Research Proposal
Create a
working research proposal for each topic you think you might want to
explore
(but no more than three). Use the guidelines provided at: www.users.drew.edu/sjamieso/research_proposal.html].
To help you.
Do not worry too much about form; the idea here is to explore what you
know and
what you hope to discover and to think about the problems you might
encounter.
You will develop a working bibliography for the topic you finally
select, but
you do not need to do that yet. Nor will you have a working thesis.
Due
in class on Monday February 6.
The annotated
Bibliography.
You
will begin by creating a working bibliography of potential
sources--sources you have not yet read but think you might find useful
as you
explore your topic. You'll continue to add to this list until the final
draft
of the paper, but as it is growing you can use it to generate an
annotated
bibliography.
1) Look
through this list and select
(or find):
a)
two
sources from public websites--they can be serious and useful
or weird and useless,
b)
two
professional sources--these will obviously be serious, and we
hope they will be useful! If possible, include one source written
before 1990
and one source written after 1990.
2) Write
an annotation for each of
these sources. (Due
Monday February 13th)
3)
Next
select four more sources from you list (or find them). This
time they should be sources that other texts are citing, so look at
works cited
lists and footnotes. You will begin to notice that certain scholars
and/or
texts are cited by almost everyone.
4)
Find
those scholars and texts and annotate four of the most
frequently cited. (Due
Monday, February 20th).
5)
Annotate
at least two more sources, but aim for at least four more
as you continue your research.
Final
annotated bibliography due
in class on Monday, February 27th
Comparison of Sources
Write
a draft of a paper in which you compare the first four sources you
annotated
(see #1 (a) and (b) above). Which might be useful? Which might not?
Why? What
major differences do you notice? What does that reveal? [For guidelines
on
college-level comparison see: www.users.drew.edu/sjamieso/resources/Comparison.html]
Definitions
For this
assignment you need to think more specifically about audience and write
three
paragraphs that you could imagine as entries in an encyclopedia on the
topic
you are researching. Include a works cited list and suggestions for
further
reading based on your research (try to make them audience appropriate
as well).
Entry 1: for The Middle
School Student's Encyclopedia of All Things Relevant to Life: A Hip
Guide to
Stuff. Think about the
audience
(middle school students) and the title of the book, and then write a
one
paragraph entry on your topic.
Entry 2: for A Brief On-Line
Encyclopedia.
Again, think about your audience (people who look on line for a quick
definition, maybe using google) and their purpose (why might they
consult this
source?) and write an entry on your topic.
Entry 3: for a university professor.
Imagine this as a paragraph that is
gathered with all the other paragraphs in the class to showcase the
research.
Your purpose is (1) to show your professor how much you have learned
about the
topic, and (2) to tell your peers a bit about it and make them
interested in
what you will find as you continue to research (hint: questions can be
asked in
this kind of prose).
Definitions
due in class on Monday, February 20th
Formal research paper
The research
paper is an 8-10 page paper that uses 8-16 sources in an extended
discussion of
a topic selected by the student (within parameters set by the
instructor). The
sources should be from a variety of (reliable) media, should be
correctly cited
using MLA in-text citation (or another citation style approved in
advance by
the professor), and should be used in the paper to create a well
supported
argument about the selected topic.
Very
rough draft of research paper due in class on Monday, March 6th
Very
good draft of paper due (translated for an academic
audience) on Wednesday, March 8th
Final
draft of research paper due in final portfolios, on
Wednesday, March 22nd
Creative use of research
This assignment, to be worked on at the same time as the formal research paper, makes use of the same information you have gathered in your research, but invites you to use it for another purpose. Think of who might benefit from your research or be interested in what you found. What would be the best way to present that material? How would the audience change what you argue or simply present? What would you include and leave out? As a scholar you can play an important role in your local community and the larger human community. Your knowledge can be of direct benefit to others, but the trick is to work out how to share that knowledge. You might make a brochure explaining the benefits of alternative medicine, exercise, or safe sex for students for example; an information package about a disease for relatives of those who have it; a flier or poster about your topic for the general public; a PowerPoint presentation for a community group; a website for teens; a song, poem, or play; or anything else you can imagine. The key is to do something useful with your research rather than just writing a paper for a grade! I'll be happy to discus ideas with you as you work on this project, as will your classmates (whose job it will be to imagine themselves as members of the audience you select and evaluate your presentation with you).
Final
draft of research project due in final portfolios, on
Wednesday, March 22nd
The
last piece of writing you will do for this course functions as
a preface to your work, and invites you to practice the writing skills
you have
used in the course for a very different purpose. In this assignment YOU
become
the text, and your purpose is to provide a lens through which others
can view
your work in this course. At the end of the course you will be asked to
gather
together all of your work for the class (see below) and think about it.
This is
an important class: it is designed to teach you to walk the walk and
talk the
talk of an academic writer. It is also designed to invite you to use
your
research for larger goals than simply getting good grades.
With the completion of your final
portfolio you have entered the academic conversation. How does that
feel? Do
you feel more confident in your writing and researching skills? How?
What do
you still need to learn? Where do you go from here? Your final piece of
writing
is a reflection on what you have learned in this class and what you
still have
to learn. Instead of analyzing a topic or reading, this assignment
invites you
to analyze yourself, using your work to support the claims you make
about it
(you may quote yourself, refer to assignments and moments in the
course, and/or
provide links). This assignment also invites you to compare your work
and your
sense of yourself as a writer to earlier moments in your writing
life--to your
work and attitude six weeks ago, or in high school, kindergarten, or at
some
other point. In other words, in this assignment you are thinking about
thinking
and writing about writing.
Final
draft due in final portfolios, on Wednesday, March 22nd
Your
final work for the course will be shared in two ways.
A
PRINT PORTFOLIO:
You
will hand in a portfolio containing your final copies of the
research paper and the annotated bibliography and all of the work that
you have printed out and generated
on paper
as part of this course (notes, diagrams, drafts, papers with my
comments,
writing center notes, things you downloaded from the web,
photocopies--everything ALREADY printed--if I still have any of it I
will add it to the portfolio before I grade it). This material should
be
gathered in a
manila folder and handed to me. At the front of the portfolio you
should place
your meta-analytical preface. You may also include a title page, an
acknowledgment
page, a table of contents, and anything else that seems appropriate;
A
K:DRIVE PORTFOLIO:
You will gather together your final copies of the research paper and the annotated bibliography along with everything else that you have saved electronically as part of this course (including things you also hand in in print form). This material will be saved in yout own personal folder within the k:drive folder entitled "Final portfolio" (you should also save this on your f:drive)
Due by 2:30PM on Wednesday, March
22nd
An
ELECTRONIC
(ePortfolio):
An
ePortfolio is an electronic portfolio that is visable via the web. It
contains texts from your k:drive portfolio linked to a main page that
contains your meta-analytical essay and a series of links to the work
you want to make public, generally saved as a .pdf file or a webpage.
You may use one of the
templates
I will provide to set up this portfolio, or you may design your
own.
You may
use your preface as the base and provide links to other work, or you
may
provide links to several things including the preface. We will discuss
these
options as you work on the final portfolio.
Because
of technical delays this is optional, but strongly recommended.