The purpose of this checkpoint is do the preparatory/preliminary work needed for MyModule. In Checkpoint One you analyzed a module to figure out how it was structured. In Checkpoint Two you lay the groundwork for your own module.
In MyModule, you create a module similar to the ones you’ve seen in this course. They curate information about an important person from the German-speaking world (Germany – Austria – Switzerland), or someone who was born and educated there but ended living elsewhere (Hannah Arendt, for example, moved to America in the early 1940s when she was in her mid-30s).
To help you find a person you might be interested in studying, consult these lists from Wikipedia:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Germans
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Austrians
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Swiss_people
As you know from taking this course, the people we’ve studied have made an impact on their field of endeavour, and on world or intellectual history generally as well. The person you choose doesn’t have to be as prominent as that, but it should be someone who has made an impact, and about whom you can find relevant or interesting information to curate and present.
To complete this checkpoint, please answer these questions:
- Name the person you wish to study. In one or two paragraphs, make a case for this person’s importance. Why should your audience want to know more about this person? And why is this person of interest to you?
- Identify a biographical source about this person, and provide an abstract/summary of that source. Why is this a good source for MyModule?
- Identify two more content items about or related to your person. Provide abstracts/summaries for each, propose a discussion task for each, and explain how they help expand our understanding of the person you’re studying.
- Write a paragraph outlining what else you need to do to complete your MyModule. You can explain what you else you wish to research about the person, what other kinds of content items you need in order to provide a variety of media (written, audio/video), what you hope your audience will take away from the module. You can also ask any questions you might have; perhaps you’ve hit a research roadblock and aren’t sure how to proceed, or you have other ideas you’d like advice on. Here you have an opportunity to pose those questions.
MyModule will need to have more content items than the three you submit for this checkpoint. (The modules should have around five to seven content items.) But Checkpoint Two isn’t about having a complete module ready, it’s about getting you started on creating one.
Checkpoint Two should be submitted as a PDF file, double-spaced. There is no maximum or minimum word count. There is no grade assigned for the checkpoint; this is a chance for you to start thinking about how to build your own module, and grading might impede that. But you will lose points off your final grade if you don’t submit a checkpoint or submit one that shows little or no effort. If you submit the Checkpoint more than once (e.g. you realize you want to make some changes), I will only look at the most recent submission.
When I return the checkpoint to you, I’ll also comment on the suitability of your chosen person (whether the person is significant in an important way, whether there is enough information available for you to create a decent module). If I suggest you look for a different person to build a module around, that’s okay – the whole point of the checkpoint is to make sure you’re on the right track and to give you enough time to make any necessary changes before actually building your module.