Individual Research Project---HONR202H

The last graded component of the course is an individual investigation into a question involving language and gender. You get to choose the topic for this investigation, subject to my approval. You may want to follow up on one of the issues we’ve already discussed (e.g. gender neutral religious language), one that came up in the group project (e.g. why there are no female protagonists among the Muppets), one that connects to your work in other classes (e.g. the Red Queen theory in science), or a new question that we haven’t yet, or won’t, get to. The research you conduct to answer this question must include both a primary and secondary component—that is, some research you do yourself and some material you draw from the work of other people.  It is due no later than November 26 and a revised version (if you choose to revise) is due no later than the beginning of the final exam.

The final project will be presented in two ways: first, a substantive, documented written product (assume about 10+ pages exclusive of Works Cited)—it might take the form of a scholarly paper, an investigative article for a magazine, a lab report in your discipline, or some other form, depending on the question [we will discuss this in your conference]; and second, a fifteen-minute oral presentation given in the last few weeks of the term.

The individual research project will be graded as follows: 25 points for the paper, 10 points for the oral presentation. The paper grade breaks down like this: 6 points, secondary research (thoroughness, appropriateness); 6 points, individual research component (extent, creativity, thoroughness, appropriateness); 6 points organization; 7 points quality of writing (argumentation, execution, documentation). The oral presentation grade breaks down like this: 2 points organization; 2 points time management; 4 points clarity, originality, and relevance of content; 2 points delivery.

Your talking paper, due 10/22 in class, is your proposal for this investigation. It should consist of the following:

1. The question you are posing (phrased as a question, e.g. "Do rap music lyrics reinforce sexist attitudes?")

2. Your preliminary hypothesis about your answer (e.g. "I think rap lyrics actually encourage listeners to question sexist stereotypes").

3. A short paragraph explaining why you want to pursue this question.

4. A short description (a sentence or two) describing the kind(s) of primary research you have in mind.

5. Three to five annotated bibliography entries, documented in correct MLA form, that you have examined as preliminary sources for your investigative report. These should be scholarly sources, not just Yahoo! websites, so use InfoTrack and Lexis/Nexis Academic rather than Google as search engines to find them. At least two of the sources in this list must come from refereed sources or published books.