Major assignments Writing Projects: 475 points Conference Abstract: on week 2, s

Major assignments
Writing Projects: 475 points
Conference Abstract: on week 2, submit a 250-500 word abstract of your final
research paper.
Points: 50
Annotated Bibliography: on week 3, as part of the writing process of your final
research paper, you will put together and submit an annotated bibliography of ten
sources you’ve considered or might use. There should be three parts for each
annotation: (1) a complete, correct, and current MLA citation; (2) a summary of
the source’s main argument; and (3) how you plan to use (or not use) the source
in your final paper. An example of how this should look will be posted on
Brightspace. (Link to the Purdue Online Writing Lab, for MLA guidelines:
https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/mla_style/mla_formatting_an
d_style_guide/mla_formatting_and_style_guide.html)
Points: 75
Five Page Conference Paper: on week 5, turn in a 3-page paper. This paper
should fulfill the abstract you wrote for week 2, should be built upon the research
that informed the annotated bibliography, and should be the basis for your longer,
final research paper.
Points: 125
Final Research Paper: on August 19, you must submit (via Brightspace) a
research paper at least 8-10 pages long (not counting the Works Cited page[s]).
This paper may explore one of our scheduled readings/viewings, as long as it
develops an avenue within the text that we have not studied together already. Any
topic pertaining to high culture/low culture or literature/popular literature is also
welcome. Feel free to choose a text outside of our scheduled readings as well—
as long as it pertains to popular literature and our major considerations within the course. This paper must have it’s focus on a primary piece of literature, must utilize outside secondary sources, and must adhere to current MLA standards.
Points: 225
Performance Projects: 225 points
Practice Conference: on weeks 4 and 5, we will host a mini-conference, where
you will present the basis (or the entirety) of your conference paper to the rest of
the class.
Your presentation must be between 7-8 minutes long, and must include
meaningful information from your research. The conference paper should be the
foundation for this presentation. Multi-media can be used if done properly, but is
not required.
Prepare for Q&A: this can help you formalize ideas, sharpen foci, bounce ideas
off of your fellow scholars, etc., and can help you make the project better.
Points: 100