Evaluations of websites that focus on a particular subject or author will be the basis for this semester's individual reports, which are worth 20 percent of your grade. There are ten topics from which to choose, and they are listed below with due dates.  

Choose a Topic

Choose one of the topics below for your report. As you choose a topic, please note that the due dates have been staggered throughout the semester to coincide with the reading assignments.  Do not choose a due date that will be a problem for you, because assignments that are more than one week late will receive a zero for this portion of the grade. 

Sign Up for a Topic

Topic choices must be made by the end of the second week, February 8. As soon as you have made your selection, notify me by email with your choice. For the first two weeks, I will check my email twice daily. I will let you know personally by return email if you are the first one to choose that topic, and I will keep the class informed on the discussion board as topics are selected.   

Tasks

1. Locate no less than four (4) and no more than (6) websites on your topic.  
2. Critically review the site and possibly compare to printed sources that cover the same information. 
3. Report on the site contents by summarizing what is covered; indicate if pictures or other graphics are provided.
4. Evaluate the site in terms of:

  A.  Authority/Credibility 

        —who is the author and what are his/her qualifications?
        —who sponsors the site?
        —is there a print equivalent to the web page?
        —is the material protected by copyright and the name of the copyright holder given?

            B.  Accuracy 

                 —can factual information be verified in print sources?
                 —are sources for factual information clearly listed for ease of verification?
                 —is the information free of grammatical, spelling, and other typographical errors?
                 —is it clear who has the ultimate responsibility for the accuracy of the contents?
                 —is it clear when the page was written or last revised?

            C.  Objectivity

                 —are opinions clearly stated as such and not masquerading as facts?
                 —is more than one viewpoint presented?
                 —is the information provided as a public service?
                 —is the information clear of advertising?

            D.  Worth 

                 —would the site be helpful if you had to write a report on this topic?  How?  If not, why not?
                 —did the site provide any new information or cause you to look at some aspect with new eyes?
                 —is the organization logical and easy to follow?
                 —what is the strength of the site?
                 —what is the weakness of the site?
                 —would you recommend this site to others interested in the topic?

The Report

Your evaluation report should answer most but not necessarily all of the questions above. Be sure to include accurate URLs for each site. Furthermore, the report should be written as an essay with an introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. You may include a chart of the sites and refer to it in your essay. The criteria of the chart is your decision. Beyond that, the organization of the paper is up to you, but your report should contain both a summary of each site's contents and an evaluation of the site. You may want to divide the paper into a section on good sites and one on not-so-good sites. There is no required word count, but I anticipate that the final product will take about three to five pages.  

Submission

Be sure to submit the report to me via email by the due date. The report/evaluations should be submitted as a Word attachment to the email so that I do not have trouble opening it or posting it to Canvas. Send it to me first, as I want to review the report and grade it before I post it for your classmates.  

Website Subjects:                                                                         
Greek mythology                                           
Homer/Odyssey                                                             
Roman mythology                                          
Canterbury Tales                                          
Poetic forms (sonnets, ballads, etc.)              
Shakespeare's theatre                                  
Emily Dickinson's poetry and life                    
William Blake's poetry and art                      
Franz Kafka's life and work                           
T.S. Eliot's life and work