FALL 2004

Genealogy Project
Understanding Self & Community
Written Communication

Overview: This assignment will help you discover who you are by examining your family’s history. You will complete a family pedigree chart going back to your grandparents. In addition, you will interview family members and write an essay explaining what you learned about your family and yourself.

Task: Interview four family members (preferably both parents and two grandparents). If biological parents are unavailable, you may choose people who cared for you as a child. If grandparents are unavailable, you may interview friends and relatives about your grandparents. Ask for their assistance to complete your pedigree chart and allow them to “talk story” about their experiences and share stories that have been told to them about specific people, events, or ideas. The information you gather from these “talk story” sessions will be used in your essay, so you may want to focus your questioning along those lines.

Submit a folder with . . .

• “Family Resources” page(s) with photos of each family member you interviewed. Provide a list of names, dates, and times for each interview (worth 40 points).
  
• A pedigree chart or family tree going back to your grandparents, or beyond if you can (worth 20 points).
  
  • For a traditional pedigree chart that can be downloaded, typed, and printed, go to <http://www.pbs.org/kbyu/ancestors/charts/>.
    
  • For creative pedigree charts (i.e. tree, fan, bowtie) that can be printed, but the information must be handwritten, go to <http://www.misbach.org/pdfcharts/>.
    
• A well-written essay (500-750 words, double-spaced, worth 30 points) that relates the information you gathered about your ancestors to your present thoughts regarding your educational and career goals. Students must provide the word count and font type (i.e. Times, Helvetica, Geneva) at the bottom of the page. Questions to consider:
  
  • What were the educational backgrounds of your parents and grandparents?
    
  • How did your parents and grandparents choose their jobs or careers?
    
  • Do you possess any similar traits, interests, or aptitudes as your ancestors?
    

Share something you learned about your family and yourself. This will be done in class on the day it’s due. Each presentation will be approximately 3-5 minutes. (worth 10 points)

Late projects will be accepted, but will be assessed a penalty of ten points for each class day a project is late.