(go to main index of Writing & Rhetoric II)
Projects |
|
| Paper One: Reflection | The Personal
Computer, or One Moment |
| About Formatting | |
| Paper Two: Description | Three Views, or People in a Place |
| Paper Three: Persuasion | A Grant Proposal |
| Paper Four: Synthesis | A Research Paper |
(go to beginning of Projects)
The Personal Computer (but use your own title)
- Relate a personal experience (or more than one, if they are related) involving a computer or other technological tool (cellphone? iPod? iPhone?), or even a service (Facebook? Twitter?). Use the specific event (or events) to illustrate or introduce a larger concern. If you are talking about something you think is fairly common, try to find a unique angle to talk about it. Your writing will be 'hot' if you yourself discover something as you reflect and write.
- include at least two sources of information outside of your own knowledge, and use endnotes to identify them
- IMPORTANT: use page numbers, headers (with your name and course), and formatted endnotes
- if you don't know how, now is the time to put your computer in its place ... as your server and not your master. Check the help menu or the manual for your word processor and learn headers and footers NOW. They are one of the fussiest features you will encounter, but they are essential to a finished paper.
- for this paper, I'll accept a good faith effort ... if you try and still your formatting doesn't work, submit the paper to me anyways and we'll work on a solution for later ones
- check your writer's reference for the correct formatting to use
for in-text citations and endnotes
OR (do one topic or the other, not both)One Moment
- Think of a specific historic moment that cut through the normal routine of everyone, e.g., the attack on the World Trade Center, the start of the Iraq war. Where were you and what were you doing? How did it affect you and the people around you? Most importantly, examine individual elements of the event and the reactions ('analyze' them) in an attempt to understand more than was apparent at the time. Reach for a larger significance if you can.
- no external sources are needed for this paper, though if any fit naturally into your treatment of the subject, you can work them in
(go to beginning of Projects)
About Formatting
More important than formatting is the content and how you express it. In addition, the length is significant -- not a number of pages (since pages can vary considerably when working on a computer), but the word count. Writing less than the expected amount wastes an opportunity for development, while writing more shows that you haven't selected for the best material said in the most efficient way.
If you are using citations for sources, choose any style you wish -- MLA, or APA, or any other major style guide (if in doubt, use MLA). Any one is suitable, but be consistent. Our writing reference book, The Everyday Writer, gives detailed help for each of them, but again, formatting is not a major concern for this course. In-text citations are explained well by Lunsford, and are important to use when you do your research paper.
For other issues about formatting, here's what I recommend --
Spacing
- single-spacing is best for documents written and read on a screen, since it minimizes the amount of scrolling needed (if you prefer double-spacing, that's fine). A blank line between paragraphs helps visibility.
Font
- 12 point, any style
Titles within the text
- best identified by using italics (for example, talk about The Everyday Writer like this). Underlined titles can be confused with links, and should be avoided for documents read on-screen.
Margins
- left-justified (not full-justified)
Title for the paper
- use a unique title that catches attention and orients the reader
Cover Page
- not needed for an on-screen document (forces unnecessary scrolling to reach the text)
Footnotes versus Endnotes
- always use Endnotes. Footnotes are often displayed incorrectly when your document is opened by a reader who uses a different word processing program than you do.
(go to beginning of Projects)
Three Views (but use your own title)
- Write an account of an event or a description of a place that interprets everything in a completely positive or negative light. Then for the same event or place, do the opposite. Finally, reveal the actual circumstances in neutral, objective language. Don't lie: use evasion and slanted language (consider the connotations of the words you choose). Try to Show, Don't Tell by using sensory language and significant detail wherever possible.
- Write all three views within the same paper, with each section separated by some kind of divider (your choice, but a row of ************** will do the trick). The positive, negative, and neutral sections will each total about 300 words.
OR (do one topic or the other, not both)
People in a Place
- Begin with observations of people in a particular place and separate them into types according to their behavior. This doesn’t have to be serious! Present your classification in a way that is more than a simple listing of the types. In particular, try to avoid uninspired sentence constructions depending on "there is" or "there are".
(go to beginning of Projects)
A Grant Proposal (use your own title)
- Imagine that I have $20,000 to give to one member of the class to enable that person to do a project for a year. To win that grant, tell me what you would do, why you are qualified to do it, who would benefit and how.
- While you are persuading me that you are the best recipient for the grant, try to persuade me that you understand the value of subtlety in the use of slanted language.
- IMPORTANT: note that your choice of topic is not limited to the issues on campus we discussed earlier. Deliver a proposal that you care about. The sky is the limit (and would probably cost more than $20,000).
(go to beginning of Projects)
A Research Paper
- This paper may be on any topic, using information you don't already know. Choose some area in which you have a genuine interest. You can begin researching with only a general idea, since your research will show unexpected angles that you can choose to narrow your topic. Your topic idea will also be developed in exchanges with the class. Your paper must build a thesis that makes sense of the information you are presenting, and that thesis would be best if it is an insight you discover as you research your material. Give the material effective shape, guided by logical development and groupings. Anticipate questions that your reader may have.
- IMPORTANT: after your research, you will have a lot of copied material available to you. You must make sure that quoted passages and slightly-reworded passages do not overwhelm your own voice and your own thinking. Respond actively to what you have gathered (even disagree!), combine items to create your own summaries, discover patterns that haven't been mentioned, and introduce your own views and insights complete with your own reasoning.
- Limit the amount of direct quotation to no more than 40% of the total length. Don't just drop excerpts in chunks into your paper -- introduce them, integrate them, and paraphrase/summarize where appropriate. Your writing reference book gives good examples of this (Lunsford Ch17).
- IMPORTANT: one of the skills we are practicing in this project is the ability to condense, summarize, and use efficient language. Especially with internet sources, it is much too easy to collect a huge amount of material, much more than a reader has time to read. Your job as the writer is to deliver the best in a package that is both interesting and realistic in size. Therefore ... your research paper should not exceed the 1,200 word maximum (up to 200 words over is okay, but no more).
- The completed paper should use at least three sources (including non-computer sources if you wish) -- but the number and type are up to you. Use any system of citations for sources, as long as you are consistent and complete (I recommend MLA in-text citations as shown by Lunsford). Be sure to include a header, and page numbers.
(go to beginning of Projects | main index of Writing & Rhetoric II)
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