narrative essay

Discover Your Major: A QUEST

What exactly is the assignment?

The purpose of the “discover your major” assignment is for you to explain your search for answer(s) to a question (related to your college major) and your process of taking what you already know and combing it with the answers from your search. You’ll write about how you searched and the discoveries you made for people who may want to pursue that major as well.

For this project you will think about what major you want to pursue in college and research what you need to know about the major, what courses to take, who the professors are, etc. In short, you will be researching all the information about your major so that when you DO enter college, you will be well prepared and informed of what is expected of you.

I have a list of questions that will guide your search for information (but you will create some of your own as well), and from there you’re off on a quest to try to answer those questions. Focus on investigation, on finding who or what can help you answer your question (and the new questions you’ll find yourself asking as you learn more). You’ll explore many kinds of sources. You MUST include at least one oral interview (either with a current student/employee in that field, a professor, or an advisor who knows about that major/field) and information from DCCCD website.

Tasks

· Decide what your major is. Ask the question “What do I know about XXXXX?” “What do I want/need to know?”

· Figure out how you’ll find the answer(s): Who will you interview? (Why?) Where will you search?

· Start drafting in sections as you go—this project practically writes itself as you go along.

· As you draft and revise, remember you are on a quest, so you may not know everything.

· Create an original title for your paper.

Length and Format

· Total: 1800-2700 words/ at least 4 pages TOTAL, written in narrative style with three clearly labeled sections (these or your own headings):

· Part One: What I Know and What I Want to Find Out (300-600 words/~1-2 pages)

· Part Two: My Search Process (400-600 words/~2-3 pages)

· Part Three: What I Concluded (300-600 words/~1-2 pages)

· APA format; 12-point font; no breaks between paragraphs

Due Dates

· Proposal and outline due:   ____11/13_________

· In-class Workshop (Bring three paper copies!): ___11/27_________

· 2nd draft due to me on ecampus ____11/29________

· Your Individual conference Day/Date/Time: ________________

· Revised Submission Draft: ____12/5________

Sample Questions to Consider on your Search:

1. What about this major makes it stand out from other majors to me?

2. What do I already know about this career/field?

3. What are some careers/jobs that someone with this major can pursue?

4. What is the work/life balance in this field?

5. What are common stereotypes of this major/career? Why do they exist?

6. What are the courses required for that major?

7. How important to the major are skills in math? In reading? In writing? In research?

8. How specialized is the major? Will you learn a lot about a little or a little about a lot?

9. Who are instructors in the major? What are their backgrounds and qualifications?

10. What information do I need to know BEFORE taking a class in this major?

11. How does what I know about this field/major differ from what I’ve learned or experienced before (in the U.S. vs. in my country)?

12. How can I pay for this degree? How do I find out about Scholarships?

13. What is the average salary?

14. How easy/hard is it to find a job after I graduate?

15. Can I transfer to a University? How can I find out information about this?

16. What other questions do I have?

Discover Your Major Essay Calendar

WK 11	11/6 Argumentative Essay due	11/8 Introduce DYM Essay: Discuss parts of the paper Brainstorm ideas and outline HW: Topic Selection
WK 12	11/13 Parts of DYM: Thesis/topic sentences of the essay. How to interview: questions to ask for research HW: Part 1 of essay	11/15 ICE #1 Continue to work on interview questions HW: Finalize questions and Interview someone
WK 13	11/20 Parts of DYM: Body and using quotes *Part 1 of essay should be done (1st draft) conclusions HW: Part 2 of essay	11/22 * no class work on typing up part 2 and researching *Part 2 of essay should be done (1st draft) HW: Part 3 of essay
WK 14	11/27 work on typing up part 2 and researching Bring 1st draft of essay to class reverse outline HW: finish part 3	11/29 Turn in 2nd draft of DYM via ecampus this should be a nearly complete version. Lab day and individual conferences
WK 15	12/3 Lab day and individual conferences	12/5 Research work and putting the paper together Final draft of essay due today

** The assignment must be turned in on ecampus as a word doc file (this is the default file type for Microsoft Word). I cannot open a file from pages. Also, be careful saving files from Pages and Google docs, as a .docx, the format can get messed up.

Discover Your Major: Parts of the assignment explained

Part One : What I Know and What I Want to Find Out (300-600 words/~1-2 pages)

In this section you need to write about your knowledge on the question you have asked.

1. What do you know about your major and field in general?

2. What do you know about what classes you will need to take?

3. What experience do I already have in this career/field (in my country and in the U.S.)?

4. You will also write about what you want to know and how you might find the answer to your question. Where can you look for answers? You can also think about other questions that you might help you find your answers.

Part Two: My Search Process (400-600 words/~2 pages)

In this section you will write about the process of searching for answers.

1. Where did you find your information?

2. Was the information you found good or bad/ accurate or not? How do you know?

3. How long did it take you to find all the information you needed?

4. Did the information directly answer your question or not?

5. What information was more helpful, the interview or the website or something else?

Part Three : What I Concluded (300-600 words/~1-2 pages)

In this section you will write the answers that you found. It is OKAY if you did not find a perfect answer. This section will be written in the format of a research paper. (Use MLA or APA format) This section MUST include a reference list.

1. What answer (answers) did you find to the questions on your major?

2. How do you feel about your major after doing the research?

3. How is the information you found from this assignment useful to you in the future?

4. How is this information different (if at all) from what you already knew/experienced about this field/major?

5. What questions do you have now AND/OR what questions do you have that you couldn’t answer?