick has been shot on duty and is currently in
the hospital. At the same time, the bell rings at the school and Carl comes out to meet his
mom. Lori explains to him that his dad has been shot. Carl is uneasy about this and
breaks down into tears.
10:00- The flashback ends and a new scene is brought into play. Ottis, the man who was
tracking the buck and shot the bullet that went into Carl's chest is explaining that he lives
at a farm where there is a man named Hershel who can help them with Carls wound.
Rick, who is running with Carl slumped in his arms is obviously distraught about the
whole situation Ottis is in utter dismay about the tragedy he has caused. He is regretful no
doubt, even to the point of tears. As soon as they make it to the farm, Rick quickly

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introduces the story to Hershel and they are rushed inside to the room in which the
operation will take place. The room is a small bedroom with a single bed in it. The first
step to be set in action to save Carls life is to find someone with the same blood type.
Fortunately Rick is a perfect match. Rick still in shock, is asked to leave the room, but
not to stray too far because they dont know when they will need to replenish Carl with
blood. Rick, being the father he is, doesnt want to leave his son's side but precautions
must be made. While all of this is going on, the rest of rick's group continues to look for
Sophia in the woods off of the highway. They all heard the gunshot that Ottis took for the
deer, but are unaware that it actually hit Carl. Some of the group debates on weather to go
back to the R.V. on the highway or not, but Daryl reassures them not to worry.
20:00- Dale and T- dogg are keeping an eye on the R.V. T- dogg has a really bad cut on
his arm and dale explains that he is worried he may have a bad infection or blood
poisoning. The scene then switches back to the farm where Hershel is beginning to
operate on Carl. He awakens after being unconscious and suddenly freaks out and
screams in pain from being dug into by the tool thats being used to find the bullet
fragments. Shane is ordered to hold Carl down to keep him from squirming and rick is
told he needs to start giving blood. Carl goes unconscious once again, and almost
simultaneously, Hershel retrieves one of the six fragments. Rick is very worried about his
wife not knowing their son is battling for his life. He desperately wants to go find her and
bring her here. Shane takes him aside and sternly tells him that his only obligation is to
stay by his sons side and be with him through the whole thing. After Carl is stable,
Hershel explains that he needs a respirator and several other supplies to get the remaining
five fragments out. Ottis, the man responsible for this, and Shane, agree to drive to the
local high school in hopes to find all the supplies they need.
30:00- T- dogg and Dale are shown sitting next to the R.V. waiting on the others to return
from their search for Sophia. T-dogg seems to be flustered by his own idea that the reason
the group decided that Dale and himself stay at the R.V., was because they were the
weakest links of the entire crew. He proposes the idea that the two of them should just
take the R.V. and leave everyone else behind to fend for himself or herself. Dale is quick
to explain that he opposes the idea of deserting the rest of the group by telling T-dogg he
isnt thinking straight because hes running a very high fever due to his wound. Whilst
Lori, Daryl, Glenn, Andrea, and Carol continue searching for Sophia, Andrea gets
sidetracked and doesnt notice a walker coming up on her. Before she knows it, the
zombie is running her down. Stunned by terror, she trips and falls on the ground. As she
is about to get torn apart by this zombie, Hershels daughter, Maggie, comes out of
nowhere on a horse like a bat out of hell, and slams the walker over the head with a
baseball bat. The crew, in dismay, quickly straightens up and takes mandatory action to
find out who this girl is that came riding in on a horse and saved Andreas life. Before
they could even get a word out, Maggie asks for Lori Grimes to come with her. She
explains whats happened to her son and tells her that Rick is waiting for her. Daryl is
hesitant to trust this woman because they have never seen her before. As soon as Maggie
explains where the farm is, and how to get there by the highway, Daryl gains assurance
and everyone parts ways. Lori gets on the horse with Maggie, and everyone else rushes
back to the highway for the R.V.

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40:00- Lori, very emotionally upset, gets to the farm and becomes exasperated when she
finds out that Hershel, although a doctor, he is only a veterinarian doctor, and has never
performed this type of surgery on a human. Meanwhile, Shane and Ottis are shown trying
to sneak into the overly zombie infested high school to get the required supplies for
Carls surgery. They are successful in distracting the zombies with a flare and sneaking
by them to get inside. They found it fairly easy to obtain all the supplies they came for, so
they grabbed them and ran. On the way out, they find that the flare does not amuse the
zombies anymore and that they have spread out in a dangerous way. When Shane opens
the door, it attracts their attention, and they are forced to run for their lives around the
outside of the high school. With the exit gate not accessible, theyre forced to find
another option. Shane and Ottis find a door into the school but it's locked, so Shane
shoots out the glass. They find refuge inside after they close a gate to prohibit entry into
the shot out glass doors. But who knows whats inside. The scene ends.
Episode 3 Season 2
4:00- The introductory scene starts off by Rick telling Lori and Carl a story about Shane
when he was a young boy. The story was about how fast Shane could run. At the same
time as he was telling the story, the audience could see Shane and Ottis in the high school
trying to run away from the zombies. They keep running into locked doors and it looks as
if there may be no escape. Ottiss facial expression signifies that hes tired and very
winded.
10:00- The scene is switched back to the R.V. on the highway. Carol is incredibly
distraught over losing her daughter, Sophia in the wild and not being able to find her.
Daryl seems to have some sympathy for her because he notices how upset she is, and
decided to go look for her by himself in the dark. While leaving, Andrea shows some
courage and decides that she too wants to go and help. On their way out of the R.V., Dale
warns them that it might not be safe to go searching at night, but Andrea and Daryl seem
to think that desperate times call for desperate measures. Shane and Dale are then shown
on top of some bleachers in the school's auditorium and they devise a plan to escape.
Dale was going to run to the locker room and try to find some windows that were big
enough for him to get through while Shane was going to go out of the ones in the
auditorium because he could fit. Dale then jumps down off the bleachers and hurts his
ankle and falls to the ground where is almost bitten by a zombie before Shane shoot it,
giving him enough time to get up and run for the locker room. Shane then proceeds to go
towards the window and almost gets bit before he gets out safely.
20:00- Hershel is worried that something has happened to Shane and Dale and tells Rick
that if they arent back soon then they may have to make a choice on whether to do the
operation without him being on a respirator. Lori is having troubles with the situation
thats going on. She even thinks that maybe this is how its supposed to happen, that
maybe Carl should die because this world isnt meant for children. Shane is shown at the
high school still trying to escape. Him and dale planned to meet on the football field
outside. Shane had no sight of Dale and all he could see was walkers, but suddenly he
spots him after Dale shoots a walker that was blocking his sight. They recollect and keep

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moving. The scene then switches once again and displays Lori and Rick watching over
carl when suddenly he awakens. He is a little disoriented and doesnt know where he is.
Carl then explains to his mom how beautiful the deer was that he was watching. While he
was in the middle of telling her about the serenity of the deer, he breaks out into a
seizure. Rick calls for Hershel and he quickly explains that hes going into cardiac arrest
and that the surgery is going to have to happen right away.
30:00- Carol cant sleep over the fact that her daughter's missing and decided to keep
watch with Dale on top of the R.V. They are both worried for Andrea and Daryl, for they
know how dangerous it is to be out at night. While searching through the woods, Daryl
spots a walker hanging from a tree. The sight is so unsettling that it makes Andrea puke.
Daryl isnt going to put the walker out of his misery simply because he doesnt think it's
hurting anyone by letting him hang there. Andrea has been having some issues lately
considering her life. Daryl has been sensing Andreas emotional problems involving her
life and asks her about it. She tells him that she will give him an answer if he agrees to
put an arrow through the poor zombies head. He agrees, and she tells him that she doesnt
know if she wants to live or not. He then shoots an arrow through the zombies head.
While they are still off in the woods, Dale is getting very anxious about them returning.
His anxiety gets the best of him and he leaves Carol on watch so he can go help search.
Meanwhile back at the farm, T- dogg is getting his arm bandaged up. Glenn and Maggie
have a very deep conversation about religion on the front porch. Glenn is trying to pray
for his first time. Back at the high school Rick and Dale are struggling. They are running
low on ammo and only have four or five shots left each. They are both injured to the
point where they can hardly walk.
40:00- Right before Hershel was about to give up hope for the respirator, Shane shows up
in the truck but without Ottis. He explains that he told Shane to just go and that he would
cover him and when Shane looked back he didnt see Ottis anywhere. They all agree not
to tell Ottiss wife until after the surgery is over. Maggie is taking Ottis's death pretty
hard. On the brighter side, the surgery goes very well and Carl seems to very stabilized.
The closing scene replays what actually went on in the last few moments with Shane and
Ottis at the high school. They were both down to only one bullet and Shane made a
decision to use it on Ottis to prevent him from walking. While Shane got away, the
zombies attacked Ottis, giving Shane the freedom to get out with the medical supplies.
Shanes decision is haunting him and he cant stop thinking about it.
[1]Interview Questions1.
Can you please explain to me the role of Rick Grimes in the Show the Walking
Dead?
A- Hes a sheriff and the leader of the group of survivors.
2.
How do you think Rick qualifies to be the leader of the group?
A- He has certain qualifications that make him a good leader such as strength,
wisdom, and courage.
3.
Tell me what concerns you about Rick becoming the big man in charge in this
group thats struggling to survive.

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A- The other people have issues with him becoming the leader because they may
not want him to be more important than them.
4.
Reflect on how you think Shane feels about Rick and Loris relationship.
A- Hes very jealous and may even consider taking evasive action to get him out
of the picture.
5.
What different options do you think Shane has on become complacent with his
self? May he have to leave the group in order to fulfill his wants?
A- He could run away from the group and try to survive on his own. He could
kidnap Lori to make himself happy and live the rest of his life with her. Or he could kill
himself.
Alex Butler
[1] Each of these Questions are based on season 2 analysis