Multi-Media (Genre) Research Project Jestice/English 4

Multi-Media Research Project

350 Final Assessment Points

Objectives

Research information about a British author.

Cultivate and practice 21st century information literacy skills in finding, accessing, and

evaluating information.

Design creative interpretations through multiple genres, including media, to represent

learning.

Incorporate elements of MLA style writing and documentation.

Utilize resources to create an MLA Works Cited page and parenthetical citations: The

Owl at Purdue, Diana Hacker’s A Writer’s Reference and/or Son of a Citation Machine.

Compile all research in a single means of publishing, incorporating multi-media and

traditional forms of research. You may choose to use Google Sites for this. You can also

put all multi-media on a CD/DVD or in a binder. Whatever fits your purpose.

Demonstrate the ability to embed images, hyperlinks, audio, video, etc. in order to create

a multi-genre, multi-media experience.

Requirements for Multi-Genre Project

Main page with a Dear Reader letter—30 points

Table of Contents OR Navigation Bar publishing through Google Sites —30 points

Traditional Research Essay—100 points (In Turnitin.com)

Four (4) Multi-Media (Genre) Elements or Artifacts—80 points

Multi-Media (Genre) Notes Page—30 points

MLA Annotated Works Cited Page with Required Number of Sources—40 points

Self-Reflections/Self-Assessment—20 points

Overall Impression of Time, Creativity, and Topic—20 points

DUE DATE: December 13 (Navy) and December 14 (Gold)

Use your time wisely.

Multi-Media (Genre) Research Project Jestice/English 4

British Authors

You will need to pick a British author, living or deceased, and research his or her life

and work. If your author is deceased, show how he or she is still relevant today; if your

author is living, show how he or she borrows from previous British authors to continue the

Brit Lit legacy. If you don’t see your author on the list, ask. Any British author is

acceptable.

Jane Austen

Emily Brontë

William Blake

Charlotte Brontë

Elizabeth Barrett

Browning Robert Browning

Robert Burns

George Gordon, Lord

Byron

Lewis Carroll Geoffrey Chaucer

Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Agatha Christie

Roald Dahl

Charles Dickens

John Donne

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle George Elliot

Ken Follett

Neil Gaiman

Thomas Hardy

Seamus Heaney

Aldous Huxley

Samuel Johnson

Diana Wynne Jones

Ben Jonson

James Joyce

John Keats

Rudyard Kipling

D. H. Lawrence

C. S. Lewis

Sir Thomas Malory Alan Moore

George Orwell

Samuel Pepys

Alexander Pope

Terry Pratchett

Philip Pullman

Dante Gabriel Rossetti J. K. Rowling Sir

Walter Scott William

Shakespeare Mary

Shelley

Percy Bysshe Shelley Edmund Spenser Robert Louis Stevenson Jonathan Swift

Alfred, Lord Tennyson Dylan Thomas

J. R. R. Tolkien

Oscar Wilde

Virginia Woolf

William Wordsworth William Butler Yeats

Multi-Media (Genre) Research Project Jestice/English 4

Traditional Research Essay Elements—100 points, in Turnitin.com

Requirements

Formulate an essential question to guide your entire project.

Formulate a thesis statement answering your essential question.

Formulate guiding questions to direct your research.

Use MLA format for parenthetical documentation and Works Cited page.

You must document any borrowed images, artwork, etc.

You must have an introduction, 3 points, and a conclusion—this does NOT have to be 5

paragraphs.

Integrate all information within your own writing and document parenthetically.

Use 5 or more credible resources (books, database articles, newspapers, magazines,

credible websites).

Provide links to online sources.

Turn your formal essay into your Turnitin.com account.

Suggestions

Use Wikipedia as a search engine NOT a source.

General references are not acceptable in this paper (i.e. Encyclopedia, Dictionary).

Use CREDIBLE websites, not “joeshmothinks” websites.

You may choose to give headings to the various parts of your essay, which is fine.

ALL Parts of your project will Address, Prove, Relate to your Essential

Question and Thesis Statement.

Remember! Your Thesis Statement answers your essential question.

Sample Essential Questions:

Multi-Media (Genre) Research Project Jestice/English 4

Multi-Genre/Multi-Media Artifact Ideas

In addition to a traditionally researched essay, you will also create artifacts in four (4) other

genres that express your learning about your chosen author and answer your essential

question(s). If you have other suggestions than the ones listed below, please feel free to ask.

These are only examples. Think outside of the box. Make your project as diverse and

interesting as possible!

Journalism Newspaper Article Obituary

Editorial

Letter to the Editor

Advice Column

Magazine Article

Visual with Words Ad Cartoon

Character Trading

Cards

Wanted Poster

Movie Poster

Visual Display Artwork Glogster (collage)

Google Map

Virtual Museum

Informational Interview (magazine or

television)

Trivia Game

Timeline app. or

written (plot or

author’s life)

Doctor’s Report

How-to Manual or

Video Tutorial

Interactive Quiz or

Poll

Playlist (don’t post

copyrighted music)

Creative Writing Play or Scene (Written

or Acted)

Song (Written or

Video)

Poem

Short Story/Film

Diary Entry for

character/author

Verbal Collage

(Wordle or Tagxedo)

Court Documents (if

character/author on

trial)

Digital and Web Photo Story Video (iMovie or

MovieMaker)

Video Thread

Podcast/Audio

Animoto

Movie Trailer

Multi-Media (Genre) Research Project Jestice/English 4

Time Management Chart

Multi-Media/Multi-Genre Project

(Use this tool to manage your time and complete the different parts of your project.)

Task Date I Plan to Complete Date Completed

Main Page/ Dear Reader Letter

Traditional Research Essay

Artifact 1

Artifact 2

Artifact 3

Artifact 4

Multi-Genre/Multi-Media Notes Page

Self-Reflection/Self- Assessment

MLA Works Cited Page

ADVICE:

Complete a Works Cited page as you work; this will make completion easier.

Multi-Media (Genre) Research Project Jestice/English 4

Project Helper for Preparing the “Notes” Page

You must include a “Notes” page that briefly explains the ideas and thought process behind each

learning/literary artifact in your project. Use the organizer to formulate the final page. Each

artifact should have a 4-5 sentence explanation, showing how your knowledge was gained

through research. DO NOT HAND IN THIS EXACT PAGE!! Make your own.

Artifact Number Explanation of the Artifact—this should be a paragraph.

1

2

3

4

Multi-Media (Genre) Research Project Jestice/English 4

Guidelines for “Dear Reader” Letter Your “Dear Reader” letter will be one of the last activities you complete; although, it will be on

your main or first page, whether you hand in a binder or make a Google Site.

This letter is an introduction for your reader and will help guide them with information. The letter will also discuss your process with the assignment, including challenges and important

learning.

Your letter should be a personal letter with a salutation addressed to “Dear Reader.” Your letter should be a minimum of six (6) paragraphs, one answering each of the questions

below.

1. Why did I choose this topic and why is it important to me?

2. What did I know about the topic (prior knowledge) before I researched?

3. What were my research questions?

4. What resources did I use to find my information?

5. What did I learn about my topic through research?

6. How does my research make a difference to me? Others?

You must include a closing. Example:

Sincerely, Mrs. Jestice’s Brilliant Student

Multi-Media (Genre) Research Project Jestice/English 4

Sample “Dear Reader” Letter

Dear Reader, Jane Austen is one of my favorite authors. I chose to create my multi-genre research project on

Jane Austen because I find it fascinating that an author who was popular in her own time has

managed to remain popular for over 200 years, despite all the changes in society and culture. On

a more personal note, Jane Austen is my literary comfort food. When I read her novels, I know

that I will meet interesting characters; I will laugh and perhaps even cry, and I will close the

book after reading a happy ending.

Before I began researching this topic, I knew a great deal about Jane Austen because I have been

a fan of her novels for about thirteen years, and I read several Jane Austen publications, mostly

personal blogs created by other fans. I also had read all six of Austen's novels as well as some

Austen-inspired books. What I did not realize was how much influence the 1995 production of

Pride and Prejudice had on Austen's current infiltration of popular culture.

I was curious to learn why Jane Austen is so popular in our current culture. What is it about her

novels that inspires such a devoted following? Why do novels written 200 years ago still speak to

us today? What would Jane Austen make of her popularity, especially given that she published

all of her books anonymously and made very little money for her writing in her own lifetime?

In order to answer these questions, I used both print and non-print resources, including online

newspapers and literary criticism, researching Jane Austen's influence both in her own time and

in ours. I also researched multimedia, including images and videos that conveyed our current

fascination with Austen's work. These resources can be found on my Works Cited page.

Through my research, I have learned that Austen's popularity has not always been what it is

today. For example, her work was not taken seriously by literary critics until over 100 years after

her death, and in her own day, her novels were viewed as little more than entertaining fluff by

the literary establishment. I was most interested to discover that even as late as 1993, literary

critics were dismissive of Austen's influence on contemporary writers. I also learned how

Austen's novels influenced the development of the novel as a serious form of literature.

This research has changed how I view Jane Austen. I am used to thinking of her work as classic

literature, always a part of some agreed-upon literary canon. To learn that Austen's work has

only lately been well regarded or deemed worthy of serious literary investigation was a

revelation. In addition, it speaks to the difficulty women have historically had in competing in

male-dominated industries, such as writing. I have developed a deeper appreciation for Austen

than I already had, and it is my hope that in reading my research, you will also learn more about

Austen and perhaps even be inspired to read her works.

Multi-Media (Genre) Research Project Jestice/English 4

The genres I have chosen for my research project include reviews of Jane Austen's six

novels and some Austen-themed books and movies I have read or watched. I have also included

a multimedia research article about Jane Austen's influence in popular culture today. I think

Austen would be surprised by her success, and because she wrote so often to her sister,

Cassandra, I researched some letters written to her sister and composed a letter in which Jane

describes how she felt upon seeing into the future and discovering her popularity in the

21st century. My third artifact is a collage of images displaying Austen's influence in

contemporary culture, including images from film and fan-created objects. Finally, my fourth

artifact is a collection of Austen heroine trading cards, constructed using images from popular

Jane Austen films and photo-editing software called Gimp. I hope you will enjoy learning about

Aunt Jane as much as I did.

Sincerely,

Mrs. Huff

Multi-Media (Genre) Research Project Jestice/English 4

Writing a Self-Reflection/Self-Assessment Write a self-reflection/Self-assessment to explain how you feel about your work.

Use these questions to help you write at least one full page.

Examine the rubric; how well have you satisfied the requirements?

Going beyond the rubric, of what are you particularly proud?

What were your biggest challenges and/or frustrations?

How well did you manage your time?

How much work was required outside of class?

What was surprising or interesting about your topic?

What were your best sources of information?

How is this research project different from one you have done in the past?

Multi-Media (Genre) Research Project Jestice/English 4

Making a Google Site

(This is new territory for me too, so we’ll be learning together!) 1. Create a gmail account if you don’t already have one.

2. Log into your account and click on the waffle. Choose “Sites” and click.

3. Click the button that says, “Create.” Give your site a good name—you can’t change it later, so

make it one that describes your project. 4. Choose a template by clicking “select a theme.”

5. Under “More Options,” you can tag your site with categories and provide a description.

6. Your main page will later begin with your Dear Reader letter and any other information that

you think your introduction page should have. Write someplace holder text in the beginning to

prepare the page.

7. Create new pages by clicking the “Create” button. Make eight additional pages: Title them

something more exciting than Artifact One—boring.

8. You can edit pages by turning them into the rough draft assignments on Turnitin.com.

9. Questions?

Tutorial:

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_type=search_playlists&search_query=google+sites&uni

=1

Example: https://sites.google.com/a/weberschool.org/jane-austen/

10. Please ask for help if you need it. 11. Draft everything you write in Microsoft Word and keep it on a flash drive for back up, or

simply use Google.

Multi-Media (Genre) Research Project Jestice/English 4

Checklist: Requirements for Multi-Media (Genre) Project Complete the checklist to keep track of your work.

Main Page, including “Dear Reader” letter (write this last)

Table of Contents or Navigation Bar for Google Sites (create as you make pages)

Traditional Research Essay (see requirements)

Four Multi-Media (genre) elements or artifacts

Multi-Media (genre) Notes page

Self-Reflection/Self-Assessment

Works Cited page

Save your work often. You will have a minimum of nine pages.

Multi-Media (Genre) Research Project Jestice/English 4

Where Do I Begin?

1. Who is your author? Why?

2. What is your primary topic concerning this author?

3. In what areas will you research the author’s influence?

4. What do you hope to accomplish through learning about this author/topic? How do you think

it will help you in a meaningful way? 5. What do you already know about this author/topic (prior knowledge)?

6. What questions do you want to answer through your research?

7. What information sources do you think you will need to use or need as of right now?

Multi-Media (Genre) Research Project Jestice/English 4

Project Contract (25 points—DUE 9/24 Navy; 9/25 Gold)

Author:

Novel Focus:

Essential Question? (Guides ALL research. Example: How does Jane Austen contribute to

British literature as a whole and to the world?)

Guiding Questions I want to answer with my research. These are more specific questions

beginning with “why” and “how” to direct your research.

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

The purpose of my project is to

Inform

Persuade

I understand that my completed research project is due December 13 Navy/14 Gold, 2018. I

understand that most of my work will be done outside of class and that I will need to use my

time wisely. I understand that all work should be done on my own and that plagiarism will

result in 0 (zero) credit. I understand that I must meet all project requirements to achieve a

successful learning

experience and a satisfactory evaluation on the project.

Student’s Signature and Date

Multi-Media (Genre) Research Project Jestice/English 4

Name: Overall Grade

Multi-Media (Genre) Research Project Rubric

Research Paper Criteria Points Possible

Points Earned

Criterion 1: Organization Project is published through various means and organized with a Table of Contents OR

as a Google Site with a sidebar that is easy to navigate. Work is neat and attractive.

Each element of the project is properly labeled and identified as directed.

30

Criterion 2: Dear Reader Letter Letter is at least 6 paragraphs and follows guidelines. Letter reflects depth and detail,

showing that the student has invested in the reflection process, the research process, and the learning/interpretation process of this project.

30

Criterion 3: Traditional Research Essay—attached Turnitin.com rubric. 100 Criterion 4-7: Multi-Media (Genre) Product/Learning Artifacts 1-4

Artifact/Product is properly and appropriately labeled in Table of Contents or

Navigation Bar

Artifact/Product addresses, proves, or relates to the Essential Question.

Artifact/Product makes an effective statement about the student’s topic.

Artifact/Product shows effort, thought, planning, detail, creativity, and

originality.

Artifact/Product makes the reader want to learn more about the writer/topic.

Artifact/Product is relevant to research.

Artifact/Product shows evidence of editing and is free if writing convention

errors.

1-20

2-20

3-20

4-20

Criterion 8: Multi-Media (Genre) Notes Page Each artifact or product is fully explained, following the guidelines (4-5 sentences).

30

Criterion 9: Traditional Research Essay and Multi-Media Project MLA

Annotated Works Cited Page Student used at least 5 reliable sources.

Each source is used at least once in the research essay.

Each source is cited correctly in MLA style.

40

Criterion 10: Self-Reflection/Self-Assessment Reflections show careful and thoughtful self-reflection and demonstrate and/or identify

key learning gained from the assignment.

20

Criterion 11: Overall Impression Student’s project shows investment of time in topic and research and demonstrates growth as a learner and researcher. Student shows topic is valid and worthy of the

reader’s attention.

20

TOTALS 350

Comments:

Multi-Media (Genre) Research Project Jestice/English 4

Project DUE Dates

(All dates subject to

change based on

weather.)

DUE September 24 Navy/25 Gold Project Contracts

DUE October 16 Navy/17 Gold Thesis Statement

DUE November 6 Navy/7 Gold Rough Draft #1 (Intro graded)

DUE November 14 Navy/15 Gold Multi-Media (Genre) Check Point

DUE November 29 Navy/30 Gold Rough Draft #2

DUE December 13 Navy/14 Gold Multi-Media (Genre) Projects