Assignments

Toward the end of generating a worthy project you will continue to develop beyond Core II, the focus will be on pursuing serious inquiry during this course, which will incorporate three stages, each with corresponding writing assignments.

Stage 1

The first stage has four parts (20% of total grade for the course):

Reading Response (9%):

During stage one, students will be assigned to collaboratively write a reading response for each Stage 1 required reading (9 total).

(90 points total: 10 points per response).

Inventory (3%):

Each student will compile an inventory of current projects, their status, and current plans for those projects, together with the current understanding and practices of writing and research at work in those projects.

Draft of Vision/Mission Statement (3%):

Having composed your inventory, each student is to draft a vision/mission statement that declares what they have at stake for themselves as writers and researchers.

You will be working to break through into new territory (as a researcher and writer), and not just for this semester, but also for the rest of the MA program, if not for the rest of your life. Near the end of the semester, you will revise this vision/mission statement in response to what you have uncovered about yourself as a writer and researcher, and that revision will be part of, and deeply inform, your prospectus for your MA project.

Exploratory Plan (5%):

The fourth part of this first stage will be to compose your plan for exploration. This will include one or more central research questions, the network of controlling values that provide the background context for these questions, as well as a viable projection of a plan with specific actions to take (in the form of research and writing). The plan may or may not be fulfilled by the end of the semester. Like the vision/mission statement, this document will provide you with the necessary grounding to write your prospectus.

Stage 2

The second stage of Core II will be the aggregation of research catalogued within two documents (the Annotated Bibliography and the Research Journal) and through sharing your progress (altogether 55% of total grade for the course):

The Annotated Bibliography (12%):

In your annotated bibliography you will provide an alphabetical list of your research during the course, with a comprehensive summary for each entry.

At least 7 sources:

2 or more previously researched (2%);

and 5 or more new (10%).

The Research Journal (30%):

Your research journal will provide you an informal writing space to share your thoughtful engagement with your research, readings, accomplishments, breakdowns, discoveries, failures, etc. You are expected to respond to your 5 or more new sources here, not to mention responses to your 2 or more already researched items.

Sharing Progress (13%):

During Stage Two, each student will share one extensive reflective progress report (10%).

Also during stage two, each student will provide at least 3 significant replies (3% each).

Stage 3

The third and final stage will include drafting your prospectus (25% of total grade for the course):

The Prospectus (25%):

This preliminary draft of your prospectus for your MA project will emerge from your Vision/Mission Statement and Exploratory Plan, and from your experience with conducting research over the course of the semester. As a draft, this too will undergo another revision when you take Seminar I.

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