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Final Project: Online Research Project

Due May 6 — Link submitted in Canvas

The Short Version

You're making a website that explores one or more of our course readings through a literary theory or critical framework you choose. You'll do some research, find multimedia that supports your ideas, and write a short close reading connecting specific passages to your topic. On our last day of class, we'll spend the session exploring each other's projects.

Write in your own voice. This isn't a formal essay — think of it as explaining your ideas to a smart, curious person who hasn't taken this class.

What Your Site Needs

  • A focused analytical lens

    Your project needs to analyze the literature through a specific lens — a literary theory or critical framework (such as feminist criticism, CRT, postcolonialism, new historicism, etc.), a historical lens, or a cultural lens. This is what gives your project depth beyond summary. See the Literary Theory & Frameworks page for resources to help you choose one.

  • Research and context

    Background that helps a reader understand your angle. At least 2 scholarly/academic sources. (A separate guide will explain what counts and where to find them.)

  • Multimedia elements

    Videos, music, images, maps, etc. that give information or support information. A stock photo doesn't add anything; a video of a historian discussing the conditions Jacobs wrote about does.

  • A close reading section

    Zoom in on specific passages and explain what you notice about the language, imagery, or meaning — and connect your observations back to your framework. Your close reading should show how the text looks different through the lens you’ve chosen. Roughly 300–500 words of your own writing, or shorter if you lean into multimodal elements like annotated text with callouts. See the close reading example for what this looks like in practice — notice how each passage analysis connects back to the Marxist framework.

  • A works cited page

    All sources — research, multimedia, and primary texts. Include working links where applicable.

Choosing Your Text(s)

You can focus on a single text (especially for longer works) or pull from multiple texts across the semester. Mixing and matching across weeks is encouraged if it serves your topic. For weeks where we read shorter pieces, your project should address more than one reading from that week.

I. Slavery & Reconstruction

  • Frederick Douglass — Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass
  • Harriet Jacobs — Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl (excerpts)
  • Sojourner Truth — "Ain't I a Woman?"
  • Booker T. Washington — Up from Slavery (excerpts)
  • W.E.B. Du Bois — "Of Mr. Booker T. Washington and Others"

II. Harlem & 20th Century

  • Langston Hughes — "Theme for English B," "The Negro Speaks of Rivers," "The Weary Blues," "I, Too," "Elevator Boy"
  • Zora Neale Hurston — "How It Feels to Be Colored Me," "Sweat"
  • Countee Cullen — "Heritage"
  • Black Arts Movement — Amiri Baraka, "Ka'Ba"; Gwendolyn Brooks, "kitchenette building"; Maya Angelou, "Still I Rise"; Nikki Giovanni, "Nikki-Rosa"

III. Contemporary

  • Octavia Butler — "Bloodchild"
  • Namina Forna — The Gilded Ones
  • Eve L. Ewing — Ironheart, Vol. 1

Example Angles

These are just starting points — you're not limited to these. Note that each of these is a topic, not a complete project. To make any of these work, you'd need to pair it with a literary theory or critical framework. For example, “gendered experiences in Black literature” is a topic — applying feminist criticism or womanism to that topic is what makes it an analytical project.

  • Gendered experiences in Black literature — drawing from Jacobs, Sojourner Truth, and Harlem Renaissance poetry (possible frameworks: feminist criticism, womanism)
  • How slave narratives reveal the preservation of African cultural practices — using Douglass and Jacobs (possible frameworks: new historicism, postcolonial theory)
  • Speculative fiction as a way to process real-world oppression — looking at Butler’s “Bloodchild” alongside The Gilded Ones (possible frameworks: postcolonial theory, Afrofuturism)
  • The debate over Black progress and self-determination — focusing on Washington and Du Bois (possible frameworks: CRT, Marxist criticism)

The Platform

Build your site using Google Sites (recommended) or another free website builder. Your project should feel like something someone can explore and click through — not a document read top to bottom. Think of it as an exhibit, not an essay.

Your site should have multiple pages or clearly defined sections. A typical structure might include an intro page, a background/context page, a close reading page, and a works cited page — but you can organize differently if it suits your project.

Sharing Day — May 6

  • Before class: Submit a working link to your site in Canvas. Test your link ahead of time — make sure it works when you're not logged in.
  • In class: We'll view projects in small groups (2–3 at a time), browsing individually on our own computers.
  • After each round: Quick group discussion, then on to the next set.

Steps Along the Way

You won't be doing this all at once. These smaller assignments build toward the final project:

  • Brainstorming — Due April 5

    Generate ideas and start exploring directions for your project.

  • Topic Proposal — Due April 12

    Narrow down to one topic and tell me what you're planning.

  • Research Check-in — Due April 19

    A few sources you're planning to use.

  • Site Organization Plan — Due April 26

    How you plan to organize your site — what pages/sections you'll need.

  • Drop-in Help Session — April 29

    Class time dedicated to working on your project and asking questions.