Your last major project will build on your White Paper project, but the final product will look and feel a lot different. While you will start with the same topic (or
some aspect of that topic), you will develop a different purpose, choose a different form or genre, and target a different audience.
While every research essay looks pretty much the same (typed and double-spaced, all text and no pictures, etc.), each of you will create something for this
assignment that reflects your particular choices and intentions—which means your project may look nothing like anyone else’s. In fact, part of the challenge
of this assignment is deciding what kind of project you want to create to communicate your intended message clearly and forcefully.
While the final products may look different, the basic requirements of this assignment are the same for everyone. Here are some of the key goals/challenges
for this project:
It should build on the thinking and research you’ve been doing, in some way. While you don’t have to argue the same point, use all the same sources, or cover
everything you cover in your White Paper, one premise of this assignment is that you’re building on the expertise and ideas you have developed through your
research work. You are free to write about just one particular aspect of your larger research topic, or to take your argument in a new direction.
It should have a clear and compelling purpose that you communicate effectively. You might fulfill this requirement in different ways—not every project needs
to present a passionate argument on behalf of some cause, for example—but even if your primary purpose is just to provide clear information, you should
have a clear sense of that purpose.
It should combine written rhetoric with visual rhetoric and/or digital rhetoric. It should, in other words, be carefully composed to take advantage of the power
of words but also the power of images
It should include material from at least two sources. This project doesn’t have to “feel” like a research paper in any way, but it should still be grounded in your
research work in some way. It should not, however, have a Works Cited or References page: Rather than using MLA or APA to cite sources, you’ll use
hyperlinks to direct readers to your outside sources.
It should be composed / designed with a particular audience in mind. Your intended audience might be small and specific or large and anonymous, or
something in between, but it should be identifiable. You should develop a clear sense of the readers you’re seeking to reach with your project. I will ask you to
analyze the audience you’ve chosen and to reflect on how you might reach that audience most effectively, using the tools of rhetoric and design.
To fulfill these requirements, choose one of the following options:
An online “open letter”: An open letter is directed to a particular audience but is published openly (online, for example) so that the general public can also
read it. Open letters can be a powerful type of public argument—there have been many influential examples throughout history—because they call for change
in a way that challenges not only those in power but also those with the power to influence those in power. In your own way, you might use an open letter to
present a compelling argument for some proposal based on the conclusions of your research work. (I’ll say more about Open Letters in a separate
document.)
A website: Like an open letter, a website also has a clear and compelling purpose, but websites take greater advantage of design, images, and layout to
complement the message. Today it’s fairly easy for anyone to create a pretty polished website using free website-building tools such as Wix, Weebly, or
Google Sites.