Composition II -- Spring 1999 -- Research Project (Web Edition)

Instead of writing a standard research essay for Composition II, you may choose to create a web site instead.  If you choose to complete a web site instead of an essay, you will still need to follow many of the same requirements on the essay assignment; however, a web site allows you to be a little more creative and imaginative than an essay does.

As with the essay, your web site will need to follow these same basic requirements:

• You must include at least six outside sources.
• Three of the outside sources must be periodicals.
• You need to have at least 1,200 words, preferably 1,500 - 2,000.
• You must use correct MLA style.
• You must properly quote and paraphrase.
• Your writing must be argumentative or persuasive.
• You must use correct grammar, spelling and punctuation.

In addition to the above requirements, you also need to keep in mind the following:

• Your web site must have at least seven screens.  One screen will be the introduction screen (containing links to the rest of the site) and one screen will be the works cited page.
• Each page must feature a navigational toolbar the allows users to go forward or back to the next screen.
• You must include hypertext links within the paper itself.  These links should take readers to any web sites you are using as sources and to other pages within your web site.   When you link to other pages in your web site, I would encourage you to think beyond just the other paragraphs of your essay.  You might want to link to definitions you create for certain terms you use throughout your essay. Or, perhaps you have a great example of something, but it won't fit in the body of your essay.  A hyperlink to the example might provide readers with further info if they wish to click on the link.
• You must incorporate some graphic elements into your web site to make it pleasing on the eyes.  You don't have to incorporate pictures, necessarily, but you should include a pleasant background, some buttons, icons, etc. to make the reading experience on the computer more enjoyable.

Here is a sample introduction screen.  The icons to the left of the text will take you to various sections of the course.  Your first screen should have a similar design so that readers could click on links on your first screen to go to any part of your essay they choose.  This means a reader would not have to read your essay chronologically.

In this screen, you can see how the web site uses links to take readers to other sections of the web site.  On the left is a series of links that appear on every page; you will want to have the same kind of navigational aid on each of your pages. Second, you see that there is a link within the first paragraph of the essay.   Clicking on this link will take you to a related story.  You should put in similar links within your paragraphs to take readers to other web sites on your topic or to take them to another page within your own site that provides more info on the topic.

Here is one web site to give you ideas on how to develop your pages.  These pages make use of an introductory screen along with hyperlinks throughout the web site.

A Brief History of Banned Music in the United States

The class activities that you will complete for the web research project are the same as those for the essay research project, so follow the schedule on that assignment sheet.  You will compose your web site using the editor program in Netscape Navigator.  You will need to save your work on the class network drive, so create a folder for yourself there.   You will not print out your web site for me to grade.  Instead, I will grade it on screen.

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