Projects: Storybook Topic Research

Last week, you brainstormed some different Storybook topics, and you should have received comments back from me in an email. So, start by getting out the email I sent you and look through those comments. Then, you need to CHOOSE ONE TOPIC that you like the best, and you will do some research on that topic now. 

If you are thinking you would like to try a topic that you did not brainstorm last week, that can work too; just send me a quick email to let me know the new topic, and I'll send you back some quick notes and research tips you can use for this assignment.

Time. You should budget approximately one hour for this assignment, which is about how long the project assignment will take each week. Take some time to read a few stories, explore a bunch of related Wikipedia articles, look for images, and let your mind wander through the different storytelling possibilities that this project could offer. Record your thoughts and ideas, plus links and at least one image in a blog post as you work.

Research Tips. Just what resources you can use depends on your specific topic. There should also be some useful material in your Week 2 blog post and in the email I sent you about that blog post. If you are not sure which way to go with your research, send me an email and I'll be glad to help! The goal is to zoom in on ONE TOPIC and find at least THREE STORIES for the topic you have chosen.

Your Blog Post. Each person's blog post will come out differently based on the kind of topic you are looking at, but here are some items that you will definitely want to have in your post:

• THREE POSSIBLE STORIES. You can change your mind about the stories later, but it's good to start with three stories/episodes from traditional sources that you know would work well. Include a sentence or two about the key feature of the story for your project, and you might even start to brainstorm about the storytelling style(s) you could use.
• LINK(S) TO SOURCES. You might have just one online source that gives you all three of those possible stories, or you might have different sources. Please make sure you are using a reliable source: materials from this course, books at the Freebookapalooza, Wikipedia or other online reference works, reliable websites like Dan Ashliman's Folktexts, Theoi, Sacred Texts, etc. If you are not sure about the reliability of a source you would like to use, send me an email with the link and I'll be glad to take a look.
• IMAGE(S). Find at least one image that you think you could use, something that really expresses the kind of story collection you want to create. As always, include image information.

Post Title. Include the phrase "Topic Research" somewhere in the post title. (for example: Topic Research: The Wives of Krishna).

Post Labels. Label the post with the week number and also project: Week 3, Project. (Or Week 4 if you are doing this assignment in Week 4.)

FILL IN THE FORM and DO THE DECLARATION. To let me know the assignment is done, fill out the form below. Then, after you have submitted the form, you can do the Gradebook Declaration for the Project assignment in Canvas. I will send you back comments on your assignment by email.