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Research Behind my CYOA
http://detroit.cbslocal.com/2017/03/20/arson-suspected-in-fire-which-sent-family-of-6-to-hospital/
This source was the ember that sparked fire in my Arson section of the CYOA. I used it to guide my story in creating a realistic scene for the audience to go through. If you care to read about the non-fiction variant of this case, feel free to click the link and read about the unfortunate family of 6 whose home was set ablaze.
https://www.nij.gov/topics/law-enforcement/investigations/crime-scene/guides/fire-arson/Pages/welcome.aspx
This source created an outline for me. It gave me the steps taken toward solving an Arson case that officers follow. With it, I was able to build the foundation of my Arson story so the overall structure made sense and I wasn't running around willy-nilly trying to make something that made sense in my own mind.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arson
http://criminal.findlaw.com/criminal-charges/arson.html
http://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/detroit/2017/04/27/huron-room-break-in-suspects/100982934/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uSC252vDvPE
http://blog.karenwoodward.org/2014/06/how-to-write-choose-your-own-adventure.html
https://forums.rpgmakerweb.com/index.php?threads/converting-a-choose-your-own-adventure-book-to-a-game.22187/
This source was the ember that sparked fire in my Arson section of the CYOA. I used it to guide my story in creating a realistic scene for the audience to go through. If you care to read about the non-fiction variant of this case, feel free to click the link and read about the unfortunate family of 6 whose home was set ablaze.
https://www.nij.gov/topics/law-enforcement/investigations/crime-scene/guides/fire-arson/Pages/welcome.aspx
This source created an outline for me. It gave me the steps taken toward solving an Arson case that officers follow. With it, I was able to build the foundation of my Arson story so the overall structure made sense and I wasn't running around willy-nilly trying to make something that made sense in my own mind.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arson
http://criminal.findlaw.com/criminal-charges/arson.html
http://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/detroit/2017/04/27/huron-room-break-in-suspects/100982934/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uSC252vDvPE
http://blog.karenwoodward.org/2014/06/how-to-write-choose-your-own-adventure.html
https://forums.rpgmakerweb.com/index.php?threads/converting-a-choose-your-own-adventure-book-to-a-game.22187/
Semester Reflection
One could say that this research oriented class is very close minded and there's only one way to go from point "A" to point "B" but after having taken this class with Professor Brems at College of DuPage, I would say (and hopefully my other classmates will agree) that that is not the case. The second English requirement in order to graduate is widely known for being the "Research Paper" class but we have taken it upon ourselves to innovate and change that formula so that the curriculum is covered in a modernized fashion. This brings me to my little neck of the woods on this site, Crime in Detroit. Our class was given the main topic of "Detroit" as the hub of our research topics. From there we were given pretty much total freedom over what we researched (which is very nice due to allowing us to choose a topic that pertains a particular interest to us).
Detroit as a whole didn't interest me too much but while we chose topics, the idea of creating a "Choose Your Own Adventure" (CYOA) for crime came to mind. Crime is a major issue in Detroit (among other areas) and the idea of giving my audience the perspective of a detective solving cases seemed interesting to me. I thought that it would be a fun and creative way to display knowledge on the topic along with diving head first into an interesting genre of literature I had never had the chance to work with before.
The way I tackled this behemoth of a feat was firstly deciding on a medium to convey it on. After thinking about the traditional way where one flips through pages or clicks through links to get where the end is, I decided to try integrating my programming knowledge into making more of a text based adventure video game. This allowed me to control sound effects (I added a couple just for fun) and control how one progresses through my CYOA along with being sure that my audience read all of the text being displayed instead of simply clicking randomly. Overall I think the product turned out rather well considering it's just supposed to be a player driven story (to an extent).
Crime is a very vast subject that I was only able to cover a small fraction of, but I did cover the two largest issues currently residing in Detroit: one being Arson, the other being Burglary. The direction I took when creating the story was to adapt modern cases from Detroit and turn them into somewhat of a fiction story so I was able to wrap the case up and dress it up the way I saw fit. Locations, quantities, and duration of the case vary from the actual felony but they get their point across.
Thanks to my sources, I was able to progress the story the same way an actual detective would when solving such a case. I was able to locate actual sentences that criminals would receive if they were charged with such a felony as well. This approach gave me the ability to educate without actually educating. Basically, if you follow the story, you understand how a detective goes about working through a case. Within my annotated bibliography I go into a bit more depth on the matter.
The class teaches students how to really get their hands dirty when researching a topic and opens our minds to finding out what we want to know. This website hub creates a space for all of us to gain more knowledge on Detroit as well as providing us with numerous methods of tackling research. To an extent we all did things differently and that was one of the beautiful parts about this class.
Another great part about dedicating a semester of work toward a single project is that your peers can see, critique, and appreciate the effort everyone has collaboratively made. I was given the opportunity to present a trial version of my project at an English Fair and everybody that got the chance to try it ended up loving it, and it's all thanks to peer critique. Having a second set of eyes look over your work is absolutely required for success I'd say, and that doesn't go just for research projects but just life in general. A little philosophy for you for reading this far.
In short, this class allows students to express themselves creatively while also blocking in important information. There is plenty of potential to grow as a creative mind, but also as an analytical and informative mind throughout the semester, and if you embrace it with open arms, you'll forget it was a requirement and almost take it as an enjoyable extra-curricular. Giving students no limits on tackling a subject can be stressful to some, but the overall outcome is success due to the freedom to create something the way you see fit and developing pride in it as you go.
Detroit as a whole didn't interest me too much but while we chose topics, the idea of creating a "Choose Your Own Adventure" (CYOA) for crime came to mind. Crime is a major issue in Detroit (among other areas) and the idea of giving my audience the perspective of a detective solving cases seemed interesting to me. I thought that it would be a fun and creative way to display knowledge on the topic along with diving head first into an interesting genre of literature I had never had the chance to work with before.
The way I tackled this behemoth of a feat was firstly deciding on a medium to convey it on. After thinking about the traditional way where one flips through pages or clicks through links to get where the end is, I decided to try integrating my programming knowledge into making more of a text based adventure video game. This allowed me to control sound effects (I added a couple just for fun) and control how one progresses through my CYOA along with being sure that my audience read all of the text being displayed instead of simply clicking randomly. Overall I think the product turned out rather well considering it's just supposed to be a player driven story (to an extent).
Crime is a very vast subject that I was only able to cover a small fraction of, but I did cover the two largest issues currently residing in Detroit: one being Arson, the other being Burglary. The direction I took when creating the story was to adapt modern cases from Detroit and turn them into somewhat of a fiction story so I was able to wrap the case up and dress it up the way I saw fit. Locations, quantities, and duration of the case vary from the actual felony but they get their point across.
Thanks to my sources, I was able to progress the story the same way an actual detective would when solving such a case. I was able to locate actual sentences that criminals would receive if they were charged with such a felony as well. This approach gave me the ability to educate without actually educating. Basically, if you follow the story, you understand how a detective goes about working through a case. Within my annotated bibliography I go into a bit more depth on the matter.
The class teaches students how to really get their hands dirty when researching a topic and opens our minds to finding out what we want to know. This website hub creates a space for all of us to gain more knowledge on Detroit as well as providing us with numerous methods of tackling research. To an extent we all did things differently and that was one of the beautiful parts about this class.
Another great part about dedicating a semester of work toward a single project is that your peers can see, critique, and appreciate the effort everyone has collaboratively made. I was given the opportunity to present a trial version of my project at an English Fair and everybody that got the chance to try it ended up loving it, and it's all thanks to peer critique. Having a second set of eyes look over your work is absolutely required for success I'd say, and that doesn't go just for research projects but just life in general. A little philosophy for you for reading this far.
In short, this class allows students to express themselves creatively while also blocking in important information. There is plenty of potential to grow as a creative mind, but also as an analytical and informative mind throughout the semester, and if you embrace it with open arms, you'll forget it was a requirement and almost take it as an enjoyable extra-curricular. Giving students no limits on tackling a subject can be stressful to some, but the overall outcome is success due to the freedom to create something the way you see fit and developing pride in it as you go.