Project #4: Aesthetic Mapping
With our focus on the area surrounding City Tech for our previous projects, you have the opportunity to share your expertise with the college community, especially incoming students. Collectively, we will share our work to guide students to find alternate routes to the college that each maximize an aspect of the walking experience, be it beauty, happiness, nature, calmness, quiet, history, energy, or some other agreed-upon element that improves walkers’ experiences in the larger college campus (focus on one). The goal of this project is to develop one route, to choose a focus, to share research about that focus, and to write about your focus in the context of your route in a thesis-driven essay of approximately 900-1200 words.
1-Research possible locations to include in your route. Use first-hand investigation and Internet and library information to select a few possible highlights on your route. Share this information and what focus will guide the detour with the class (via a blog post). Due W 11/15
2-Figure out the route that maximizes one approach to what you think is important for City Tech walkers to experience. Consider the different parameters that will make that experience preferable. Write descriptive instructions for someone taking that walk, making sure to emphasize the aspects of the walk that you want the walker to notice. Be sure to include how much longer this walk is than the direct route, if at all. Include images (photographs, sketches, maps, etc) to entice walkers to take your walk. This post should be approximately 300-450 words. Due M 11/20
3-Your project will need support from outside sources that boost your authority and give walkers more information about why your walk is beneficial. Look for sources that provide information about the benefits of your particular focus—that is, that address the benefits of experiencing beauty, nature, quiet, etc. Contribute 5 sources to the class’s annotated bibliography, at least two from library databases or print sources. Include for each MLA-formatted entry a summary of the source and an indication of how it relates to the project goal. Include 3-5 keywords for each entry—this will help teammates identify which sources they want to find and use for their pitches. Due M 11/20
4-Now that you’ve decided on the route, write a descriptive, thesis-driven essay so that members of the City Tech community can decide which route they want to take on their way to or from the college. Make sure it’s clear what the reward is for the extra investment of time and effort. For your first draft, aim to write approximately 750-900 words. Due W 11/22 for peer review
5-Present your ideas from your draft to the class and be prepared to get suggestions (and give suggestions to your classmates!) for revision. You might get input to help you describe your choices better, or to help you revise the route itself. The presentation should be approximately 1.5-2 minutes. Delivered W 11/22
6-Meet with your Professor! Each student in the class will have the chance to get feedback from me by meeting during the week of 11/27. Choose your appointment.
7-You now have the chance to revise your project based on all the additional information you have: peer’s comments, presentation feedback, meeting with your professor, and the research you and your classmates compiled in the annotated bibliography. This revised version should be approximately 900-1200 words, plus a works cited list. Revised version due 11/29 for final peer review. Final version posted 12/4
8-self-evaluation. Details to follow.
All written and visual components of the project should be posted on our site by the start of class, unless otherwise indicated. Additionally, some components should be brought to class for peer critique and group work.
Project #4 = 15% of your course grade
Skills developed through this project:
Descriptive writing
Process writing
Persuasive writing
Oral communication
Peer critique
Information literacy
Research skills
Responding to outside sources
Incorporating quotations
Using citations
Revision
Reflective writing
Collaboration
