assignments ENGL303 Writing Our Heritages:
You're in the System Now: Heritage Timeline/Scrapbook
|
Need to be in touch with me?
LEE TORDA 310 Tillinghast Hall Bridgewater State University 508.531.2436 [email protected] [email protected] www.leetorda.com |
SPRING 2023 Open Hours for students (office hours):
M(in-person or Zoom) 3:15-4:15, W (in-person or Zoom) 11:00-12:00, T (in-person or Zoom) NOON-1:00, and by appointment . Click here to join my Zoom for Spring 2023. Let me know you want to meet by adding yourself to my google.doc appointment calendar by clicking here. |
Overview: For this final piece, I am asking you to think about yourself as a point in time: things came before you that shaped who you are now. And things will come after you that you will shape.
And, if we think about the entire semester, we’ve been toggling between three things: your personal story of who you are; the historical and cultural events that surround you and your story; what these two things mean in terms of “heritage”--what do we actually inherit from our families, our genes, our genetic heritage, our cultural heritage, our shared and individual histories.
For this assignment, I am asking you to construct a timeline that accounts for both your personal history, the history of your family as you know it, and major historical/cultural events that might shed light on what you might call your heritage.
An Example: For instance, on a timeline for myself, I would, obviously have when I was born, but I would also have something about the Vietnam War, because I was born during that tumultuous time. I don’t know that I think I was directly influenced by that war, but I personally make a connection to my sort of left-leaning ways of seeing the world. Another point on my timeline would be when my grandparents emigrated to the United States, when my Aunts and Uncles were born. I would also want to include family stories from relatives on that timeline. Sometimes the dates would be precise–for instance, one year I was Santa Claus at our annual family Christmas Eve party. But sometimes the dates might just be a rough estimate–like sometime in 1976 my Aunt Lee learned to drive a car or from 1850-1915 Italian Immigrant migration was at its peak.
Ideally, what will happen is that I will have a timeline that helps me to tell the story of me in the context of the wider story of us all.
Details
Select: brainstorm and select important dates
Research
Compose & Arrange
Present
You have two options for turning in this project
Reflect
When you turn piece, please include a 750 word reflection on why you made the choices you made and how, overall, it answers: what I have I inherited?
HOW YOU WILL BE EVALUATED
This project is worth 15% of your final grade. In order to earn the B grade you must:
In order to earn the A grade you must:
In order to earn the C grade you must:
If you don’t earn the C grade you will fail the 15% that this assignment counts for.
And, if we think about the entire semester, we’ve been toggling between three things: your personal story of who you are; the historical and cultural events that surround you and your story; what these two things mean in terms of “heritage”--what do we actually inherit from our families, our genes, our genetic heritage, our cultural heritage, our shared and individual histories.
For this assignment, I am asking you to construct a timeline that accounts for both your personal history, the history of your family as you know it, and major historical/cultural events that might shed light on what you might call your heritage.
An Example: For instance, on a timeline for myself, I would, obviously have when I was born, but I would also have something about the Vietnam War, because I was born during that tumultuous time. I don’t know that I think I was directly influenced by that war, but I personally make a connection to my sort of left-leaning ways of seeing the world. Another point on my timeline would be when my grandparents emigrated to the United States, when my Aunts and Uncles were born. I would also want to include family stories from relatives on that timeline. Sometimes the dates would be precise–for instance, one year I was Santa Claus at our annual family Christmas Eve party. But sometimes the dates might just be a rough estimate–like sometime in 1976 my Aunt Lee learned to drive a car or from 1850-1915 Italian Immigrant migration was at its peak.
Ideally, what will happen is that I will have a timeline that helps me to tell the story of me in the context of the wider story of us all.
Details
Select: brainstorm and select important dates
- Select 5 to 7 significant dates in your own life.
- Select 5 to 7 significant historical events that are relevant to your story (they might not happen during your own lifetime).
- Select 5 to 7 significant dates/events from the lives of your family.
- Imagine one or two future events that you predict will happen because of everything that has come before. I know this will stress some of you out, but please have fun with it.
Research
- Using online databases, genealogy websites, local materials. Locate documents that help you to tell your story. At least half of all of the significant dates should be documented using sources and not just your own version of events.
- Interview one or more family members to get a short oral history of a particular event. Try your best to get their exact words–either by transcribing a recorded interview or by asking them to write a letter or email to you (or a text conversation).
Compose & Arrange
- Using Powerpoint, create slides for your events. You don’t have to do one even per slide, but you don’t want to cram too many events on too many slides
- Using shapes, lines, charts, maps, images, family photos, etc, create your timeline. Use text boxes to include brief explanations of the name of the event and why you included it in your timeline. You have a lot of creative control over both the look of your piece and about what you want to say.
Present
You have two options for turning in this project
- You can put it together like a book–like a scrapbook like the one that starts all the trouble in “Bobby Dunbar”
- You can put it together like an actual timeline, so that when it opens up it will look like an actual timeline.
Reflect
When you turn piece, please include a 750 word reflection on why you made the choices you made and how, overall, it answers: what I have I inherited?
HOW YOU WILL BE EVALUATED
This project is worth 15% of your final grade. In order to earn the B grade you must:
- Identify 15 to 21 events that cover the three categories described in “Select” Above. Include in it your one or two future predictions
- Include outside sources in the final product in at least half of your timeline events.
- Include interview source material in some way in your timelines.
- Demonstrate attention to images, organization, design, in either a scrapbook format or a timeline format in your final project
- Participate full in the in-class workshop by bringing your draft to class and by responding thoughtfully to the drafts of others.
- Turn in your 750 word reflection on the day the project is due.
In order to earn the A grade you must:
- Do everything you need to do for the B grade
- Demonstrate creativity as well as attention to the look of your timeline considering images, organization, design in your scrapbook/timeline
- Turn in a 750 word reflection that really addresses the question “what have I inherited” and uses the timeline/scrapbook as evidence for your answer.
In order to earn the C grade you must:
- Include anything less than 15 to 21 events.
- Include anything less than outside sources and interview material in the final project
- Turn in your scrapbook/timeline on time.
- Turn in anything less than a 750 word reflection.
If you don’t earn the C grade you will fail the 15% that this assignment counts for.