Describe an artist, actress/actor, singer/musician, movie, play, or book

1. Choose an artist, actress/actor, singer/musician, movie, play, or book that you really love. You are going to do some research about your choice and write a brief descriptive essay.

2. Brainstorm some research questions. For example, if I chose the movie Fight Club, these are some questions I can ask:

• What is the plot of the movie? (Plot=story)


• Did the plot make sense or was it confusing?


• What were the visuals like? Did it have good special effects?


• What were the characters like in the film?


• What was the acting like?


• What is my favorite part about the film?


• Who is my favorite character from that film?


• What, specifically, make me like this film so much?


• What kinds of values or ideas about life does this film suggest?


• Was there anything I didn't like about this film?

These are all just general questions. I probably would not use all of them as research questions, but at least I have several to choose from. Now, you brainstorm some questions about your topic. Write them down.


3. Now choose the three most interesting research questions to think about. These are the three questions from my brainstorm that I would probably choose:

• Who is my favorite character from that film?


• What, specifically, make me like this film so much?


• What kinds of values or ideas about life does this film suggest?

4. Now, use these questions to do some further research about your topic. Make sure that you take notes. You will use these notes to make a brief presentation about your topic.


5. Organize your notes. Make sure that you have an introduction and a conclusion.

Volunteering Web Quest

We've been discussing volunteer work in class. This web activity will help us learn more about volunteer opportunities in the United States and around the world. Remember to write down your answers so that you can present your findings to the rest of the class when we are finished with the activity.

1. Think about the different kinds of volunteering you have done. What was it? Did you enjoy it?

2. Go to www.volunteermatch.org. This website is a search-engine for different kinds of volunteering that you can do in different places.

3. Use the search function to find a place to volunteer. You can search by US city or state, or you can search by the kind of thing you are interested in, for example "environment" or "health."

4. Choose one of the volunteer opportunities from your search and note the following:

• The organization--tell us briefly about what the organization is and what they do.
• The area of focus of the volunteer work (women, environment, education, etc...)
• Description of the volunteer work
• Are there any qualifications that a volunteer needs?
• What is the cost, if any, of the program?

5. Does this volunteer work sound interesting to you? Why or why not?

6. Now go to http://www.volunteerabroad.com/search.cfm. This is a website of volunteer opportunities around the world.

7. Use the search function to find a volunteer opportunity. You can search by region, country, and type of volunteer work. I did a search and found a volunteer opportunity to live with a family in Jordan and teach them English, which sounds interesting to me! Find something you are interested in.

8. Note the following information about the volunteer opportunity:

• The name of the organization and other relevant information about it.
• A description and duration of the volunteer program. What are the responsibilities of volunteers?
• What kinds of qualifications, if any, does a volunteer need?
• Does the program cost anything?
• Any other information you think is relevant.

9. Does this volunteer work sound interesting to you? Why or why not?