AB ONLY: Capstone Project - Selecting Your Focus and Doing Research

Capstone Project - Selecting Your Focus and Doing Research

A Capstone Project is an Inquiry-Based Student Interest, multi-step Project-Based Learning, or Real-World Solution Project. This course will have one Capstone project, with several checkpoints.

Capstone Project Concept Review

The theme of this capstone project is Passion. A good first question to ask when seeking a topic for your project is: why did you decide to take Latin in the first place? Was it popular culture (movies or books with mythological themes)? Was it a desire to more deeply explore a mysterious ancient language? Are you fascinated by the history of the ancient world, seeking to understand how people "used to do things"?

Checkpoint Aim

Now that you have chosen what you a broad topic as your passion, you need to choose a focus within your area of interest. You cannot ever hope to cover an entire topic in a single project, which is why it is important to narrow your focus down to more specific aspects of the culture that can provide insights into the bigger picture.

For instance:

• If you chose Roman mythology, select a few related myths to research or work to compare two types of myths that contain a broader message.
• If you chose Roman history, select a specific time period to research.
• If you chose the Latin language, select a particular focus (grammar or vocabulary, etc.) to research.
• And so on

If you aren't sure how to narrow your topic down, please contact your instructor immediately!

Instructions

At this point, you will begin preparing information to compare your topic to something modern. To complete this checkpoint, you will need to:

• Select your focus
• Research your focus in the ancient world (Rome specifically)
  
  • Research background information on the focus in ancient Rome
    • In other words, take a deep dive into specific aspects of your topic
    • You should cite 4-5 sources for this research
• Research your focus in the modern world (this should be whatever you consider your culture)
  
  • Research background information on the focus in the modern world
    • In other words, take a deep dive into specific aspects of your topic
    • You should cite 4-5 sources for this research
  • Is something done the same in the modern world? How is it different?
  • Remember - the overall goal of this project is to compare the ancient practice with a modern practice

Submission

• Continue using your previous Word document. You should already have:
  • Name your topic
  • A paragraph explaining why you are interested in this topic
  • A few specific areas of your topic that you might want to investigate more deeply
  • Bibliography page
• NEW CONTENT. Add:
  • Name your focus
  • Research your focus in the ancient Roman world
    • Be sure to add 4-5 citations (minimum) to your bibliography as you complete this research!
  • Research your focus in the modern world (your culture)
    • Be sure to add 4-5 citations (minimum) to your bibliography as you complete this research!

Submit the Word document

• Submission should be either .docx or .pdf
• Do not submit a weblink. Do not submit any other format.