Final Project Guidelines
Proposal and Initial Selected Bibliography Due: Thursday, April 7th
Optional (but strongly suggested!) Individual Conferences: Thursday, April 7th – Friday, April 15th – Book your conference here!
First Draft Due: Thursday, April 21st
Peer Review: Thursday, April 21st – Tuesday, April 26th
Final Draft Due: Thursday, April 28th
We’ve spent the semester looking at a wide variety of texts – some high theory, some literature, some pop culture, some texts that don’t really fit into one category. We’ve explored different definitions of “queer” and have contemplated what it means for something to be theoretical in the first place. We’ve looked at different stories of LGBTQ+ existence at different points in modern North American history, and have thought about how trends in queer storytelling have changed over time and have been affected by queer theory as well as other theories such as feminism. Now it’s time to apply some of the theories we’ve been working with in new contexts.
This formal project can take a variety of shapes – a multimodal or digital project, a traditional analytical research paper, an art or performance piece, etc. – but will need to use a theoretical text we’ve addressed in the course and include a commentary or analysis of a text/film/music/game/visual artwork/etc. Whatever shape it takes, some basic requirements for the project are:
- You should use specific concepts from at least one of the theorists we discussed this semester as a lens for analysis. (Use the examples emailed on 3/15 to see how this can be done successfully. I’ll post those examples and others here soon!)
- The text (I’m using the word “text” broadly here) you are analyzing must be clearly identified by title, year, author, etc.
- All sources must be cited using proper MLA citations.
- All drafts should be in your Google Drive folder.
I’m asking for three different steps to this composing this project:
- Proposal and Initial Select Bibliography
- This is meant to help you get your ideas organized and out on paper before starting your actual paper. The bibliography is meant to help you start researching and deciding which theorist(s) you’ll be using.
- Take a look at these guidelines for the proposal.
- In addition to the short proposal, please compose a tentative bibliography in MLA format of 4-7 sources you think you’d like to use in your project. (You don’t have to use these if you find t hem to be unhelpful later in your writing process. This is just to make sure you’re starting the research process and that you’re heading in the right direction.)
- I will be available for individual conferences where we can discuss your proposal, bibliography, and ideas for your project. These conferences are optional, but I STRONGLY recommend you take advantage of them to make sure you’re headed in the right direction. You can book your conference here.
- First Draft
- This draft can be as messy as needed and can be incomplete if necessary, but please make sure it is, indeed, handed in.
- Use this draft as an opportunity to sketch out your ideas, test things out, experiment, etc.
- I’m also happy to meet with you again to discuss your draft before you move on to your final revisions.
- Final Draft
- This draft should be polished and finalized.
- I STRONGLY recommend going to the Writing Collaboratory for a session to go over your draft, and will give extra credit to anyone who goes.
Overall, have fun with this project. It could turn into something fairly traditional. But please consider “queering” your final project and what that might look like! 🙂
