Writing the Written Statement of Personal Project

1
Writing the Written Statement of Personal Project

• An overview of the writing requirement for the
  personal project

2
Structure of the written statement

• Title Page
• Table of Contents
• Introduction
• Description Section (The Process )
• Analysis Section (Discussion of the whys of
  your project)
• Conclusion (Evaluation and Final Conclusion)
• Works Cited (List only research sources that were
  cited in your written statement )
• Appendices

3
Details

• Title Page Pretty self explanatory. Make it neat
  and attractive with Full Name, Date, Word Count,
  Advisor. NO PICTURES OR FANCY STUFF.
• Table of Contents Also pretty self explanatory.
  Wait until you are finished and have your page
  numbers figured out

4
The Introduction

• Defines the goal and purpose of the project and
  gives overview of your interest in the topic
• Explains the explicit (obvious) AOI around which
  your project centers.
• Outlines the process, i.e. how you plan to
  achieve the goal.
• You should have this done already!

5
Description Section (The Process)

• You should describe in detail the process you
  used to achieve your goal.
• What were the steps?
• What are the characteristics, aspects, or
  components of the work?
• Be detailed and specific in your descriptions.

6
Analysis of your Inspiration (the Analysis
Section)

• What was your inspiration and why? How did the
  AOI relate to the inspiration?
• What research and other influences guided your
  work?
• How did your research findings guide
  decisions/choices you made?
• How did your AOI focus influence decisions/
  choices made?
• By the way, have you cited your sources within
  the text of your written statement so far?

7
Conclusion

• Reflect on the impact of your project (on your
  life, the community, etc.)
• What were strengths and weaknesses of project at
  different stages?
• What might you have done differently?
• What new perspectives do you have as a result of
  the project?
• Did your big, overarching questions get answered
  through your project?

8
Work Cited and Appendices

• Work Cited page in MLA format (you should be done
  with a bibliography of all research already).
  The work cited page is just like a bibliography,
  EXCEPT for one thing Any research source listed
  on your Work Cited page corresponds to a quote or
  paraphrase you mentioned in your Written
  Statement.
• Do not record a source on your Work Cited page if
  you have not cited it in your WRITTEN STATEMENT!
• Include appendices only if appropriate to your
  project. An appendix provides additional
  information, often in the form of maps, graphs,
  charts, photos, etc.

9
Length of the Written Statement

• The written statement should not exceed 3,000
  words. (our Guajome limit)
• It should be 1,000 1,500 words long as a
  minimum.
• Unless your project was an essay, in which case
  the written statement can be a minimum 300-500
  words

10
The End

• Projects are due March 3, 2009.
• Bring your project, process journal, and written
  statement on due date.
• Personal project presentations will be held in
  March.
• Consider displaying your project at Stakeholder
  Day, which is in May.