WELCOME to the last piece of
our unit on American literature! In this
unit, we will be reading a variety of texts by American authors. By American, I do not mean people who
necessarily live in the United States, though some of our authors certainly
do. Rather, I use American to
indicate authors who live and write anywhere in North, Central, or South
America.
Identity Portfolio
Project
This project requires you to compile
an “Identity Portfolio” for yourself.
This portfolio will be due in class on Friday, May 14.
For each day your portfolio is late,
15 points will be taken off your final portfolio grade. Your portfolio will count as your last unit
test grade for this semester, so make sure you do good work! Specific requirements for the portfolio
project can be found at the end of this unit packet.
DIRECTIONS
The creation of your Identity
Portfolio is entirely up to you. It is
meant to reflect YOUR identity, and so you can make it whatever you want it to
be!
This may sound like a daunting task,
and so to make the job a little bit easier, I’ve broken the requirements down
into a “buffet-style” assignment. There
are a variety of activities and mini-projects you can complete for your
Identity Portfolio, and you get to pick which ones you want to do.
Specific directions for each
mini-project can be found in this packet, after the grading requirements. You must choose which components of the
Identity Portfolio you will complete during class on Monday, May 10. At this time, you will have a short
conference with me detailing your portfolio plan and I will answer any
questions you have about your projects.
If you find that you have another
idea, and you would rather construct your Identity Portfolio in a different
way, talk to me during this meeting and we will work something out.
LEVELS OF LEARNING
Your Identity Portfolio will consist of
several “levels.” These levels
correspond to different grades you can earn.
You will start working on your Identity Portfolio at the lowest level
(the “Requirement Level”), and then work up through the different levels until
you reach the grade you want.
Within each level, you will be able to
choose from an assortment of activities and mini-projects what you want to
do. See the specific descriptions of the
different grade levels below…
GRADING
Required Level
In this level, you will be required to
do the following things:
___ Read a text selection of your
choice from the Reading Packet.
___ Discuss your reading with Ms.
Burchfield for at least 5 minutes.
___ Write a one paragraph (5-6
sentences) summary of your reading.
___ Write a one paragraph (5-6
sentences) personal reaction to your reading.
You must read at least 3 selections
from the Reading Packet.
Please note that all readings in the
Reading Packet will be related to the idea of “identity” in some way, and all
readings will be written by an American author.
If you choose to only complete the
“Required Level,” you will receive a 70 for this project.
“C” Level
Complete the “Required Level” of the
Identity Portfolio AND do one of the following:
___ Identity Manifesto (min. 1 page)
___ Objects and Identity Reflection
(oral presentation)
___ Creative interpretation of your
identity (must be checked out with Ms.
Burchfield)
“B” Level
Complete the “Required Level” of the
Identity Portfolio AND do two of the following:
___ Identity Manifesto (min. 1 page)
___ Objects and Identity Reflection
(oral presentation)
___ Creative interpretation of your
identity (must be checked out with Ms.
Burchfield)
___ Reflection on the relationship
between your individual identity and the
community or cultural environment you live in (min. 1 page)
“A” Level
Complete the “Required Level” and “B”
Level of the Identity Portfolio, AND do the following:
___ Identity Interview
PROJECT DESCRIPTIONS
Identity Manifesto
A manifesto is a piece of writing that
publicly states a person’s views or beliefs.
Often, manifestos are very emotional pieces of writing, and express a
person’s views on a subject that is very important to them.
For your identity manifesto, I want
you to really think about what “identity” means to you personally. I don’t want you to talk about identity
generally, or as it applies to wide groups of people. Instead, think about how it relates to you specifically. Your manifesto must be 1-page (minimum) and
be written in complete sentences with well-structured paragraphs.
Some questions to get your thinking
started:
·
How
do you define identity? What things make
up your identity?
·
How
does your identity shape the things you do?
·
How
does identity shape the way you think about yourself? Your family?
Your friends? Your
community? Your world?
Creative/Artistic
Interpretation of Identity
This requirement for your portfolio is
wide open. It may be easier to complete
this project after you have written your manifesto (see above).
You can create a drawing, a collage, a
song, a poem—anything—that reveals or portrays some aspect of your identity to
others. The key to doing well on this
requirement is putting in the TIME and EFFORT to create something meaningful
and nice.
If you choose this project, you MUST
have a conference with Ms. Burchfield about what you want to do. Your project MUST clearly relate to identity
and show me that you put as much time and thought into your work as you would if
you were writing an Identity Manifesto.
For example, if you want to write rap, I may ask you to record it and
present it to the class.
Objects and Identity
Presentation
For this project, you must choose an
object that represents some aspect of your identity. You must then create an oral presentation to
give to your classmates describing how this object shows something about who
you are or what you stand for. You must
have at least one visual aid in addition to your object if you choose this
project. This visual aid may take the
form of a poster, a Power Point presentation, or anything else you can think
of.
Identity Interview
Interview a family member on this
issue of identity: how does this person define or feel about identity? Questions you ask your family member may
range from general to specific. There
are specific requirements for this project that you MUST hand in to get full
credit:
·
Interview
script: Write a list of at least 10 questions that you will ask your family
member in your interview. These
questions should be broad, or open-ended.
This means do not ask YES or NO questions. An open-ended question might be something
like, “How do you think the people you choose to hang out with affect your personal
identity?” This kind of question
requires your subject to think and give a thoughtful answer. If you just ask, “Do you think identity is
important?” your subject could just say “yes” or “no”—that’s not what we’re
after. Think of yourself as an investigative
reporter.
·
Interview
notes or tape: During your interview, you can either take notes on your
subject’s response, or you can tape-record the interview (with your subject’s
permission of course). If you choose to
tape record the interview, I have a cassette recorder you can check out, but
you will need to supply your own cassette tape.
·
Reflection:
After your interview with a family member, reflect on what you have learned, or
on how this person’s ideas are similar to or different from your own. Write at least 3 paragraphs.
Reflection
For this requirement, you must write a
1-page (minimum) reflection on what you feel the relationship is between your
identity and the community you live in.
How has your environment influenced how you define yourself as a person? How has it influenced your values and
beliefs? Has your community affected
your identity positively or negatively?
Or both? Again, this is wide open
for your own interpretation.
Thoughtfulness and honesty are key in this response.
A NOTE ABOUT THE
GRADING…
Within each grade level there is a
percentage range. For example, an “A”
can range anywhere from 92.5% to 100%.
The percentage you earn on your Identity Portfolio depends on the
following five things:
1.
Presentation
2.
Quality
3.
Completeness
4.
Timeliness
5.
Effort
The better you do within each of these
categories, the higher your grade will be.
Please note that completing all of the assignments poorly or half-heartedly
within a certain grade range will not necessarily result in your receiving that
grade. Grades are entirely up to me and
are given out based on the work and time you put in to your portfolio. This means that even if you fulfill the
requirements for an “A,” but your portfolio is sloppily put together, late, and
looks like “C” work, you will probably receive a “C.”
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