Introduction to Literature Research Projects 2020 STEP 1. CHOOSE A TOPIC STEP 2. FIND INFORMATION STEP 3. STATE YOUR THESIS STEP 4. MAKE A TENTATIVE OUTLINE STEP 5. ORGANIZE YOUR NOTES STEP 6. CONSTRUCT YOUR FIRST DRAFT STEP 7. REVISE YOUR OUTLINE AND DRAFT PROJECT DESCRIPTION: The research project for our class will be in the form of a Power Point Presentation. You will gather information based on one of the following research based choices and organize the information to create one comprehensive presentation that you will present to the class via Discussion Board Post. For the purposes of this course, you will use Power Point, which is free to you with BMCC’s enrollment. You can download Office 365 when you register for your BMCC email account. You will follow the link to do so there. This is important because you need Microsoft Word to upload papers for this course as well. PROJECT REQUIREMENTS: Complete a Power Point with the following components. Be creative how you include your work. Make it engaging to an audience. • • • • • • • • • • A minimum of 7 slides. Introduce yourself in video (Specific directions on how to do this below.) You can do this by making an unlisted video in YouTube and embedding it in your Power Point. See below for instructions. At least one famous quote. At 2 quotes from one of the short stories we have read in class. At least one media source (You Tube video (other than your own), News Agency, Music Video, Interview, etc.). Images. Voice/Sound. Important Statistics. (when needed) At least two credible outside sources (Academic journals, newspapers, books, etc. Wikipedia is not a credible source). At least one quote from each outside source. MLA Formatted Works Cited Page and in text citations. REFLECTING AND BRAINSTORMING: So far we have read and analyzed several short stories with varying themes. For this research project, you will be asked to dig deeper, think critically, and form arguments based on one or more of those themes. This project should be thesis driven, so make sure - you come up with an argument that your presentation sets out to prove. It should be declarative, not passive and should have sufficient support to legitimize your claims. PRESENTATION: Construct a project that seeks to explore your own thoughts and ideas in connection to and based on one of the following topics. Option One) Love and Oppression Research the idea of love as a method of oppression. In “Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin, the protagonist, Louis Mallard, mentions that her husband, “. . . had never looked save with love upon her” (Chopin Par. 10). She clearly recognizes that her husband loved her, yet she feels freedom in his demise. Is love used as a method of oppression? Create a PowerPoint that meets the above project requirements by taking a position and exploring it further. Be sure to construct an argument and provide credible evidence to support it. Option Two) Utopia In “Harrison Bergeron” by Kurt Vonnegut, we are introduced to a Dystopia in an effort to create a form of Utopia by exerting total equality. Research a place, culture, society that is the closest example of Utopia. Explore this idea: Can/Does Utopia exist? Can you offer your own idea of a Utopian Society and make an argument for what deems it as such based on evidence? What evidence can you find that suggests Utopia can and/or does exist is some way, shape, or form. Create a PowerPoint that meets the above project requirements by taking a position and exploring it further. Be sure to construct an argument and provide credible evidence to support it. Option Three) The Double Bind In “The Thirteenth Night” by Higuchi Ichiyo, Oseki finds herself in what some people would call a “double bind”. Research the theory of the double bind. Have you ever faced a double bind? Is it possible that every problem has a solution? Consider modern day “double binds” in areas of feminism, politics, love or family. Clearly state what you to believe is the double bind and come up with a particular double bind you want to explore. Research it. What argument can you make about your impossible scenario and this theory of a double bind? Create a PowerPoint that meets the above project requirements by searching for a solution to your double bind. Be sure to construct an inquiry point (thesis) and provide credible evidence to support that you are actively looking for a solution to the credible double bind. Option Four) To Forgive or Not to Forgive; that is the Question! - “Forgiveness” by Rebecca Brown paints forgiveness as a myth. Research theories framed around the idea of forgiveness. Isn’t it possible for a culture of resistance to make recovery from trauma possible? Is it possible that if you truly love someone, you are helping to make them a better person by not forgiving them? Is forgiveness really a myth? Or, is forgiveness for the forgiver and a selfish act? Create a PowerPoint that meets the above project requirements by taking a position and exploring it further. Be sure to construct an argument and provide credible evidence to support it. Option Five) Happy Endings Margaret Atwood, in the short story, “Happy Endings” provides several examples of multiple plots that all lead to one outcome. She identifies the importance of the how and why over the series of endless what’s. She claims that the best part of life is the part where we live, “the what.” Research the idea of happiness. You can narrow this down to happiness in romantic relationships if you wish. What cultures are the happiest? What types of marriages work the best? Is there such a thing as a happy ending, or is this a myth we have created based on fairytales and romantic movies? Create a PowerPoint that meets the above project requirements by taking a position and exploring it further. Be sure to construct an argument and provide credible evidence to support it. Option Six) Male Brain Patterning vs. Female Brain Patterning In “Hills Like White Elephants” by Ernest Hemingway, we are introduced to a man and a woman having drinks while waiting at a train station. During the conversation, the man is trying to convince the woman to have an abortion, but the woman is undecided. In this brief exchange we get a glimpse of the different brain patterning in males vs. females. Research the idea of male and female brain patterning. Is there a difference between the brain patterning of males vs. females? Males speech patterning and female speech patterning? Create a PowerPoint that meets the above project requirements by taking a position and exploring it further. Be sure to construct an argument and provide credible evidence to support it. Note: All projects will start with a video introduction. YOUTUBE INSTRUCTIONS FOR YOUR VIDEO INTRODUCTION: You began the semester with an introduction where you were instructed to list things that are true and false about you. Use that idea to Make a Video to start off your project. To do this, think about your topic: Love and Oppression, Utopias, Double Binds, Forgiveness, Happy Endings or Male / Female Brain Patterning and write a short poem, a song (you can sing it if you like!) or a manifesto (strong declaration) about your topic to read. Make up your own OR follow this fill in the blank (but develop by telling the truth and the lies about your topic) - EXAMPLE frame you may use: Title example: There Is No Way To Every Know the Truth But I do know this about ______________________. (Your Topic) (Write a truth about your topic you think is not debatable.) and (Write a truth about your topic you think is debatable.) Every says, “(a lie about the topic everyone says).” But I know (Write what you believe that differs from the common thought). My family says (Write what your family says about your topic). My friends all (Write what your friends say or do based on their beliefs on your topic). My (city, country or the world/ pick one or all) claims (Write what your city claims about your topic.) (But or And) I know ______________________________.(Write a truth about your topic.) So don’t tell me _______________________, ____________________, _____________________________. (Write three to five lies about your topic). ____________________(Your topic) is ____________________________(claim a truth about your topic that answers the prompt you are doing your research on. Example: There Is No Way To Every Know the Truth But I do know this about equality. (Your Topic) Being equal it a double bind, impossible like freedom. and unlike freedom, equality is defined by the law. Every says, “Be first among equals.” But I know there is no first if things are equal. My family says “Be without equal!” My friends all define themselves by their greatness, but claim to not be biased. Then why is your mom’s cooking better than her? My World claims things cannot be separate but equal. And I know we separate ourselves to feel equal when so much depends on how we think we compare. - So don’t tell me before God we are equal (which God are you referring?), or nobody can give you equality (I give myself that everyday), or that you are fighting for the equality of every (hu)man (who can know what is in the heart of (hu)man and what rights they can embody?). Equality is a double bind. Equality is not sameness, it is not opportunity, it is not possible. In order to be granted it, you must have given it away. - Read: "Story of an Hour," by Kate Chopin Read: "Happy Endings," by Margaret Atwood Read: "Forgiveness," by Rebecca Brown Read: "The Thirteenth Night," by Higuchi Ichiyo Read: Harrison Bergeron, by Kurt Vonnegut Part A Answer the following in a short answer form. Use the question to organize your work, and number your work. Still, don't rely on the questions to explain your answer. Use complete sentences. First state your idea clearly (take a position). Secondly, use a direct quote(s) and MLA to offer proof. Third, follow up with a paraphrasing of the quote, and fourth-- further analyze your work in a conclusion sentence. You should have 4 sentences or more in total for each answer. 1) What is the significance of the titles of the short stories we have read so far? Give specific examples from the text to back your theory. 2) Think about the similarities and differences between Isamu and Roku. What do you think Oseki learns from her run in with Roku? What is the significance of their meeting? 3) What narration is being used in "Happy Endings" by Margaret Atwood? Some say this short story is "Post Modern." What do you think they mean by this? Explain and use examples after looking up Post Modern as a literary term. 4) In "Forgiveness" by Rebecca Brown, the Antagonist makes a claim, that ". . . it is not our acts, but our intentions that make us who we are"(Brown 3). What does she mean by this statement? Do you agree/disagree? Why? 5) Explore one symbol in one of the works we read. For example, X=Y, the apple= original sin. Give an example or look at examples of where the X=Y. 6) "Harrison Bergeron" by Kurt Vonnegut can be described as a utopia or a dystopia. This short story was written in 1961. How does the question of Utopian and Dystopian Society parallel the time period it was written in? 
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