Research Projects

While it is nice, say, to research the life of Emily Dickinson, I find no purpose in creating research reports, etc., on such noted figures. There are already hundreds of biographies of noted American authors, created by experts who have combed primary source documents.

When students write reports on American authors or historical figures, they are essentially reporting on what others have already reported. This begs the question: Why bother?

Why rehash someone else's research? The actual challenge is to somehow NOT plagiarize since the only thing that you know is what others have told you.

Rather than redo what has already been done, Colleyville Heritage AP English students will be conducting original research, using primary source documents. The concept is that no one has likely performed this research before. The papers should be unique.

Three research projects will be completed, using different technical features (e.g., bottom notes, end notes, and parethetical notation). Furthermore, emphasis will be placed on creating strikingly visual presentations to augment the written text. All modern computer technologies will be used to create these projects.

To keep the projects unique, students will be using their own family history as the foundation for most projects.

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