Stage Three Advice
The intellectual work of stage three is, in some ways, the most challenging part of this class. As an experimental assignment, it asks you to work, mentally, in ways you're probably unaccustomed to. I offer five pieces of advice about how to approach this project:
- "The Devil's in the Details." If you're having trouble finding your pattern, I recommend that you look to the details of your events. Look for repeating words, themes, ideas, people, conflicts. Stage three of your project is about this pattern: you're arguing for it; you're illuminating it; you're exploring it. (Robert's project had a particularly interesting pattern last term.)
- Mix things up. Try to think about your stage two work in chunks, as something you can cut apart and paste into new patterns. Try to think about how different formats (separated paragraphs with bold headers, for example, or columns) could make your project better. (Michael's project did this very well last term.)
- Bit by Bit. Try to work on your project a little bit each day. This will help you have a really solid rough draft done by Thursday, but also help you develop your project very strongly by next Monday.
- Check out the examples we have already. Not only do you have access to one another's work in the forums, you also have access to student examples from last semester.
- Ask questions! I will be around and available all week, so ask questions about the project.
See also: grading guide
back to stage three description
back to projects
