We Didn't Start the Fire

I stole part of our next research project in College Comp II from a former friend. He used to use this song, which is basically a list of historical, political, and pop culture references from the '70's and '80's. My friend would then have his students select one term and find two different sources on it and cite them correctly.

I stole that and put my own twist on it. I gave my students two references from the song. Then I charged them with finding two sources (one on-line and one print) on each reference. Next, they will write a summary of each topic, using a quote or paraphrase from each source. Finally, they will create works cited for each summary.

After that, I want to have them devise a list of ten or fiften historical, political, and pop cultural references from the '90's and '00's. From their list of items, students will then choose one to develop into a short research paper (around four pages or so).

That's the tentative plan. I am also considering having them create web pages via google and then using that web page to create their own version of wikipedia for their list of topics. The emphasis here would not only be on summarization and citation but also in finding connections for each topic that would allow a reader to hop from topic to topic on their webpage, just as you do with wikipedia.