English "Curiosity Project"

Curiosity Final Project

What have you always wanted to know? That is what we have explored this final unit of

English 1302. We have learned the various aspects of research and how research can be used

to discover what it is you are curious to know. Your objective in this assignment is:

• to focus your curiosity down to a manageable topic

• to decide and to justify what type of research you will need to use to finally

understand what you have always wanted to know

• to communicate that researched topic in the most appropriate form that teaches

others what you have learned in this process

You should have already chosen your topic, which for many, started out broadly. Focus

your topic to something more specific that you can manage in an assignment of this size.

Next, decide which type of research you will need to use for your topic and carry out

that research: pure, original, secondary, or a combination of all three. You will justify the type of

research used in the form of a proposal and annotated bibliography (see below).

Finally, present your findings in the most appropriate format (essay, scientific study, film,

or other type of media presentation):

• Use the information you found during your research process to educate your

audience on your topic.

• If you are presenting your findings in essay format, yours must include an

introduction with a specific thesis statement that the body paragraphs will

support through the research you incorporate and with a conclusion that ties

together your essay.

• If you are presenting your findings in a different format, you must still

communicate that information in an organized and logical format (with

introductory and concluding information), supported by the findings from your

research.

For those writing essays or scientific studies, the specific requirements of this assignment

include that your essay must:

• be longer and more comprehensive than any other essay you have written and

adequate to fully explore and answer your question (I will not specify a page or

time length as you are the expert on this topic)

• adhere to the standards of academic writing

• be organized (with an introduction that includes a thesis statement, body

paragraphs which support that thesis statement, and a conclusion that ties

everything together if presenting in essay form), be logical, and be clear

• be typed/referenced in whatever format your topic’s discipline requires (APA,

Chicago, CSE or other)

o include a bibliography, in the style of the format your discipline requires

o include adequate research to support your topic (typically, that is around

one to two sources per page of writing)

For those presenting in a format other than an essay or scientific study, the specific

requirements of this assignment include that your presentation must:

• be engaging: use whatever software you want to create animation or videos or

podcasts or whatever else you can imagine

• not be static—pay attention: NO STATIC POWER POINTS as they do little to

communicate

• be organized (with an introduction and conclusion in some format)

• be presented in a format that is grammatically correct (writing and/or oral

reading must be correct)

• be accompanied with a bibliography (at the end of the presentation) in whatever

format your topic’s discipline requires (APA, Chicago, CSE or other)

• include adequate research to support your topic

• be uploaded or shared in a format that is accessible to everyone in class

Curiosity Proposal and Annotated Bibliography

The purpose of writing a proposal is to collect your thoughts about what you want to include

in your essay/study/presentation, what you want to emphasize, and how to go about doing

both of those.

Write both the proposal and the annotated bibliography in the format you will use in your final

essay/study/presentation.

The requirements of this proposal entail:

• Defining the topic: What did you learn about what you always wanted to know?

• Defining the focus (summarize in 1-2 sentences the following): How did you narrow down what you always wanted to know? What aspect of this topic did

you focus on and why?

Your proposal should be one paragraph in length.

The requirements of this proposal entail:

The purpose of an annotated bibliography is evaluate the sources you have researched and will

probably use in your essay. See this video on what an annotated bibliography is.

The requirements of the annotated bibliography entail evaluating the sources you have

researched in annotated bibliographic form, including:

• a brief (one to two sentences) summary of the piece

• a discussion of why this particular source is applicable to your essay/study/presentation

• citing these sources in the style required by the discipline which your topic falls under.

The most popular document styles are:

o APA format for topics that fall under psychology, sociology, health, or nursing

o MLA format for topics that fall under the humanities, such as literature, art, music,

theater, or dance

o Chicago Manual of Style format for historical topics

o Google the documentation style used for other disciplines

Your annotated bibliography should contain any potential sources you may use, even if you

ultimately decide not to use them in your essay.