project 3: 50pts.
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mini-memoir.
This project is a combination of Project 2 (multi-genre research)
and the Fake Assignment.
It is a small autobiography, also known as a memoir, about you.
The catch is that it will be written in 3rd person. And it’s multi-
genre since you’ll site multiple fake sources.
Yep.
Step 1: You will create a Works Cited list of 5 Fake Sources
written about you or by you (see sample to the right). This
includes:
a book,
an article,
a web site,
a personal interview, and
a movie.
Step 2: You will write about your life up to this point, using the
Fake Sources. Basically, the information is true, but the sources
are fictional. [This part needs to be at least 500 words in length,
so it’s short – focus on the important parts! (Anything under 500
could see a 50% deduction.)]
Step 3: Make sure you have used the sources correctly. For each
source on the Works Cited page that is correctly cited, you’ll earn
5pts (25pts total to earn). For each source in-text that is correctly
cited, you’ll earn 5pts (25pts total to earn). See sample to the
right.
Step 4: Proofread. Have someone else read it aloud if you don’t
want to.
Step 5: Add a very, very cool title. This will earn you 10pts (or
cause you to lose 10pts – yikes!). See sample to the right.
project 3 checklist:
= Works Cited list of Fake Sources (25pts to earn or lose). This
includes: a book, an article, a web site, a personal interview, and a
movie. Five (5) points per citation means using those periods
correctly!
= You will write about your life up to this point, using the Fake
Sources, 500+ words. (The 500+ can include the WC sources; the
sample to the right is a little over 500 words.)
= For each source in-text that is correctly cited, you’ll earn 5pts
(25pts total to earn or lose).
= Proofread. Have someone else read it aloud if you don’t want to.
Over 10 errors (spelling, punctuation, etc.) = 50% deduction.
= Title? Creative ones earn 10pts, remember!
One Disco Ball Short of a Nerd Party
She “wasn’t born with a disco ball in her bedroom or
anything,” but she knew how to do a few disco moves by
the age of 2. When a person is born in the 70s, they tend
to know a few moves that where tossed around by a young
John Travolta (Priebe).
The story goes that Sybil was late, as in a whole
month over her due date. Her mom even carried boxes when
they moved at the beginning of January, but she stayed
put until January 25th. After that, it was said she was
never late. She must’ve gotten it out of her system
(Parker 17).
She liked being the only kid, even if it was short-
lived. Her imaginary friends were Connie, Bonnie, Ronnie,
and Tawnie; what she lacked in creativity of names, she
made up for in the stories these friends told her. Later
on, she’d look to books to push her imagination, as her
siblings – all three of them – “pushed each other around
like UFC fighters” in the middle of the living room
(DeGeneres 47).
The pushing she was more inclined to was on the
cross-country path or the fake grass of a tennis court.
During her senior year, her team would head to state for
the first time. Sybil was even nominated for Miss Tennis
of North Dakota, but lost to “some chick from Bismarck
with a better record” (DeGeneres 48).
While they didn’t capture a state title, she did head
up to North Dakota State for Architecture after
graduation. Those books, though, crept back in and she
switched to an English major. After a brief, but creative,
stunt as a high school English teacher in the lakes
country of Minnesota, Sybil snuck back up to Fargo and
her alma mater for graduate school.
Eventually, her siblings would follow her to NDSU.
Her parents got smart and purchased an older home for
them to crash in; the stories shown in the documentary,
Fargo Bradshaw, display that time period. This connection
would take them into adulthood, making them closer than
other siblings they knew.
The documentary also showed her acquiring her first
“big purchase after college” – a VW bug and taking on the
responsibility of caring for an abandoned kitten “who
wasn’t originally going to be under [her] care anyhow”
(Priebe).
Later on, after settling into a career as a community
college instructor, Sybil would go onto creating a web
site of her writings, videos, and blogs called 47 Pairs.
It includes her teaching blog and various oddly
existential flash fiction pieces.
Works Cited
47 Pairs. 05 Dec 06. Fallopian Online Incorporated. 10
Jan 09. www.47pairs.com
DeGeneres, Ellen. “99 Problems But Her Hair
Ain’t One.” F-O: Fly Over State Magazine. January
2007: 47-48.
Fargo Bradshaw. Dir. Steven Spielberg. Perf.
Jessica Simpson, Amanda Peet, Cameron Diaz, and
Zach Galifinakis. T & P Distribution, 2009. DVD. Plan
Z Distribution, 2010.
Parker, Sarah Jessica. Fargo Bradshaw.
Minneapolis; T & P Publishing, 2005.
Priebe, Sybil. Personal Interview. 14 Dec 09.
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