Since we’re a bit behind where I wanted us to be with regard to the timeline for our research project plans, I decided not to make the literature review due as its own assignment this Friday. However, it’s absolutely vital that you devote as much time as possible to the completion of your final paper – your Research Plan – between now and May 7th. You should already be up to your ears in relevant research on your topic, given that you were supposed to start thinking about, and doing preliminary research on, your topic over a month ago (see my reminder in Week 11). Part of the reason I devote so much time to this project at the end of the semester is because doing research and developing your ideas takes both time and effort, and the document I’m expecting from everyone at the end of the semester is quite substantial in terms of it’s scope, depth and detail.
Because I eliminated the Literature Review as a separate assignment, I copied some of the guidelines for that assignment into the guidelines for the final Research Plan. Both documents have been online since the beginning of the semester, and I assume that everyone is familiar with them by now, but the info is now all condensed in one place: HERE.
If by some chance you haven’t carefully and meticulously read through the requirements for the final Research Plan, I strongly encourage you to do so immediately. And I can’t stress this enough. Because if your document is not put together with the kind of care, attention and detail that is specified in the requirements (and also explained in each section of the guidelines, as well as the Important Reminders), you will run a high risk of failing the assignment. But just as there are many ways to fail the assignment (not doing adequate research, not proofreading & editing your paper, not putting your document together in the order specified in the guidelines, not including a discussion of your research methods), there are many ways for you to earn an excellent grade on the assignment.
To be clear: I will not be grading your final Research Plan like a game of horseshoes, where getting close enough will automatically earn you some points. I want to see you demonstrate your newfound expertise on your topic, your skills as a writer and a critical thinker, and your active engagement with recent, relevant scholarly research that’s been written on your topic (as well as supplementary material from relevant, reputable web publications, magazines, websites, and other materials that help make you knowledgeable about your topic).
Finally, since everyone is working on different projects right now, we will not meet as a class this Friday. Instead, I will be available from Noon to 3pm on Friday to answer questions via Zoom, if you need to reach me. Please just let me know in advance so that I can set aside a specific time for our conversation.
Best regards,
-z