AP English//Final Project
The Passionate Citizen
What is our responsibility to others? What is our responsibility to ourselves?
"Be the change you want to see in the world."
Mahatma Gandhi
First, indulge in curiosity. What do you want to know more about in the world? Consider new ways of being and thinking. Develop research questions relevant for an authentic audience. Maybe you will identify a problem in the world that resonates with you. What do you want to ask? Take risks by exploring questions, topics, or ideas that might be new to you. Your topic must reflect both magnitude and merit.
Second, seek relevant authoritative information. I have included a list of topics and books that relate to social justice, if that applies, but you may make your own choices. The categories overlap sometimes, so make sure to explore thoroughly. The titles with a * are the ones I’ve read. If you know of a title that you would like to use instead, check it out with me first.
Third, choose a major work and create an annotated Works Cited. An annotated Works Cited consists of the MLA entry with a brief synopsis (2-3 sentences) of the work. Connect your choice of text to the audiences and purposes for which those texts were intended. Include annotations for 4 works, one of which will be the full-length book. You may choose the other 3 from the following genres: prose fiction, prose nonfiction, graphic novel, poetry, film, drama, and/or art. You may also use original research and data. Use NoodleTools to construct this document. Include this with all other text submissions to Turnitin.
Fourth, use your research questions to guide your investigation. How do your perspectives connect with the perspectives of others? Practice different ways of gathering information and investigating your topic. Reflect on the ideas and responses of others. Find new meanings or build on existing meanings.
Fifth, act upon you new knowledge by communicating your findings in the following 3 ways:
Part I – Using a narrative format, sell your connection to the topic by telling the story of your process. This part should be no longer than 2 pages.
· What did you already know?
· What did you hope to find out?
· Why does this topic interest you?
· Why did you choose the sources you chose?
Part II -- Create a complex thesis and synthesize your sources. This part will look like a research paper and should be about 4 pages in length, at most.
Part III -- Push your idea into the world. Create an accompanying film, editorial, painting, photo essay, poetry series, song, or public service campaign. If you have a different idea, let me know. You will be presenting your findings to the class at some point.
Environment / Silent Spring *Rachel Carson
A Friend of the Earth
T. C. Boyle
The Weather Makers
Tim Flannery
Pilgrim at Tinker’s Creek *
Annie Dillard
Anthill
E. O. Wilson
Global Struggles / Children of Gebelaawi
Naguib Mahfouz
The Reluctant Fundamentalist *
Mohsin Hamid
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao *
Junot Diaz
Infidel
Ayaan Hirsi Ali
Nectar in a Sieve *
Kamala Markandaya
Children of Jihad
Jared Cohen
Africa / What Is the What? *
Dave Eggers
Beasts of No Nation *
Uzodinma Iweala
Say You're One of Them *
Uwem Akpan
The Poisonwood Bible *
Barbara Kingsolver
Class/Race / Black Like Me *
John Howard Griffin
There Are No Children Here: The Story of Two Boys Growing Up in the Other America
Alex Kotlowitz
The Race Beat
Gene Roberts and Hank Klibanoff
There Is No Such Thing as a Natural Disaster: Race, Class, and Hurricane Katrina
Chester Hartman
Zeitoun *
Dave Eggers
A Place to Stand *
Jimmy Santiago Baca
The Wretched of the Earth
Frantz Fanon
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
Rebecca Skloot
Race Matters
Cornel West
The Shame of the Nation: The Restoration of Apartheid Schooling in America
Jonathan Kozol
Nickel and Dimed: On Not Getting By in America
Barbara Ehrenreich
Parrot in the Oven: Mi Vida
Victor Martinez
Mountains Beyond Mountains *
Tracy Kidder
Behind the Beautiful Forevers
Katherine Boo
Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention
Manning Marable
James Baldwin
Go Tell It on the Mountain
Gender/Sex / The Other Side of the Sky
Farah Ahmedi
Sold
Patricia McCormick
Middlesex *
Jeffrey Eugenides
Whipping Girl: A Transsexual Woman on Sexism and the Scapegoating of Femininity
Julia Serano
The Handmaid’s Tale *
Margaret Atwood
Half the Sky
Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn
Modern Warfare / The Good Soldiers *
David Finkel
The Dark Side
Jane Mayer
Beyond the Battlefield: Life Goes on for the Severely Wounded
David Wood
What Is It Like to Go to War?
Karl Marlantes
Jarhead *
Anthony Swofford
Child Abuse / The Glass Castle *
Jeannette Walls
A Stolen Life
Jaycee Dugard
This Boy’s Life *
Tobias Wolff
Immigrants / My Year of Meats
Ruth L. Ozeki
Snow Falling on Cedars *
David Guterson
Brick Lane *
Monica Ali
Working in the Shadows
Gabriel Thompson
Native Americans / Custer Died for Your Sins: An Indian Manifesto
Vine Deloria, Jr.
Reservation Blues *
Sherman Alexie
The Red Convertible *
Louise Erdrich