Project 3: Digital Essay

Final Draft due in Module 16

Assignment Summary

For our third and final project of the course, you will read a novel, engage with peers reading the same book, create an annotated bibliography, and write an essay that will be presented as a digital essay. This sounds like a big project but we'll be working on it one step at a time with lots of support!

Read a book and engage in group discussions. For this project, you will choose a novel (options provided by instructor) to read, discuss, and analyze. Several students will be reading the same novel so we engage accordingly in discussion groups. Everyone will be expected to participate in three discussion boards while reading the novel.

Group Novel Outline. While reading, students will identify the main idea of each chapter/section and with their group, construct a novel outline based on the book. The students will establish the author’s main argument, the argumentative support, and various sources the author used. Students should read the entire novel but assign specific chapters to each group member to deconstruct.

Annotated Bibliography. While conducting your research, you should be constantly critiquing the sources you are gathering research from. To encourage this analytical process, you will complete an annotated bibliography, detailed below. The annotated bibliography must include 3 sources with a (minimum) 150 word annotation for each source and will be due before the essay.

Essay. Finally, you will identify an issue from the novel you found interesting and will construct an argument about that issue. You will establish a thesis with a clear argument, main ideas supporting your argument, as well as bring in outside sources to support your points. The final essay will be 1,500-1,800 words with at least three outside sources and a works cited page. You will submit an outline, rough draft, and final draft in Word or PDF format, then put the essay into a digital format for your final submission.

Students will earn a complete on this assignment by:

Selecting and reading a book
Engage in discussion groups with meaningful conversation
Choosing a topic of interest from the book
Submit completed annotated bibliography with three entries
Outlining an essay for instructor feedback
Submitting a rough draft and providing peer feedback
Revising rough draft based on feedback
Ensure the final draft meets the essay requirements:
- 1,500-1,800 words
- Include quotes/references to at least three outside sources with parenthetical citations
- MLA format
- Works cited page with your book and all outside sources
Creating a digital website presentation of the essay
Writing a brief reflection about this analysis and writing process

If students earn an incomplete, I will provide feedback on what needs to be revised in order to earn a complete. The student will have one month from receiving instructor feedback to revise and resubmit as many times as needed to earn a complete.

Step 1: Reading a Novel

The first step of this project is to choose a novel to read. I have pre-selected several options for you to choose from and hope you find at least one that appeals to you. When you decide, you will post your choice on the discussion board in Canvas. Have a second choice ready because if no one else chooses the same novel as you, you will need to choose another (so you can participate in discussions together). I will contact you directly if I need you to choose your second choice. Below are the 7 options you have to choose from. Click on the cover image to read a synopsis of the novel from amazon.com.

Poverty, By America

by Matthew Desmond

The Color of Law

by Richard Rothstein

There is No Planet B

by Mike Berners-Lee

Tales of Two Americas: Stories of Inequality in a Divided Nation

edited by John Freeman

Gender: What Everyone Needs o Know

by Laura Erickson-Schroth and Benjamin Davis

The War on Kids

by Cara H. Drinan

The Story of Stuff

by Annie Leonard

START READING ASAP!

Once you have chosen your book, you need to either buy it or check it out from a local library and begin reading right away. Remember to look in both the County library system as well as the City library system.

Step 2: Discussion groups and group outline

At three points in the novel, you will participate in discussion boards with peers reading the same novel as you to discuss various elements of your text. Please be sure to keep on track with the reading so you can thoughtfully engage with your peers.

Outline

While reading your novel, your group will also work collaboratively on outline the book. Students will split up the chapters evenly and create an outline that highlights the main idea of each chapter, key points within the chapter, and stand out quotes with page numbers.

Your outline should follow this bullet point structure:

Title of Chapter:

Thesis of the chapter:

Key main ideas from the chapter: (in your own words)

Stand-out quotes: (quoted from chapter with page numbers)

Discussion #1: Stand-out Information

What information has stood out to you in the text? What sections intrigued you? What is some new information that you learned while reading? What facts to do feel are most relevant to your individual research?

Outline: Each student should be reading the entire book but you will divide the chapters/sections amongst peers to create a group outline. Decide who is going to work on outlining which chapters and create a timeline for outlines to be completed. Submit a cover sheet with the novel name, student names, and which chapters each person is assigned by the end of class.

Discussion #2: Brainstorming for Essay

What arguments do you notice in the text? What do you feel is the main argument? What other topics are coming up in the book that you or others may consider writing about? Why do these topics stand out to you? Based on these topics, what argument(s) might you make in your essay?

Outline: Share outlines developed so far. Discuss as a group the chapters each student outlined.

Discussion #3: Concluding Response

Once you have finished the novel, write a response to the text. What did you think of the book overall? What parts did you like or not like? Would you recommend this book to someone? If so, who and why? If not, why not?

Outline: Share outlines developed. Discuss as a group the chapters each student outlined. Individual outlines should be completed by the next session.

Discussion #4: Final Outline

Use this last group discussion time to collate your outlines in order of the novel and similar formatting, along with a cover sheet. This needs to be submitted by the end of the week.

Step 3: Choose a topic

As you're reading your novel, idetnify what topics are standing out to you as interesting. It might be the main topic addressed in a novel or it could be a sub-topic addressed in a chapter. Be sure to identify something that you want to write about! You don't want to take too long to choose a topic. Remember, this isn't your life's work, it's just one paper. Choose a topic that sounds interesting to research and stick with it! There will be many great topics in your book, you just have to choose one.

Once you have your topic, you can quickly build an argument you want to make about that topic. This will be your thesis. Your thesis should be something controversial, something that others can argue against. It's based on a topic from the book but does not necessarily have to align with the view of your author. This is your individual argument.

For example:

If I'm reading a book about mass incarceration and the idea of the three strikes law really interests me. I might start with this:

Topic: Three strikes law

Thesis: The three strikes law is unfairly penalizing people of color, therefore I believe the three strikes law should be removed from our justice system.

Step 4: Annotated bibliography

Research

Now that you have a topic you want to write about, you need to begin researching. In your essay, you will be making an argument about a topic of your choice based on your book. Before you can write, though, you need to have a strong understanding of your topic and the various view points surrounding the topic.

When you are researching this topic, make sure you keep track of every source you gather information from. If you don't and you want to use a piece of information but you can't remember where you found it, you cannot use it (otherwise it's plagiarism).

Annotated Bibliography

When conducting research, it is important to check the validity of sources before including them in your papers – especially with digital resources. An annotated bibliography helps researchers distinguish whether a source is worthy of citation. Purdue Owl explains an annotated bibliography well.

As you conduct your research, you will identify at least 3 sources related to your topic for your annotated bibliography. You might use these sources in your paper, or you might not. The three sources you use for your annotated bibliography might be separate than your works cited page and that's ok.

In addition to your works cited page for your essay, you will create an annotated bibliography with at least 3 sources. You may not end up utilizing all three sources in your writing but you should be reviewing at least 3 sources while conducting your research, likely more.

On your annotated bibliography you will:

Cite your source in MLA format
After each source, you will write three brief paragraphs (likely 150-200 words total). You will have one paragraph for your summary, one assessment, and one reflection paragraph.

Summarize:

Some annotations merely summarize the source. What are the main arguments? What is the point of this book or article? What topics are covered? If someone asked what this article/book is about, what would you say? The length of your annotations will determine how detailed your summary is.

Assess:

After summarizing a source, it may be helpful to evaluate it. Is it a useful source? How does it compare with other sources in your bibliography? Is the information reliable? Is this source biased or objective? What is the goal of this source?

Reflect:

Once you've summarized and assessed a source, you need to ask how it fits into your research. Was this source helpful to you? How does it help you shape your argument? How can you use this source in your research project? Has it changed how you think about your topic?

***What’s the difference between an annotated bibliography and a works cited page?

Your annotated bibliography will be completed during your research. You can use any 3 sources for this, as long as they relate to your topic. Your works cited page will not have annotations, it will just list sources in MLA format. The only sources you include in your works cited page will be ones that influenced your paper. If you look at a source but don’t gather any information from it, it does not need to appear on your works cited page. However, you can pick any 3 sources for your annotated bibliography, whether they influenced your essay or not.

***You can see a sample annotated bibliography entry in the 'files' section of Canvas.

Step 5: Essay outline

The next step is to begin outlining your essay. I’ll be looking to see if you are making a clear argument and supporting it. Your essay will include several quotes from your book to identify that as your primary source of information, but you will also bring in outside sources to support to your argument.

Below is a sample outline for you to follow. You can copy and paste this outline and fill it in based on your content. Remember that your outline should be in bullet points only, it should not be a full draft of your essay.

I will specifically be looking for your thesis and main ideas for this outline. The required elements of your outlined are highlighted. You are encouraged to also bullet point your discussion but I do need to at least see the thesis and main ideas.

***Although the quotes are not required for your outline, it would be very beneficial to include in your outline for me to give you feedback on.

Sample Outline:

Intro

Thesis: (what is the topic you are addressing from your novel and what argument are you making about that topic?)

Book Summary - (one brief paragraph summarizing your book in your own words)

Body paragraph 1 - (Why should the reader agree with your point?)

Point/Main idea: One reason why the reader should agree with your stance on the topic.

Quote: bring in a direct quote or paraphrased quote from your book to support your main idea