Important addendum: Click here!!

Format requirements: Click here

When I asked last semester's class for their thoughts on this final assignment, one of them e-mailed me and said, "We have learned a lot since August, and if we could somehow sum up how our feelings towards the portrayal of Native Americans has changed since then, and express that to those who view our webpages, I think that would be terrific." This is an excellent idea, and for that reason, your final project is a personal narrative discussing your views about Indians and especially the portrayal of Indians, and how those views have changed over the course of the semester. If your views haven’t changed, you can explain that as well, but you should be able to write a narrative about how you came to your views.

I will ask you to turn this in as a webpage (or several), and I will also ask you to turn in the text portion separately. (This is a Substantial Writing Component class, and so there is a certain amount of writing the University requires you to do.) The text portion should be a minimum of 4 pages long. I ask that you turn in this text portion separately for bureaucratic reasons only - I will not grade the separate text portion you turn in, only your webpage!!!

You may organize the text on your webpages whichever way you choose: in a linear fashion, on one or more webpages, or use the possibilities of hypertext and link words or concepts within one part your text to another section of your writing. (There are many other means of organizing as well.) You are encouraged to include graphics (which you can either get online or, if you have your own, you can scan them in using the scanner in Parlin 6), links to other sources, and so on. Creativity is strongly encouraged.

You will be graded on how well you express your views, and how complex your ideas and reasoning are, as well as how you describe your own relevant background and the changes you have gone through. Proper format is the minimal formatting requirement; failure to follow the format guidelines will negatively affect your grade.

Remember, here as in past papers you will need to decide what is relevant; don’t tell us everything about your life, and you will need to apply your analytic skills to your own experiences.

Your webpage design will also be part of your grade, and should complement what you’re saying. Your webpage design does not have to be complex, nor does it have to be the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. It should be functional, and pleasant to read; you can look at last semester's student webpages for some basic ideas, or look at some of the online diaries you can access through www.diarist.net. It should look like more than just a regular paper on screen, but you definitely should avoid having so many whistles and bells that your reader is distracted from what you’re saying.

The Text Portion: In Louis Owens’s Mixedblood Messages, the third section of the text, "Autobiographical Reflections, or Mixed Blood and Mixed Messages," which we have discussed in class, is an autobiographical narrative. Sherman Alexie’s "I hated Tonto (Still Do)" is also an example of such a narrative, though more brief. The introductory pages of Jane Tompkins’s essay "'Indians': Textualism, Morality and the Problem of History" also work as a good example, tracing the development of her ideas about Indians.

The Online Portion: Here are some examples from last semester's student webpages: Ryan Parker, Lauren Black, Luke Fuszard, Angela Centeno, Lauren Travis, Austin Powers (yes, that really is his name).

The following are some non-course related websites whose formats may help you understand the possibilities of hypertext and give you ideas as to what you can do on the web. The quality of their text is variable and not relevant to this course.

Keep in mind you may not have the capability to do everything that these sites do - and yours don't need to look as professional as these - especially since some of you are just learning how to do web design!!

DreamWeaver is probably the best way to work on your webpages, and is available in CWRL computer labs. The lab in Parlin 6 is open from 9-9 M-Th, 9-5 F; computer classrooms like Parlin 102 and 104 and FAC 9 and 10 are available on a more occasional basis. There are other, very basic web editing programs that come with internet browsers like Netscape and Explorer. Do not use Microsoft Word to edit your web page; Microsoft uses coding that not all browsers can read, and if I can’t read your page, I can’t grade it. Or at least I can’t give it a good grade!

Above all, this webpage should reflect your learning process and what you’ve learned about this topic this past semester and/or at other points in your life. Be creative, and if at all possible, have fun with it.

At the end of the semester, I will post your webpages on the web and they will be accessible through the course website. I’ll e-mail you to let you know where they’re located, and they will serve as a resource to future students in this course.

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