English Credit Independent Study
(3 pages: DM 8/20/2005)
The English Independent Study focuses on reading and writing in response to cultural
experiences chosen by the student. Your project must have the following weekly
components. Writing is due by email by Sunday at 5 o’clock. It is then due at your
weekly meetings, printed and presented in your English Independent Study binder. All
projects are structured as described in this handout.
One student started with the art of film. The italics below describe his process, which will
serve as a model for your project.
1.) Take part in a cultural experience:
We started with the films of Akira Kurosawa and then expanded to a "great director"
series. He went to a film series at Jacob Burns Film Center in Pleasantville, an exhibit at
The Museum of Moving Image and watched DVDs at home.
2.) Find print resources that deepen your understanding of the cultural experience:
For instance, find an article on the web or at the library. Read. Print out or photocopy. Put
these in your English Independent Study binder. Email the web links to Rob/Peg every
Sunday.
His requirement was to read about the director, the movie and an actor. He researched
biographical information about Kurosawa and one of his actors, Toshiro Mifume. He
read a critical study of Kurosawa’s film style. He watched the film “Ran”a 2nd time with
the voice-over commentary by a film critic.
3.) Create a piece of writing which incorporates something of the experience:
Allow the experience and your reading to trigger writing ideas that are meaningful to
you. The requirements for the writing are the same as they are for a regular LA piece.
These are finished pieces, with drafts, a final copy and a self-evaluation. Print out the
response and put it in your English Independent Study binder. If your rough drafts are in
your regular LA journal, photocopy them and add to your print out in your binder. Email
these responses to me every Sunday. We’ll follow-up at our meetings.
He responded to the movies with a variety of writing – poetry, short prose reflections,
critical essays, film reviews, and etc. For Ran, He wrote an essay discussing Kurosawa’s
camera techniques. He wrote a poem inspired by the final image in the film.
4.) Keep an itemized time log of experiences:
This should be the 1st section of the English Independent study binder. Email this
updated log to Rob/Peg each Sunday.
6.) Meet with project advisor every week - (NOTE-not every week during certain
times):
During these meeting we can handle everything related to your project.
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Requirements:
1st Week: Talk to Rob/Peg and agree on an initial focus for your English Independent
Study. Write a project proposal of no more than one page. Email this to Rob/Peg as
described above and put it your EIS binder. Log the time you put into your meeting and
the writing.
1. Your Binder:
a.
Keep organized in chronological order, 1st to last.
b.
For each experience, put your written work on top, then the readings. Paper clip
these together.
c.
Keep a Log of Experiences/Reading/Writing/time for each week, in this format:
Week of October 15:
Experience: Watch Citizen Kane – 2 hours
Reading: Pauline Kael's essay, "Raising Kane" (extended reading #1) - 2 hours.
Writing: Poem – “The Empty Room.”- 2 hours
2. For All Written Work (typed & spell checked):
a.
Proper Headings on all written work, the same for LA:
Your Name / English Independent Study / Experience: (Citizen Kane by Orson Welles)
Title of Piece / Include a Self-Evaluation explaining how the written piece connects to the
experience.
3. For printouts:
a.
Write on top of each article what experience it goes with (for example: Citizen
Kane). Print articles out in as small a font as possible (to save space).
4. Credit Minimums: 1 Full Credit = 40 experience/article/writing packets and 12
extended readings of 10+ pages. 120 hours.
5. Student Sign-Off for the Project:
I understand the requirements. My first piece is due on Sunday, ____________________.
My first weekly binder check is: ______________________. (**NOTE: during certain
times in the year, we may not meet every week, but your work is still due each Sunday
via email.)
Signed:
__________________________________.
My email:
__________________________________.
My mom or dad’s email:
__________________________________.
Rob’s email:
Peg’s email:
rangiello@pnwboces.org
pcioffi@pnwboces.org
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Examples of English Independent Study Projects:
These are only 4 of the many ways you can organize your project. Many students explore
more than one focus. We’ll discuss your options at our weekly meetings.
Film Studies: see above for an example.
Literature Studies:
One student focused his project on poetry. He began with the Beats and their influences.
He read the poetry of Walt Whitman, William Carlos Williams, Gregory Corso, Allen
Ginsberg and other artists. He went to poetry readings in NYC. He wrote poetry sparked
by the poetry he was reading and hearing.
Art Studies:
One student went to museums in NYC where she did freewrites on site. Later, she turned
them into creative pieces. She also watched documentaries about artists, read critical
essays and then wrote essays of her own.
The Natural World:
One student wanted to explore the natural world near his home. He bought a Peterson’s
Tree ID guidebook and a guide to day hikes. He read books concerning the natural world
He read Into the Wild by John Krakauer and essays by Wendell Berry. He wrote poetry
and prose connected to his experiences. For instance, he took his journal on all his hikes,
and the writing he did became the rough drafts for his finished pieces.
**Hard to Categorize Experiences That You Can Add to the Mix:
Say you go to Rockefeller Park. You can turn this into English Independent Study credit
by finding an article on the Hudson, or on the Hudson River School of painters. Your
writing could be inspired by the view or maybe by some aspect of the reading.
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