Objective: In this digital age where we can make friends with people globally, it’s rare to not have a friend, co-worker, family member or acquaintance who was born and/or raised in a different country than the United States. Your assignment is to find a person in your life who is not from the United States. Associate where they are from with the appropriate chapter in the textbook. A good example would be, if you had a friend who was from Germany, you would choose Chapter 8, Europe. Then, you will write a paper based on specific guidelines using your book by interviewing your subject about their home country, and then using the book to help guide your questioning.
It won’t be a hard, but it will take you a bit of time to develop a quality piece of work. You can start on it and submit your paper at any time during the semester, but it is your final project. There will be no final comprehensive exam that encompasses the entire book/semester. This should be way more interesting than that and should really help you hone in on and become more of an expert on a certain part of the physical world. I hope it also provides you with a cool experience to visit with someone with a different cultural experience than you likely have had.
The final paper in the course is going to involve you conducting an interview to learn more about a person who originates from a different world regional geography than you do. This means, I’d prefer that you do not interview someone from the United States. That sounds quite specific yet open ended, doesn’t it? Let me help you narrow it down with specifics.
In your life, you may know someone who originates from a different country or continent, or, someone who’s roots originate from overseas (or another country on our own continent), from a culture much different from your own. The purpose of this final paper is to have a conversation with someone and allow yourself the chance to be immersed in a cultural geography experience. It could be a relative, friend, co-worker, anyone really. Report back to me what you have learned. Please ask the following questions of your gracious interviewee. These are mandatory questions. You may also add questions of your own as they arise, but the following questions are required.
1- Check out this cool blog written about how to conduct an interview. Now, I know you aren’t trying to collect a life story from someone, but you are trying to gain some insight into a person’s life.
https://blog.enwoven.com/home/2016/5/23/how-to-interview-others-to-capture-their-life-stories
2- Write a paper that is at least 7 pages long (it can be as long as you would like it to be and the cover page does not include that 5-page minimum). Double spaced. 12 point font. Arial Font. Please start the paper at the top of the page with ONLY your name and the name of the person you are interviewing. Your writing style can be conversational. You aren’t writing hard news for your local NBC station. This is supposed to be fun and informative for you and for me. Write like you would talk, but depending on who you are, don’t write like a pirate. Enjoy the process! Seven pages will go fast.
Points to consider when answering questions in the body of your paper:
1- Who are you interviewing, and how do you know them? Why did you choose them? Where are they from (be specific)? (10 points). Describe this in detail.
2- Which chapter is best associated with the person you are interviewing? Choose only one chapter, even if the person you are interviewing has extensive worldly experiences. Be clear about the chapter you choose. (10 points)
3- Choose your own unique questions to ask them based on what you learned in the chapter. These questions are of your own choosing and can relate to anything chapter based which you think could help you learn more about the person you have chosen and their culture (in general, since each chapter is basically about culture and more). Initiate at least 7 questions and list them in your paper along with the answers they provide. (10 points)
4- How do these 7 questions relate to what you read about or learned from a potential guest speaker? Pay special attention to trying to connect what you learned to the interview. Be very specific about how what your interviewee’s experience relate to the chapter WITH citation from your textbook. (20 points)
Each of these 4 points must be answered in the body of your paper. You will be graded on content as well as grammar. Please use spell check. You will not be graded on format. I don’t mind which writing format you choose, just be consistent. This is not English class. You do not need to follow APA.
This paper is worth 120 points. 10 points per point (listed above). 20 points for grammar and spelling. 50 points for quality content and effort.
Make up a person, or choose one you know, it would be fine.
Link to textbook: http://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=A8728C4A622F0247957C3F4A1408B7CB
