Wednesday, May 28

I am happy to say that I am almost done with my final project, a special issue of American Life magazine, titled Culture Through The Ages. I got a lot done this weekend and although I am almost done with the project itself, now I have to focus on my presentation, which is this Friday. Since my project is on Pages, I will definitely project it on the overhead throughout my presentation so that I could refer back to it and so the class will have a visual of what I have been working on. I feel that my research paper and final project are well integrated with each other because I have taken certain excerpts from my paper and embedded it within my magazine. For me, the most difficult part of the presentation will be finding an effective way of incorporating the class into my "lesson."

Tuesday, May 20

I am happy that I am finally finished with my research paper and that I can now focus on my presentation and final project. My presentation is schedule for next Friday, so I have a little more than a week to plan what I will be doing. I would like to get the majority of my project done before my presentation so that 1. I will have hard materials to present and 2. It will force me to complete a good portion of it done by next Friday. I plan on creating a magazine of some sort that will concentrate on the content of my research paper, which was the progression of American literature. My paper chronologically followed the changes and adaptations of writing styles and dominant authors an classics of specific time periods. I would like to create a magazine, a collection of different kinds of texts that is put in time order. The magazine will be adorned with other aspects of the corresponding time period, such as music, style, fashion, and overall culture, so that it is a well-rounded collection of information. I am confident in presenting the research I have done and the final project I plan to produce; however, I am struggling as to how I should get the class involved in my presentation. This week I definitely need to figure that out and put a final presentation together for next Friday.

Monday, May 12

I am finally about halfway done with my research paper and am happy with my progress so far. I was happy to finalize my thesis, the part I was struggling with the most. I have decided to research the progression of American literature over time, how the literary styles have changed, and the major authors and works produced from that time period. Much of the research I have found has turned out to be very helpful, such as literary timelines dividing American literature by era and which literary genre it is marked by. The timeline has helped me with organization, for it has served as a sort of outline for me to fill in with additional research and details from other sources. I am happy with where I am right now in the writing process and plan on finishing within the next few days. Tuesday or Wednesday the latest I will give my paper to a peer so it could be edited by a second set of eyes, to hopefully catch anything I have missed. In addition to finishing up my paper I will begin gathering my sources and creating my bibilography so it is not left until the last minute.

Monday, May 5

I have not completed nearly as much as I have hoped to in the past week but I plan to make up for that and more early this week. I think the main problem has been that I have been confused as to what I should research but I have finally gathered my thoughts and decided that I am going to focus my research paper on the progession of American literature throughout the 1900's. We have studied so many different styles and authors in school and now I will be able to learn about each piece's place and significance on the timeline of literature. I plan to cover the 1900's by decade so that the organization of my magazine to follow will fall into place neatly. Today, Monday, I will research and begin writing as soon as possible, even if it is only an outline. I plan to have a good portion of my research paper completed by Wednesday so that much of it can be edited.