Order 189660: The Holocaust, Auschwitz

 Individual Research Project

In this project, you will get a chance to use critical thinking and reading skills that we have been practicing throughout the course in order to discover and share information on a subject that you are interested in. In this project you will read, evaluate, integrate, and synthesize information from print, as well as electronic sources in order to share what you’ve learned with your readers. The final product of your research will be a 6-8 page paper, which develops a clear thesis & ties information from your research sources together in a coherent, well-developed, and engaging essay.

Topic Suggestions: I suggest that you pick a subject that is related to either the caused or the effects of the problem that you are addressing in your Group Research Project. This will allow you  to connect the work that you do for your group projecty with your work for your Individual Research Project. However, you are not bound to your the problem from your Group Research Project. You may also consider causes and/or effecys of a different ground problem. In either case, I suggest that you choose a topic that you like and that you are passionate about. No matter which method you choose, remember that while your topics are not set in stone, you will spend most of the semester on this project. If you choose to change topics in the second half of the course, it would be extremely difficult for you to catch up with your research, citations, notes, planning, and drafts. Therefore, I suggest picking a subject that you can stick with for at least 8 weeks. Some subjects to avoid: overly political subjects (such as abortion or gun control), specialized subjects (such as theory of relativity), subjects that have been often written about (such as environment), & subjects that are too new and hence don’t have enough sources written about them (such as use of Twitter in rural areas). 

Finding Sources: Please remember that you want a mix of print and electronic sources. Also, please remember to keep notes as you read your source, and particularly to note all the bibliographic information for your future citations. Also, remember that you are required to use at 3 scholarly articles from the library databases as your sources.

Planning and Organizing: As you work on your research project, keep in mind that one of your biggest challenges will be to stay on task and to continue progressing toward your finished paper. It’s important to plan both your research process, as well as your research paper. Along with your final paper, I will expect evidence of your planning and organizing. I will suggest ways of scheduling your work in order to keep yourself on track. I will also suggest ways of organizing your thoughts and their presentation in your paper. I will expect evidence of both processes to be submitted with your final essay.

Re-writing, Revising, and Re-reading: Occasionally, you may be able to produce something brilliant on the first try, but it is rare. Just like most of reading is really re-reading, most of writing is really re-writing. As with most major assignments in this course, I will expect evidence of drafting, revising, and editing in your individual research project. I will expect  a formal outline and at least one complete rough draft with introduction, body paragraphs, and conclusion, as well as with integration of at least some of your sources, to be submitted along with your final research paper.