Final Project

You have three options for completing the final project.

• Option One: Human-Computer Collaborative Revision. For this project, you will revise a piece of your own writing using a combination of conventional writing advice (such as the parts of Blatt's book that address rules for writing and the Joseph Williams reading on the syllabus) and computational techniques--the Python scripts I have given you, the built-in analytics of your word processing program, or something you create yourself. You may use an AI tool as part of your process but only after you have used other methods first, so you can thoughtfully compare the results of each approach.

  You can revise whatever piece of writing you want to, as long as it gives you enough material to work with when you do the computer-assisted revision. Your submission to me will include two parts:

  1. The revised version of your paper, in a format that lets me see how you have revised it. You can use a "track changes" or "compare documents" function in your word processor for this submission or find another way of marking it up. It's essential, however, that I can see exactly what changes you have made. Here is a PDF handout that I've written to offer technical advice about tracking changes in Word or Google Docs.
  2. An essay of at least 800 words explaining the process you used, the changes you made, and what insights you gained about your writing from the hybrid digital-analog method of your revision.
• Option Two: Digital Culture Paper. For this project, you will write a paper of at least 1800 words (roughly 5-6 pages) about some topic of digital literary studies or digital culture. Writing this paper will involve a research component; it should cite at least four sources in Chicago Notes and Bibliography Style. Here is my quick guide to that citation system.
• Option Three: Self-Designed Project. You may also propose an alternative project, either individually or as a group. I am very willing to support your ideas for this work, as long as they are realistic given the timing of the semester and the resources we have available.

  Any self-designed projects will result in a two-part submission:

  1. The project itself.
  2. An essay of at least 800 words from each participant in the project, explaining the process you used, what you contributed to the group (if applicable), and what you took away from the process of your work.

The assignment will be evaluated according to this rubric:

Exceptional (A) completion of this assignment involves creative thinking, elegant writing, and timely work. For group projects, this level of work also involves actively thoughtful support of your classmates' efforts.

Good (B) work on this assignment involves completing your assigned work on time, carefully, and thoughtfully. For group projects, good work means that the project moves to completion with your help, and you play a constructive role in the team-oriented aspects of the project.

Insufficient (C) contributions to a group project undermine the efforts of the class to create an excellent project together. The work contains errors that require extra effort to correct, or it is completed behind schedule. For an individual project, insufficient work involves problems such as late submission, omitted components, or a pattern of errors in basic editing.

Failure to complete the assignment (F) indicates failure to complete the assignment in time for it to be useful to the overall project, for group work, or by the final deadline for an individual project.