English 3U1 Course Culminating Activity (Independent Study)

The Report

ENGLISH 3U1 Course Culminating Activity (Independent Study) As senior students advancing toward university, your education will go far beyond the study of distinct subjects in isolation. You will apply these skills across a wide spectrum of human accomplishment and knowledge, and learn to make meaningful connections. Within the context of English 3U1, we will focus on communicating our findings. The Culminating Activity has three components. Each component must be submitted and meet the expectations outlined by the teacher in order for the credit to be considered complete. Written Report Experiential learning activity - An oral presentation – PART I: The Report A truly educated person has an appreciation of all fields of human endeavour as well as respect and admiration for the accomplishments of others. As part of the C.C.A., you will read a biography or autobiography to study the life of one person of enduring inspiration. There are many life histories worthy of study. Your choice should represent a life of discovery, exploration, invention, the advancement of science or the arts, or be a testament to the human spirit. It is generally acknowledged that the perspective of time is important when studying the lives of others. There can be exceptions for contemporary individuals if the connection and passion of the individual justified. Your selection must be approved by me. Your task is to research information in addition to the Biography/Autobiography. Your additional research must shed light on particular areas of focus from the main text you have read. In doing this, you will decide on at least three areas of special focus from your book. These sections will be introduced with their own headings in the report. Format for the report is provided. PART II: Personal Renaissance The Renaissance was an age of enlightenment and is an appropriate era to associate with our own learning and reflection. Leonardo Da Vinci, a creative genius who lived during this time, advanced both science and the arts with inventive mastery. He is considered to be the quintessential Renaissance man. The experiential component of the I.S.U. will allow us to reach across traditional subject boundaries to seek new experiences in art, science and within our community. Personal Response Tasks: Write a personal response of 500 to 750 words for the culminating activity. Your response should include background or rationale for your approach to the task, and be descriptive, personal and reflective. Personal Renaissance activities: Note: The products from these activities will be displayed and / or performed as part of your oral presentation. 1. Create an original piece of art in a medium that is new to you. 2. Write an original song. The song may100 be instrumental or include lyrics. You are not required to write the actual musical score, but must have an audio or taped version of your performance. 3. Learn to play one song on a musical instrument that is new to you. Or 4. A new skill that you have always wanted to learn but never taken the time Report Format The sections of your report are as follows: Introduction – Here you will summarize the book, outlining its purpose and explaining its method for examining the topic(s) contained within. Introduction to your areas of special focus – Here you will introduce what areas you will focus on, and provide some explanation or justification as to why. These may be: · Areas of particular fascination for you · Ideas with which you strongly agree or disagree · Areas which demand additional explanation or examination The Areas of Special Focus – Throughout this section, you need to quote often, and quote well. That said, you must remember that a research report is supposed to represent the collection, analysis and synthesis of information so that you can make your own conclusions or put forth your own ideas. Each of these areas should be at least 1-2 paragraphs in length. In addition, you should find relevant graphic supplements for the information you have collected. Inserting pictures, graphs, or diagrams is easily done with most word processing programs. All material, even images must be referenced using correct MLA. Conclusion – Here, you will reach your own conclusion on the material, both from the book you have read, and from the summation of the research you have conducted. Your conclusion(should be distinct from those in the book. Bibliography – At times, there is information that may be tangential to your focus, but still relevant enough that you may have wanted your reader to know it. It might be a reference to additional sources, a lengthy quotation that you didn’t need, or photos, graphs, and diagrams that didn’t fit seamlessly into the body of the report. It could also be a source you drew generic information from but did not make specific reference to it within the body of your research. Works Cited – Everything in the Works Cited page should be a WORK that is CITED in your research. No research report that is not cited and referenced properly will be marked. Research methodology Know what you are looking for before you set out to find it. You MUST have at least two additional sources of information per paragraph, but there is no maximum number of sources. Better researchers will find more sources and use them effectively. You MUST record all relevant bibliographical information as you collect it. Manage your sources in a document file so that you can format it properly before submitting your assignment – you have been given plenty of resources for doing this. Remember that in English, all citing and referencing is done using MLA format. No endnotes or footnotes are acceptable in MLA format. When in the library, search for books FIRST. You probably have access to the internet at home, but at home you do not have a library of many thousands of books. When doing research look at the Works Cited page or Reference Materials of the source. That often will give you other good sources of information on your topic/individual. In evaluating a book’s relevance, be sure to note the date of publication. If, for example, you have read a book on the role that computer technology has today, and you find a book from 1984, that book’s insights into the wonderful world of the Commodore 64 is not likely to be of much assistance. Take extensive notes, or photocopy relevant pages or take pictures (there are good scan apps for your phone that create pdf’s) from the sources you will use – you will evaluate the usefulness of the information you have collected during the writing process. Balance sources: in any paragraph or section of your report, you will need to demonstrate the synthesis of a variety of sources in order to generate your own thoughts on the topic. When referencing information, using multiple sources strengthens your claims to the validity of the information you are using.