The Passionate Citizen

(that’s you!)

What is a passionate citizen?

What is our responsibility to others?

How does this connect to our responsibility to ourselves?

How would you respond to this command?

"Be the change you want

to see in the world."

Mahatma Gandhi

This will be the topic of your genius project.

Find your question.

First, indulge in curiosity. What do you want to know more about in the world? Consider new ways of being and thinking. Develop research questions relevant for an authentic audience. Maybe you will identify a problem in the world that resonates with you. What do you want to ask? Take risks by exploring questions, topics, or ideas that might be new to you. Your topic must reflect both magnitude and merit.

Check in with the experts.

Seek relevant authoritative information. I have included in the last few slides a list of topics and books that relate to social justice, if that applies, but you may make your own choices. The categories overlap sometimes, so make sure to explore thoroughly. The titles with a * are the ones I’ve read. If you know of a title that you would like to use instead, check it out with me first. The world is a big place. There’s a lot to find.

Gather and analyze your sources.

Choose a major work (book or play) and 3 other sources and create an annotated Works Cited document. You may use original research and data as one of your sources..

An annotated Works Cited consists of each MLA entry and a brief synopsis (2-3 sentences) of the work. The annotation should include also a brief discussion of how you plan to use the source.

Use NoodleTools to construct this document.

Submit to Turnitin.com by May 16 (8AM).

This will be a separate entry and will be assessed before the final project is due (June 2).

Create the claim and organize the evidence.Use your research question to guide your investigation. How do your perspectives connect with the perspectives of others?

● Practice different ways of gathering information and investigating your topic. ● Reflect on the ideas and responses of others. ● Find new meanings or build on existing meanings.

Be prepared to include context for each quoted passage and plenty of commentary as you synthesize.

Move into the global community.

Act upon your new knowledge by communicating your findings in the following 3 ways:

● Narrative Journey (ethos)● Synthesis Claim (logos)● Creative Synergy (pathos)

Narrative Journey (Part 1)

Using a narrative format, sell your connection to the topic by telling the story of your process. This part should be at least 300 words in length.

What was your essential question?

● Why does this topic interest you? ● What did you already know?● What did you hope to find out?● Why did you choose the sources you chose?

Claim and Synthesis (Part 2)

Create a complex thesis and synthesize your sources.

This part will look like a research paper and should be at least 1200 words in length. Use parenthetical citations.

Use NoodleTools to help you stay organized. Let me know if you need a mini-lesson.

Synergy and Energy (Part 3)

Push your idea into the world. Create an accompanying short film, editorial, painting, photo essay, poetry series, song, or podcast. If you have a different idea, let me know.

In addition, prepare a precis for your project.

You will be briefly presenting your findings to the class (or to another group of your choosing) at some point. Maybe you want to invite your parents, or your art teacher, or your creative writing teacher, or the principal, or the President. You should have practiced your presentation so that you appear confident and committed.

Polish and Perfect

All 3 parts should be submitted as one document to Turnitin.com by June 2 (8AM).

Include the updated Works Cited without annotations.

Africa

What Is the What? * Dave Eggers

Beasts of No Nation * Uzodinma Iweala

Say You’re One of Them * Uwem Akpan

The Poisonwood Bible * Barbara Kingsolver

Child Welfare

The Glass Castle * Jeannette Walls

A Stolen Life Jaycee Dugard

This Boy’s Life * Tobias Wolff

The Environment

Silent Spring * Rachel Carson

A Friend of the Earth T. C. Boyle

The Weather Makers Tim Flannery

Pilgrim at Tinker’s Creek * Annie Dillard

Anthill E. O. Wilson

Gender

The Other Side of the Sky Farah Ahmedi

Sold Patricia McCormick

Middlesex * Jeffrey Eugenides

Whipping Girl: A Transsexual Woman on Sexism and the Scapegoating of Femininity Julia Serano

The Handmaid’s Tale * Margaret Atwood

Half the Sky Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn

Global Struggles

Children of Gebelaawi Naguib Mahfouz

The Reluctant Fundamentalist * Mohsin Hamid

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao * Junot Diaz

Infidel Ayaan Hirsi Ali

Nectar in a Sieve * Kamala Markandaya

Children of Jihad Jared Cohen

The Immigrant Experience

My Year of Meats Ruth L. Ozeki

Snow Falling on Cedars * David Guterson

Brick Lane * Monica Ali

Working in the Shadows Gabriel Thompson

Modern Warfare

The Good Soldiers * David Finkel

The Dark Side Jane Mayer

Beyond the Battlefield: Life Goes on for the Severely Wounded David Wood

What Is It Like to Go to War? Karl Marlantes

Jarhead * Anthony Swofford

Native Americans

Custer Died for Your Sins: An Indian Manifesto Vine Deloria, Jr.

Reservation Blues * Sherman Alexie

The Red Convertible * Louise Erdrich

Race and Class

Black Like Me * John Howard Griffin

There Are No Children Here: The Story of Two Boys Growing Up in the Other America Alex Kotlowitz

The Race Beat Gene Roberts and Hank Klibanoff

There Is No Such Thing as a Natural Disaster: Race, Class, and Hurricane Katrina Chester Hartman

Zeitoun * Dave Eggers

A Place to Stand * Jimmy Santiago Baca

Invisible Man Ralph Ellison

Race and Class

The Wretched of the Earth Frantz Fanon

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks Rebecca Skloot

Race Matters Cornel West

The Shame of the Nation: The Restoration of Apartheid Schooling in America Jonathan Kozol

Nickel and Dimed: On Not Getting By in America Barbara Ehrenreich

Race and Class

Parrot in the Oven: Mi Vida Victor Martinez

Mountains Beyond Mountains * Tracy Kidder

Behind the Beautiful Forevers Katherine Boo

Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention Manning Marable