Overview:
To complete the assignment, you will choose one of the following options and create a public project to promote your findings and work to bring about positive change for the good of society. This assignment is more creative and reflective. You can use the sources and ideas that you already have, but the genre/ style of the project is different, so it will require that you adapt your writing to the project.
The project consists of two parts:
The project itself from the options presented below or another by instructor approval.
A presentation in class during our final exam period.
Task and Purpose:
The purpose of this essay is to take the ideas that you have learned through your research this semester and create a piece of writing for a public rather than an academic audience. Public writing is a different genre because rather than an academic audience, your audience is people like you in a non-academic setting. Therefore, you are not writing a research paper and you need a clearly identified audience.
Audience:
The essay should be written for a public audience, which means that first person (I, me, my, and our) and second person (you and your) pronouns may be used when they will be effective.
Length Requirements and Sources:
A minimum of three sources should be used for the assignment. See the different project types for length requirements.
Format:
Your project formatting will be determined by your project choice, but no matter which project is chosen, MLA citation is required for your sources when they are used in the assignment.
PART 1: Choose one of the following options to complete your project
A public website
A formal proposal
An Op-ed article
An infographic, a brochure, TED talk, or presentation (with sound)
Public Website Option
Using the writing and information from your earlier writing assignments, create a public website. When we think of web design, we don’t always think about its power as an argument, but in subtle ways, web design is intended to influence the reader. For this assignment, you will present your learning as you educate the public intending to help the public create a deeper understanding of your issue or take action.
Instructions:
Go to Weebly or WIX (or a similar approved web hosting platform) and create a site. It will ask you for an email and to create a password. Feel free to go to Gmail and set up an entirely different email for this project to keep it out of your other email.
Choose a theme (at least for now). You can change the theme later if you decide you want to do something different.
Once you have created an account, the website will attempt to get you to “Choose Your Website Domain”. To avoid spending money on this, use the Weebly subdomain.
Create an About the Author tab. For the tab, you can create a fictitious persona if you like, but make sure that it appears that there is an author.
Aesthetics matter. Make it look good.
Check grammar and spelling
Choose colors to emphasize the mood.
Make sure that elements are aesthetically pleasing.
CITE, CITE, CITE
Works Cited should be at the end of the assignment pages as well as the Overview page if new sources are used.
Make sure to cite any photos or information that are not in the public domain.
Formal Proposal Option
As you have been looking at research, the ways that your topic can be approached may seem overwhelming. However, there are so many things you’ve learned and thought about through your research. For your last, public project in this class, you will create an activist proposal that will detail the problem and a creative solution you can have some say in.
In general, proposals follow the format:
Identify the problem you want to solve.
Analyze the problem’s causes and effects.
Present your research
Develop a plan for solving the problem.
Figure out the costs and benefits of your plan.
Draft the proposal.
When writing the proposal, using subheadings to divide the report is a good plan.
Through your coursework, you have identified a problem, but you may need to narrow down an aspect of that problem to talk about a specific cause and effect that is central to the question. As you develop a plan for solving the problem, be realistic. Consider a smaller part of the issue and how that might be remedied.
What are proposals for public projects?
In many ways, proposals are some of the most public forms of writing. You submit your ideas to a group of people who, by funding the project, changing their behavior, or supporting you in other ways, can make a real difference in the execution of your proposal. During your presentation, you should expect to field questions from the audience about what you’re proposing and how feasible the project is.
Project Requirements:
Three or more sources and works cited (These can be sources used from your earlier writing)
750 or more words. Make sure to cover the topic, so it might well be more.
Parts of other assignments can be repurposed for the proposal.
Op-Ed Article Option
Op-eds are shorter and less scholarly than a traditional research paper, and their audience is the general public, not a specialized group of people. However, your piece should still use concrete, specific, and credible evidence from your research and/or personal experience to support your ideas. While op-eds often argue opinions and push a particular viewpoint or agenda, your piece does not need to adopt such an argumentative approach. Rather, you can present an “angle” or “take” on your issue, or you can present a possible solution to a problem you’ve discovered in researching your topic.
What do you want to say to your audience (the general public) about the topic? You’ll need to make sure your piece is focused narrowly enough for you to cover the topic fully.
What facets of the topic caught your attention as you were doing your research?
Did you discover a particular angle on the problem that we need to address as a society?
Do you have a possible solution to offer?
You’ll need a clearly stated thesis that takes a position or angle on your topic, and you’ll need to remain focused on that position throughout your piece.
You’ll need to use good paragraph structure; each paragraph needs to treat one main idea that relates to the thesis, and each paragraph needs a good topic sentence that links back to the thesis and forwards to the content of the paragraph.
Op-eds usually have clever titles that get readers’ attention and indicate the main idea/ thesis.
You’ll need to use at least three sources in this project. You can cite them only within your text, as many op-eds do, in which case you need to provide the author, title, and a link to the source. Or you can cite only the author in the text and provide titles and links at the end.
Your piece should be 750 to 1,000 words.
Some rules for good arguments:
Support your points with good specific evidence, either from your research, from your personal experience, or both. Generalizations and unfair assumptions usually won’t help you to convince readers of anything.
Establish common ground with all readers, even those who may disagree with you.
Know (and acknowledge) other views on your topic, even (and especially) when they don’t agree with yours. This will show that you’ve listened and heard other views, but still feel yours makes the most sense.
Be passionate about your subject, but use a fair and balanced tone; an overly aggressive, condescending, or angry tone will turn your readers off and make you seem untrustworthy.
Requirements:
An introductory hook that grabs readers’ interest and tells them clearly what the piece will cover.
Basic facts and some description of a specific problem or angle related to your topic.
Quotes, paraphrases, and/or summaries of at least 3 sources from your research.
A conclusion where you wrap up your discussion. You might look forward to the future of your topic, encourage readers to take action on your topic, leave us thinking about the larger implications of your topic, etc.
Brochure, Speech, or Video Presentation Option (This is the recommended/preferred option)
Brochures, speeches, and videos are generally shorter and less scholarly than a traditional research paper, and their audience is the general public, not a specialized group of people. However, your piece should still use concrete, specific, and credible evidence from your research and/or personal experience to support your ideas. Your piece does not need to adopt an argumentative approach; however, you do want to present an “angle” or “take” on your issue.
Essentially, what do people need to know?
What do you want to say to your audience (the general public) about the topic? You’ll need to make sure your piece is focused narrowly enough for you to cover the topic fully.
What facets of the topic caught your attention as you were doing your research?
Did you discover a particular angle on the problem that we need to address as a society?
Do you have a possible solution to offer?
Some things to keep in mind for brochures, videos, etc.:
You need to have the same clear reason for producing the piece, whether it be to persuade your audience, to inform them, or to call them to action. That purpose should be clear.
Presentation is especially important. Engaging covers, photos, only necessary text, and a clever title.
Think of brochures or videos that are appealing to you: they have a clear message, are easy to read/view, are clever, etc.
The information you present should be easy to access, e.g., contact names should be available.
Some rules for good arguments:
Support your points with good specific evidence, either from your research, from your personal experience, or both. Generalizations and unfair assumptions usually won’t help you to convince readers of anything.
Establish common ground with all readers, even those who may disagree with you.
Know (and acknowledge) other views on your topic, even (and especially) when they don’t agree with yours. This will show that you’ve listened and heard other views, but still feel yours makes the most sense.
Be passionate about your subject but use a fair and balanced tone; an overly aggressive, condescending, or angry tone will turn your readers off and make you seem untrustworthy.
PART 2: The Presentation.
Each student will have 5 to 7 minutes to present. Failing to present will result in a 20-point project deduction.
NOTE:
For the options, the last option “Brochure, Speech, or Video Presentation Option” is recommended and preferred. precisely a “Brochure or a Presentation”
There might be Further instructions uploaded in the future.
The post Overview:
To complete the assignment, you will choose one of the following opti appeared first on Skilled Papers.