UNSOLVED MYSTERY FIELDWORK ASSIGNMENT

Select a mystery, in your environment, that you would like to investigate. It must be local—either in your family, community, immediate environment, or a locale nearby to which you can easily travel to carry out your investigation.

+ See if topic is feasible for you to investigate.

+Identify the questions you will attempt to address in your investigation.

+Plan the steps you will take to find answers to your questions.

+Get topic okayed by me before commencing with the research!

+Investigate, first-hand, the facts of the case.

+Interview at least one person or any people involved, or anyone who may be helpful in assisting you to determine the nature of the case.

+Conduct a review of the literature, if literature exists, on the incident you are investigating (news articles, court records, patents, records of any kind).

+Conduct a review of the literature on the type of case/phenomenon you are investigating (What do the experts say about this type of event?).

+Keep all data collected (planning, brainstorming, lists, printouts, news articles, interview notes, and all notes) in a notebook (three-ring binder).

+Write an essay between 1000-2000 words in length, in which you assert what you think occurred in the case you investigated. Draw upon the facts of the case, interview material and your review of literature to construct your argument. Present the other side of the argument, or arguments that would negate yours.

+Draw a conclusion about the event/phenomenon/mystery you investigated.

+Give an oral presentation during the last weeks of class.

Use MLA formatting, as it is described in the Writer’s Resource text (see MLA section).

+Do not use a title page. Put headings on the first page as shown in the sample MLA paper in the Writer’s Resource text.

+Do not use endnotes or footnotes. Put all of your information in the text.

+Articles and chapters used will be cited in text and cited in a references/work cited/bibliography at the end of the essay. (See the Writer’s Resource text for example of works cited section).

+Double-space the text. Use 12-point New Times Roman font.  Use one-inch margins all the way around except on the left margin.  Single-space block quotes to save room and for visual appeal.

+Put the page number in the upper right-hand header with your surname in front of it.

+Feel free to include photos, figures, maps, charts or other visual aids in your text.

Avoid the common errors given to you on the Common Errors in Composition hand-out. Especially remember to construct your argument without using: you, your, or yourself, unless you are quoting someone who used any or all of these words. You must not address the reader as you, or use idioms that include you, such as in your face. Using you will result in an F for the essay segment of the assignment. See the General Comments Rubric to avoid the normal F level errors.It is acceptable to use I in this essay.

Limit use of websites to five, total. Online journals and books count as journals or books, not websites. Use as many of these as you wish.

Grades will be based on:  thoroughness of investigation; strength of argument presented; presentation of all sides of the issue; proper use of paragraph structure, quotations and commas; spelling; avoidance of common errors and proper use of MLA formatting and citations.

Fieldwork Project Due Dates

Fieldwork Project 13+% of Final Grade	Points	Write due dates below (see syllabus)
Topic
Proposal  (1)	3
List of Resources (1)
Notebook (1)
Essay Rough Draft	2
Essay Final Draft	8
Oral Presentations	Part of your Participation grade Sign-up for date last two weeks of class

Helpful Hints

+ If possible, make copies of all resources viewed that you might use in your paper.

+ Keep everything together in a three-ring binder. This will be your Fieldwork Notebook. Organize it the way it suits you.

+ Write citation information directly on paper copies of documentation collected.

+ Keep a running list of resources. From the beginning, put it in MLA format, for easy formulation of the Works Cited page for the rough and final drafts.  This will be your Resource List that is due with the Notebook.

Keep citations for research resources: 

+ For books:  author(s), editor(s) publisher, location of publisher, year published, name of chapter in book and author(s) of chapter. 

+ For journals:  name of publication, name of article, author, pages on which info appears, volume, issue #. 

+ For online citations:  wwwsite, date of access, author, title.  (See Writer’s Resource handbook for more detail).

+ Databases:  same as journal plus host (Ebscohost—Name of Library), date accessed and database name. 

+ See Writer’s Resource handbook for more detail on what you need to cite various types of media…