Wayfarer's Guide Collaberative Project

Scroll down to view the project guidelines for your class. Tuesday/Thursday is posted first; Saturday is below.


The Wayfarer’s Guide to Nearly Everything
Collaborative Project
Tuesday/Thursday

As we read Douglas Adams’s The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, we will work together to create our own interactive online encyclopedia. Through this project, you will:

§       work collaboratively with your classmates
§       interact with your classmates and me online
§       learn how to write in the comedic, satirical style of Douglas Adams 
§       create four polished encyclopedia entries that will be published online*

Each of your entries must be two paragraphs long (standard MLA formatting). Each should be clear enough and include enough relevant information that a very bright seventh-grader could read the entry and understand your topic. In addition to being informative, each entry should also incorporate humor and satire where appropriate.

PROJECT DETAILS

All entries must be submitted to me via email by the due dates listed below. Each entry must be in final-draft form: polished, free of grammatical and spelling errors, and MLA-formatted. Send your completed entries as attachments to melissa.n.schulz@gmail.com.

Entry #1: Literature                       
Due: Monday, 5/7 (email) / Wednesday, 5/9 (email revised draft)

Choose one book to describe and critique. This entry should include: a rough outline of the book’s plot; relevant information about the book’s genre and historical context; background information about the author; and your assessment of the book.

Entry #2: Grammar
Due: Monday, 5/14 (email) / Wednesday, 5/16 (email revised draft)

You will be assigned a grammatical concept to explain. Your explanation should include both a discussion of the concept and two or three examples. Keep your bright seventh-grade audience in mind here: make your explanation and examples interesting, conversational, and informative.

Entry #3: Personal Interests
Due: Monday, 5/21 (email) / Wednesday, 5/23 (email revised draft)

Write two paragraphs about something that interests you and about which you know more than the average person. Some ideas: a hobby (fencing, building ships in bottles, philately, parkour); a band, movie, or TV show you enjoy; a type of food; a sport; an academic subject (outside of English and literature); a historical period or figure; an artist or artistic movement; etc. You must clear your topic with me by Tuesday, 5/15.

Entry #4: Apocrypha
Due: Monday, 5/28 (email) / Wednesday, 5/30 (email revised draft)

Create a fictional object, event, person, phenomenon, sport, etc. to describe as though it were real. Consider all aspects of your fictional item and provide enough information to make it credible. For example, if you choose to create a fictional person, provide that person’s name, birth and death dates, biographical history (what important things did he do?), historical relevance (what was his legacy?), and one or two quirky personal details to make the entry entertaining. You must clear your idea with me by Tuesday, 5/22.

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The Wayfarer’s Guide to Nearly Everything
Collaborative Project
Saturday

As we read Douglas Adams’s The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, we will work together to create our own interactive online encyclopedia. Through this project, you will:

§       work collaboratively with your classmates
§       interact with your classmates and me online
§       learn how to write in the comedic, satirical style of Douglas Adams 
§       create four polished encyclopedia entries that will be published online*

Each of your entries must be two paragraphs long (standard MLA formatting). Each should be clear enough and include enough relevant information that a very bright seventh-grader could read the entry and understand your topic. In addition to being informative, each entry should also incorporate humor and satire where appropriate.

PROJECT DETAILS

All entries must be submitted to me via email by the due dates listed below. Each entry must be in final-draft form: polished, free of grammatical and spelling errors, and MLA-formatted. Send your completed entries as attachments to melissa.n.schulz@gmail.com.

Entry #1: Literature                       
Due: Friday, 5/11 (email) / Sunday, 5/13 (email revised draft)

Choose one book to describe and critique. This entry should include: a rough outline of the book’s plot; relevant information about the book’s genre and historical context; background information about the author; and your assessment of the book.

Entry #2: Grammar
Due: Friday, 5/18 (email) / Sunday, 5/20 (email revised draft)

You will be assigned a grammatical concept to explain. Your explanation should include both a discussion of the concept and two or three examples. Keep your bright seventh-grade audience in mind here: make your explanation and examples interesting, conversational, and informative.

Entry #3: Choose either “Personal Interests” or “Apocrypha”
Due: Friday, 5/25 (email) / Sunday, 5/27 (email revised draft)

Personal Interests

Write two paragraphs about something that interests you and about which you know more than the average person. Some ideas: a hobby (fencing, building ships in bottles, philately, parkour); a band, movie, or TV show you enjoy; a type of food; a sport; an academic subject (outside of English and literature); a historical period or figure; an artist or artistic movement; etc. You must clear your topic with me by Saturday, 5/19.

Apocrypha

Create a fictional object, event, person, phenomenon, sport, etc. to describe as though it were real. Consider all aspects of your fictional item and provide enough information to make it credible. For example, if you choose to create a fictional person, provide that person’s name, birth and death dates, biographical history (what important things did he do?), historical relevance (what was his legacy?), and one or two quirky personal details to make the entry entertaining. You must clear your idea with me by Saturday, 5/19.