For assistance at anytime during the research process, please contact a librarian using the link below.
You will complete a digital research project using Microsoft Sway, a free program available to you through your O365 account with Jefferson State. You will complete a cohesive project comprised of a research paper and a multimedia gallery for your topic The goal of this assignment is to create a detailed understanding of your topic that allows you to think deeply about the significance of a theme as seen through the literature we have read this semester, as well as through cultural events/media today and how these works influence American society. Through your research and creative output, you will take on the roles of critics and authors and engage with the literature we have been studying and apply it to pop culture and events around and important to you.
For the project, you will choose a text from our reading list and identify and trace a specific theme through that text, as well as through a popular culture text from your lifetime and a current issue or event in society today. In addition to the written analysis of your primary sources, you will curate at least four secondary sources and include 9 different pieces of media to enhance your discussion.
Because this is a research project, you will include both primary and secondary sources.
The proposal will detail the choices you are making with the project: the thematic focus, the literary text, the pop culture text, the current event, and the larger connection to the theme among the pieces, etc. In popular culture terms, this is the “blurb” that describes your project for your reader/audience. This stage of the project provides you instructor feedback and assistance before you start curating digital media. You will receive feedback on the appropriateness of your topic, whether the scale of the project is workable, and other practical matters. Please see the Digital Research Project Module for specific instructions for writing and submitting the proposal.
You will submit summary of the two secondary sources that relate to the literary source, along with their proper MLA citation. The two sources relating to the literature from our class must come from the JSCC online library. You will be given a research guide created by our librarian with links to databases of articles for each of our reading assignments.
One way to think of this project is that it’s a traditional research paper that you are combining with multimedia to create a detailed webpage. Sway is an interactive, cloud based, digital-storytelling and presentation app. It works great for self-guided presentations (which is what this is). I know it’s a different product than what most people have used, but it’s been around for about 5 years, and it’s gaining in popularity. Maybe it will surpass PowerPoint!
Microsoft Sway is available for free with your O365 account from Jefferson State. No other software or program is acceptable for this assignment.