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The virtue and challenge
of a web project is threefold:
1. Multimedia: A web
page combines different media. While a traditional essay uses only texts
as evidence, a web page uses images and sounds as well. This means you
must expand you notion of what a “source” is and what kinds
of support you might wield in making a historical argument. How might
a rowhouse facade or a campaign song tell us about Jacksonian Democracy?
How might a tenement plan tell us about class in New York? Be prepared
to use paintings, songs, buildings, street plans, posters, furniture,
clothing and recorded oral histories as the texts in your page.
2. Hyperlinks: A web
page permits the reader to move around your site (and off and on your
site) in unpredictable, “non-linear” ways. Your argument cannot
pass from point A to point B in quite the same straightforward manner
it would in an essay. establish your overall argumentÊ
on your homepage, including your conclusions. You may not get
to make your whole argument to your reader again, therefore think of
your homepage as the equivalent of boht an introduction and a conclusion
in a traditional essay.
3. Public Access: Your
web page will be accessible to anyone who finds it over the web. Be
sure you present an argument that is clear, compelling, and appropriate.
Just as with an essay, I will ask
for your topic and sources, then an “outline,” “rough draft” and “final draft.”
Topic/Idea and Primary Sources
Think about what kind of question the web can answer well. If your question
concerns mostly the written word, then you might prefer doing an essay. If you have an argument that requires a more
linear approach, than an essay is a better form. A web page lends itself
to more open-ended questions with a variety of aspects and involving
a range of media (images, sounds and texts). The sources may be traditional
or new media sources.
Outline/Diagram and Bibliography
The outline for a web site is a diagram or chart showing your argument
broken down into sub-topics and how each topic links to the others.
The diagram should look something like this:
The outline of a web
page consists of your individual topic, a diagram of your web (home
page and linked pages) and a list of five web sources and five books
you are using as sources. Write out your topic and a bibliographic list
of five web sites and five books. (For citation form see the Research
Essay Tutorial) Diagram what you think your personal web might look
like. Think of this as an essay outline and each page as a body paragraph
(see Research Essay tutorial).
Rough Draft
The rough draft should
be a rough version of the webpage that can be viewed by a web browser.
It should include a home page with an image (map, painting, building,
person, etc.) introduction, thesis and links to supporting pages. The
home page should be finished, while the supporting pages may be in varying
states of completion. Remember to keep track of all citations and to
be collecting primary and secondary sources, visuals and texts, books
and web pages. Shape and revise your argument as you look for support.
Revise your diagram as you go.
Final Draft
The final draft should
be ready to be published as a link to the course web page. It should
be complete, including citations, bibliography, all links. You may want
to consider links not only to outside pages on the web, but also to
other pages constructed for the course by fellow students. The project
will not be considered completed until you give it to the student web
coordinator and it is posted as a link to the course website.
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