English 0950 Project
Planning: Gathering Information

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Goals:

1. to explore print, electronic, and personal resources;
2. to practice research as a strategy for finding information that is personally relevant;
3. to form small writing groups and introduce yourselves to each other by sharing a story.

Main Assignment:

Choose one of the following options and write a 2 to 3-page paper that presents:

Plan for Completing this Project

1. Go to Discovery Grove and use some of the strategies there to discover what you already know about your topic. In your Handbook, read about "Narrowing your topic" (35).

2. Read: consider the questions you have about your topic. Where can you find the answers?
In your Handbook read section 3c, "Gathering information."
Also read section 3e, "Try computer pre-writing software." For an example of this kind of computer aid, choose one of the following links for more help with asking questions and finding information from a variety of sources about your topic.

• Story of your name
• The day you were born.
• Your astrological sign and your birthstone.

3. Think: use P.L.A.C.E. to plan your story. Select the information that is most trustworthy and interesting to you and appropriate to share with your classmates.

View the PowerPoint presentation on P.L.A.C.E. in Planning at the Writers' PLACE.

4. Develop a working thesis.

View the Web page on thesis statements at the Writers' PLACE.
In your Handbook, read 3d, "Plan and Organize" (36-41).

5. Write: Organize your information and draft a 2-3 page paper that shares with your classmates the information you have found. The purpose of this paper is to introduce yourself to your writing group, which is your audience.

6. Collaborate: in small groups, share the papers you have written.

7. Based on the feedback from your group, revise your paper so that readers understand clearly what you are trying to say. Use the computer's spellchecker and grammar checker to help you proofread your work.

8. Go over your paper with a tutor in the college writing center and revise again if necessary.

Process Memo:

Write a one-page process memo that talks about:

· how you found your information,
· which sources were most helpful,
· how you decided to organize your paper (by mapping, by outlining, or by writing a discovery draft),
· what it was like to share your paper with your group,
· what you learned from this experience.

Project Requirements:

To receive credit for completing this workshop, you must turn in:
___ your discovery writing and planning notes;
___ your working drafts and final draft of your paper;
___ your process memo.

Story of Your Name

Asking Questions

Often a writing project will begin with questions we have about a subject. Making a list of these questions can help us identify possible sources of information as well as keywords to use in our search. You can also use your questions as prompts for writing.

To see how questions can help guide thinking and writing, you should consider the questions suggested below for the main assignment you have chosen for this project.

• Who named you? How did that person choose your first name? Were you named after someone? Were you given a saint's name or biblical name?
• What does your name mean? How does this meaning suit you?
• Is the name you are called a nickname? If so, how were you given this nickname?
• Can you tell any stories about yourself and your name?
• Do you know what your surname means? What are the origins (or ethnic roots) of your surname? European? Asian? African? Native American?
• Have you ever changed your name? Why?
• Are there any family stories about your surname?

Gathering Information

Go to your local city or county library and do a subject search. Try a PALS search. For your search keywords, try "names, personal."
Consult a name book for the origins and meanings of your name. Then look up any stories or myths or famous figures associated with your name.
In your public library, browse in section 929.4*; in our college library, browse section CS 2309.

On the World Wide Web, go to <http://www.babynamer.com>. Explore the information available at this site.
Do an internet search for your surname. If your surname is fairly common, combine it with another term to narrow your search--examples: surname+genealogy or surname+Minnesota. You can also visit the Web site <http://www.ancestry.com>.
Does anyone on the internet have the same name as you?

Interview the person who named you.
Interview others who have the same name as you have.

Reading and Selecting Information

The Day You Were Born

Asking Questions

Often a writing project will begin with questions we have about a subject. Making a list of these questions can help us identify possible sources of information as well as keywords to use in our search. You can also use your questions as prompts for writing.

To see how questions can help guide thinking and writing, you should consider the questions suggested below for the main assignment you have chosen for this project.

• What is your birthdate? Where were you born?
• What events were in the newspaper headlines in that city or town (or the nation) on the day you were born?
• Who was President of the United States?
• What movies were playing? What were the top-rated tv shows? What were the ten most popular songs? Who were the major sports figures that season? What books were on the best-seller list?
• What toys were most popular?

Reading and Selecting Information

Consult the newspaper archives on microfilm or microfiche at :

• AnokaRamsey Library
• The New York Times Index (on CD-ROM)
• The Minneapolis Star and the Minneapolis Tribune
• The St. Paul Pioneer Press
• Northtown Library
• Minneapolis Star from 1971 to present
• St. Paul Pioneer Press from 1979
• St. Paul Dispatch from 1981
• Minneapolis Public Library (downtown)
• Minneapolis Star (and Tribune) from the beginning
• Minnesota History Center archives copies of all the newspapers published in Minnesota.

Try an internet search. For example, if you were born in 1980, you could do an Infoseek search for 1980+events or 1980+movies.

Astrological Signs, Myths and Birthstones

Asking Questions

Often a writing project will begin with questions we have about a subject. Making a list of these questions can help us identify possible sources of information as well as keywords to use in our search. You can also use your questions as prompts for writing.

To see how questions can help guide thinking and writing, you should consider the questions suggested below for the main assignment you have chosen for this project.

• What was your horoscope that day?
• Which is your astrological sign?
• What is the myth that goes with this sign?
• What is your birthstone? What do you know about this stone?

Gathering Information

• Look up your astrological sign in an encyclopedia and in the subject index of the library catalog. Look up your birthstone in the encyclopedia and in the subject index of the library catalog.
• Use an internet search engine to locate information about your astrological sign and your birthstone. For example, if your astrological sign is aquarious, you could use so an Infoseek search for aquarius+myth. You can also visit the site <http://www.elore.com>.
• Do you have any possessions with your birthstone?

Readings

Anderson, Walter. Read with Me. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1990.
Ashley, Leonard. What's in a Name? Everything You Wanted to Know. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1989. Austin, Dorothea. The Name Book: over 10,000 Names--their Meanings, Origins, and Spiritual Significance. Minneapolis: Bethany House, 1997.
Cash, Johnny. "A Boy Named Sue."
Gilbar, Steven. The Open Door: When Writers First Learned to Read. Boston: Godine, 1989.
Greenfield, Eloise. Mary Mcleod Bethune. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Co., 1977.
Martin, Bill Jr., and John Archambault. Knots on a Counting Rope. New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1987.
Nist, Elizabeth. "Elizabeth." From Back to Apples (unpublished).
Seuss, Dr. Horton Hatches the Egg. New York: Random House, 1940.
Stevenson, Robert L. A Child's Garden of Verses. New York: Random House, 1985.

Other sources:

Helen Keller's autobiography and biographies.

Newspaper archives at AnokaRamsey Library

Northtown Library

Minneapolis Public Library (downtown) archives the Minneapolis Star (and Tribune) from the beginning

Minnesota History Center archives copies of all the newspapers published in Minnesota.