Martin Luther King research project ~900words

HIST 2010 Pathway Seminar

Research Project

For your final project in both HIST 2010 and Pathway Seminar, you will select a person, event, law, supreme court case, primary source text, etc. that we have studied this semester. You will research this item in depth and create a project to share your findings.

Basic Requirements

· Presents information beyond what we have learned from Dr. Hatfield’s lectures and The American Yawp

· References at least 3 reliable sources of information (beyond The American Yawp, The American Yawp Reader, and other texts required by Dr. Hatfield)

· Uses APA Style to cite sources

· Demonstrates your best English-language abilities

You will have 4 options for the form that your final project will take. You can choose the option that best fits your skills and interests.

Analytical Option: Historical Fact-Checking

Select one of the primary source texts from The American Yawp Reader assigned by Dr. Hatfield after Spring Break. Find one factual statement and check its accuracy. Make sure that the statement you choose…

· is a fact.

· is something that can be checked.

· is an important statement (and not just a minor detail).

You must find at least 3 reliable sources of information to confirm whether or not the statement is true. You will then write a fact-checking essay with the following structure (example essay in the Writing folder on OneDrive):

· Provide historical context (using American Yawp and Dr. Hatfield’s lectures)

· Explain the importance of the specific statement you are choosing to check

· Present the evidence that you found and explain how it shows that the statement is true or false

· Provide your overall evaluation of the accuracy of the statement, using the Truth-O-Meter from Politifact

The requirements for this option are:

· All of the basic requirements listed above

· A specific factual statement from a primary source text in The American Yawp Reader

· An evaluation of the accuracy of the statement using the Truth-O-Meter

· Supporting evidence for the Truth-O-Meter evaluation from outside sources

· Historical context for the primary text and/or the specific factual statement (possibly from The American Yawp or Dr. Hatfield’s lectures)

· 750-1000 words

Creative Option: Creating Propaganda

You may create a piece of propaganda for a person, event, law, government program, or trend that we have studied in history this semester. It can be a poster, song, advertisement, short film, or any other type of art.

A good piece of propaganda has a lot of meaningful details. To meet the basic requirements, you will do research on your topic and find ways to add details to your art based on this research. You will also write a short essay that provides an explanation of your propaganda, the meaningful details, and how your research helped you design it.

The requirements for this option are:

· All of the basic requirements listed above

· A propaganda piece based on a person, event, law, government program, trend, etc. from U.S. history

· A 500-750 word essay that explains the meaning of the artwork and the research that informed it (including your 3 sources, cited in APA style)

Narrative Option: Historical Fiction

You may write a short fictional story about a person and/or a period of time that we have studied this semester. This story should not be real, but it could include real people and events. In addition to what we have learned in HIST 2010, you should do research in order to be able to tell a strong story that includes true and interesting details about American history.

The requirements for this option are:

· All of the basic requirements listed above

· A 750-1000 word fictional story based on a person and/or period of time that we have studied in HIST 2010

· APA style in-text citations to mark details that were informed by your research

Wildcard Option: Design your own project

If you have another idea for a project that meets the basic requirements, discuss it with your teacher!