The Articles Summer Project

  "Projects are what saves your grade in this class!"

  - Eddie Otte, former survivor, class of 2004

Welcome, new students to World Civ. 2 Honors!  I will be outlining below the details for your summer project.  I am sure some former students will also give you advice/recommendations from their own experience on how to do them, but I'll limit my post to the essentials of the project for now. More details may be found on the "Summer Project Q & A" posting on this board.
 
Purpose:
The purpose of this project is to give you a sense of current events, as well as to explore your geographic knowledge.  In addition to that, it makes a nice addendum to your yearbook at the end of the year and is a fairly easy way to start off with lots of good points.
 
Materials (What you will need):
 
Collect 20 articles over the summer (you are limited to June, July and August of the current year), each of which deals with a separate country.  Some may deal with multiple countries, but choose articles which have a clear focus on an individual country.  Articles must be substantive, that is they must have actual text; scoreboxes, photo captions, graphs, weather maps, and charts are NOT acceptable (they are fine as part of a larger article, but do not constitute an article in and of themselves).  Articles may be in any language; however, if they are in a language other than one which uses the Roman alphabet - you will be asked to provide a translation of the article.  Articles may be current events or historical articles (such as a National Geographic article); they may be about any topic whatsoever (articles about art, theater, sports, natural disasters, politics, or eagles are all acceptable - just remember each one needs to be substantive and focused on a particular country/nation).  I recommend a three paragraph minimum size for the articles.  A simple trivia fact paragraph ("News of the Weird") will not be sufficient to qualify as "substantive."
 
You will need some sort of binder or notebook in which to organize the articles and the other components of the project.

The Process (What you need to do):
 
For each article you will need to do the following:
 
(1) underline all the place-name references in the country; this is simply to show that you read/skimmed the article.  Include cities, regions, nations and principle geographic features (e.g. "Amazon River")
 
(2) write a brief (no more than 5 sentence) summary of the article - not simply a paraphrase of the title, however, you will need to identify the key issues of the article.
 
(3) plot your 20 different nations on a HAND-DRAWN map.  Label them on the map, colored in.  Do NOT give me a pre-printed Encarta-based map.  Do NOT use tracing paper.  Maps may be larger than 8 1/2 x 11 inches, and you may include multiple maps, but be sure that you have at least one world map with all your nations indicated on it.  There is no need to show every single nation on the planet.  Just label and identify the nations you have focused on in your articles.
 
(4) Organize everything to include:
 
     (a) a title page
     (b) a table of contents
     (c) your map
     (d) your summaries
     (e) all of your articles with the underlinings
 

The Grade (what you get out of it):

I will collect these the second week of school; that way procrastinators and the unfortunate few who never heard about the project until they arrived at school will have the weekend to slap it all together frantically.  I do not advise this option, but it can work just fine.  The whole thing is worth 100 points.  Given that the average semester has between 1,000 and 1,200 points, you can see this is a nice 1/10th of your grade (or thereabouts).
 
Neatness and organization are very helpful.  Your grade is determined on the basis of thoroughness and aesthetics.  If you have any specific questions - refer to the posting "Summer Project Q & A" on the message boards where you can post questions and I (or other students) will answer them.
 
Good luck!
 
- Mr. Borneman

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Summer Articles Project FAQ’s:

Question: Does each country have to have an individual map?

Answer:  You do NOT have to make a map of each country; simply a map of the world (and you only need to show the countries you feature) - HAND DRAWN (not traced).  The nicer it looks, though, the better.  All you need on the large world map are the countries.  You don't even need to show their capitals.  You don't need to label any seas, oceans, continents or other countries (other than your 20).  Nice, pretty, and neatly labelled scores you points.

Question:  Can I get articles from the Internet?
 
Answer: Yes, but you will have to include the web address and the date of the article.  You will need to print them out in their entirety as well.  I recommend you get reputable sources: any articles telling about an unverifiable, secret invasion of Canada by double-headed Gorgoths from Planet X will not be considered reputable and will not be given credit.

Question: Does the project have to be typed?
 
Answer:  Typing is definitely a plus.  There is no need to re-type the articles, simply cut them out, paste them on a paper, or hole-punch or whatever them to keep them together.  The summaries and table of contents should be typed, though I do not require it, actually, but I strongly recommend it. As far as fonts go - I prefer 10 and 12 pitch.  Please - nothing gothic or hard to read.  Yes - you can use pretty colors on this assignment - but make it readable - and if you *do* use colors - you might as well have a color-coding reason for what colors you use.  Random coloring is tacky and senseless.  But, if you like it - go for it.
 
Question: What if the article has graphics, should they be included? Do they have to have graphics and images?

Answer: You do not need it to have any sort of picture or graph or anything - it can be a simple text-only article.  However, it cannot merely be a photo.  A picture of the Eiffel Tower does not constitute an article on French society.  Scoreboards and weather maps (as I mentioned before), when part of an article are fine, but as a primary article they are not acceptable.  You can have an entire series of articles on sports (for example) - but they need to be genuine articles and not just player bios or team statistics.  In fact themed projects are cool.  Ones with photos or graphs or charts are nice also.  Those score the sacred thing known as "extra credit".  As for adding "supplemental" pictures (ones you find or draw yourself), don't.  Save such creativity for when it will pay off more later.

Question: How long does an article have to be?  Can I use a one-paragraph news summary?

Answer: Three full paragraphs or better is a decent minimum for an article.  So, if you have one that is one single paragraph, unless it is a really intense and complex paragraph, I recommend against it.  You should be fine with 4+ pp. articles.  You do not score "extra" credit for 20-page long articles - you should pick articles you are interested in.  It will make the work far less painful (unless you enjoy pain, in which case - pick really dull articles...)

Question: What, exactly, should we underline in the articles?

Answer: In terms of underlining, I am looking for any major place-names.  Street names (unless it is Wall Street or the Champs-Elysees) are not necessary.  Countries certainly are, as would regions and continents be.  Major cities are a must, small villages even should be included.  Up to you if a suburb is important: obviously boroughs and districts like Manhattan or the Rive Gauche should be included: El Rio might not cut it as a significant place...  Significant natural features should be underlined as well.  (Staten Island, the Seine - to carry out the NY/Paris examples). 

Question: What content in articles is inappropriate?  Are there topics we should avoid?  Can opinions or letters to the editor be used as articles?

Answer: An article about prostitution in Thailand (for example) is perfectly appropriate: news is news.  An article soliciting Thai prostitution or showing graphic images from Thai prostitutes is absolutely inappropriate and can result in a parent-teacher-student conference.  There are many "controversial" topics which will be covered in the course.  When discussed in a rational and academic context they are certainly appropriate.  If addressed in a salubrious or lascivious manner or as a form of personal attack, or as an out-of-context disruption, they are inappropriate.  As far as opinion or editorial articles, these are not appropriate since they are a commentary primarily and reportage secondarily.  You may include a news article followed by an opinion or editorial (on the same topic), but that is not an extra credit element, though it may be interesting.