Snapshots in History: Contextualizing a Digital
Collection
Project 4
Purpose: This
project asks you to return a final time (in this course, at least!) to your
definitions of “citizenship, responsibility, and community.” While you will travel over familiar territory
with this consideration, you will also enter foreign frontiers. The readings will no longer be the starting
point; instead, a digital collection will become your site of focus. Your goal in this paper is to contextualize
this collection through academic research, popular research, and a coherent and
thoughtful conceptual framework.
Preparation and research:
Ok, I’ve already done some of the work for
you. As you know from your project 3,
you will choose one digital collection from the ones I have gathered on the
Final Project worksheet. Furthermore,
you have completed some initial research during project 3 by sizing up
potential collections and looking for possible sources. After finalizing your choice, you will need
to include six additional sources (minimum) in your paper. At least three of these sources must be
academic sources and no more than one source can be a website. The website needs to be a reputable source
(unless you are calling attention to a less reputable site on purpose for your
discussion). I encourage you to return
to the readings as you shape your conceptual framework – readings may appear in
the paper or hover in the background.
The Details:
The central goal of this assignment is to
contextualize the collection of your choice.
To this end, you will want to consider how the collection exhibits the
themes we have discussed. For instance,
how does it demonstrate the importance of community? Or change our expectations
of community? How do individuals figure
in or excluded from the communities seen in your collection? Why?
How does citizenship play a role in your collection? Does your collection show facets to
citizenship that are unexpected --- redefined ---- even painful to witness? These ideas may or may not apply to your
collection; therefore, it is your job to draw conclusions about the collection
that go beyond these initial questions.
There are many ways to contextualize your
collection. You will definitely want to
use specific descriptions of pieces within your collection in your paper. Really get involved with the pieces – if
they’re pictures, analyze the image placement, lighting, expressions, and so
on. If they’re songs, analyze the
lyrics, the sounds, the tone. If they’re
transcripts of interviews, analyze the words, the pauses, the omissions. Think about your rhetorical analysis in essay
2 and your analysis of photographs in the first week of class to help you here. Another way to contextualize your collection
is to perform additional research. What
can you find out about the event/time period/people/legacy/texts in your
collection? How do these sources create
a larger story about this collection?
What do scholars say about these components? What is discussed in popular sources about
these components? This additional
research will widen your understanding (allow for more perspectives) and
simultaneously focus your discussion (make findings more pointed). Finally, it is crucial to recognize that you
must bring all of this information together.
In other words, you are not just describing the collection and then
discussing history. Instead, you need to
consider how the collection is only one
story about this history. What does
it add to the ongoing discussion you see in the sources? How does it detract from it; in other words,
what does your collection leave out? How
does it change the grounds of the discussion?
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Draft/PR: 7.31 |
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Final copy: 8.3 (no late papers!) |
The formatting guidelines for this paper
include: following MLA guidelines for citations, ten full pages, double-spaced, typed, ‘normal’ margins (1”-1.25”),
TNR font, and a header. The header
should include your name, my name, class and section #, and the date. The upper right corner of the header should
include your last name and page #.
Remember to also include your title and a Works Cited page (not one of
the three pages of your essay).
To reiterate some of my expectations:
A reminder: there is not an opportunity for
revision with this paper because of its due date. Therefore, if you receive a NP on this paper,
you will not pass the course. Please
take the time to come and meet with me to discuss drafts of this paper.
In addition to the “grading criteria” located
in Writing at UK, the following may
help as you work from the draft stage to the final copy stage.
Content/Organization
Is
your introduction effective—does it grab my attention?
Do
you have a clear thesis with a specific focus and argument?
Do
your paragraphs address and develop your thesis?
Are
your transitions effective between paragraphs and sentences?
Do
you come up with effective examples to support your points?
Do
you utilize topic sentences?
Do
you stay focused?
If
applicable, do you address another point of view?
Does
your conclusion answer the question, “so what?”
Does
your paper as a whole show a thoughtful analysis of the assigned topic?
Style/Mechanics
Is
your style appropriate for your audience?
Are
your sentences varied in length and structure?
Do
you write with active, vigorous verbs?
Are
your ideas clearly expressed through refined word choices and syntax?
When
occasion merits, do you write descriptively with concrete images?
Do
you try to use metaphor and simile to enhance your points?
Mechanics/Conventions
Is
your paper spell-checked?
Is
your paper free from reoccurring grammatical errors?
Do
you cite your sources correctly (both in-text and on a works cited page)?
Does
your paper have a title?
Do
you place your last name and page number on the upper right margin of each
page?