Senior Graduation Speeches

The two most important things for you to consider as you compose your graduation speech are the purpose of the speech and the audience. Ask yourself why you are standing in front of the illustrious guests sitting before you. Is it to entertain them (no), is it to edify them (no), is it to reveal how Mirman has prepared you to meet the challenges that lie ahead (yes)?

Organization
Speeches are generally organized around a specific theme. Many of the themes listed below are based on the same idea but offer a slightly different angle. Consider the following:

the future/dreams/new beginnings/choices/goals
maturing/change/life lessons/passages/challenges
success/values/education/friendship

You may want to develop your speech around a unifying element (such as a symbol, song, quotation, work of art or literature, metaphor, admirable figure, a personal passion, hobby or interest). Such an element provides a strong focus and makes the speech stand out.

The Beginning of the Speech
You do not have to, but many people start their speech by thanking the audience: Dr. and Mrs. Mirman, the board, the administration and faculty, family and friends, classmates.

Begin with a strong opening. If you are using a unifying element, an anecdote, a quote, an analogy, a song lyric, etc., should be employed in your intro. In any event, make sure your theme is clear and present.

The Middle of the Speech
This is the bulk of your speech.  Keep it engaging.  It may be serious and amusing, poignant and entertaining, all at the same time.  The most important thing is for you to keep your audience interested and your focus clear. If you have a unifying element, make certain that you stick to it in the body.

The following topics are frequently cited:

• Lower School and Upper School trips and assemblies
• Science Fair
• Field Day
• Senior Service
• Thursday breakfasts; Senior lunches
• Third and Fourth Year plays
• Specific course work, units studied or learning moments

The End of the Speech
Alert the audience that you are drawing to a close.  Try to conclude with an impact—you want your speech to be remembered. Consider using the same quote, lyric, or deeply moving thought from the introduction to remind the audience of your theme. You might also want to re-address those assembled, as you did in your introduction.

Requirements

• Absolutely no more than 1 1/4 pages, double spaced (this comes out to two minutes)
• No inside jokes (remember, most of the audience won’t understand what you think is so funny)
• No individual teacher thank you’s

Element Poster

Poster Specs: 12x18 in (300 dpi); Portrait Orientation

Poster Rubric:

• Use of Class Time
• Graphics - Clarity
• Graphics - Relevance
• Required Elements
• Knowledge Gained
• Content Accuracy

Effective Advertisements:

• Simplicity is the key 
• After deciding what you want on the poster, make full use of space, and not crowd letters 
• Keep this message big enough so that people can see it easily from a few meters away
• Be as concise as possible 
• Use only the information necessary to convey your message 
• Don't forget to include the name of your element and/or logo in a visible place.
• The well-known saying "A picture is worth a thousand words" is most appropriate in creating fabulous poster design
• Images must be bold, clear and easy to understand
• Dare to use colors! Use of colors should be done with taste
• Strong contrast in colors' hue and value is essential for creating a good poster design
• Contrasting colors is best when viewing posters from far distances

Instructions:

• Make a draft version of your poster (Proof-read it carefully!) (DUE MAY 4)
• Get someone to double, or triple-check and proof-read it
• Make a final version (DUE MAY 6)

Term Paper

TERM PAPER FORMAT

(For students in 4th Year Science classes) 

INTRODUCTION

The preparation of a research paper -- be it for a class term paper, a professional journal article, a technical report at a job, or a graduate thesis -- may generally be divided into five tasks:

1. Identifying the problem or question to be dealt with; 
2. Collecting data (measured observations and/or bibliographic references) about the problem or question; 
3. Analyzing the data, either by statistical examination of the observations, or by reading, thinking about and organizing the literature; 
4. Describing in an organized and clearly understandable fashion what you did and what you found out; 
5. Putting the results of the research into the required finished format. 

Often the constraints of the format are rather rigid, requiring a great deal of attention to detail. The plus side of this is that you know exactly what is expected; there is little room for subjective evaluation, and you either get it right or you get it wrong.

This write-up describes the rules of the research paper format for this course. A number of the "rules" are really warnings of common errors that students make in preparing papers; a careful reading of these instructions will hopefully keep you from making the same errors. Failure to follow one or more of the instructions in this description will result in a substantial lowering of your grade on the paper.

ORGANIZATION

The text of the paper may be organized / structured in a variety of ways. However, the critical organizational elements are that: (a) there be an organization, and (b) the organization is apparent to the reader. In most cases, the easiest and clearest way to insure structure is to divide the paper into sections, each having a descriptive title. In general, a paper may be grouped into four main sections, as described in the following paragraphs. More sections are possible, depending on the paper length and topic. In each case a figure is presented for how much space each section should take; note that these are just rough estimates and not firm space rules -- adjust them as necessary.

First, the topic should be introduced within the context of some larger problem. For instance, the question of the possible exploration for oil in the Artic National Wildlife Refuge might be prefaced with a brief discussion of the worldwide demand for petroleum products and the U.S. need to be less dependent on outside sources of petroleum. This should take about one-fifth or less of the paper text, though not normally less than about one paragraph. (1.5 or Double Spaced - 1 1/2 pages)

Second, the specific topic of the paper needs to be identified and described. Here you need to define exactly what it is that you will be discussing in the paper. For example, if you are writing about oil exploration in Alaska, what aspect are you going to deal with? Are you concerned with the environmental implications, or the possible effects on the Alaskan economy, or with the details of the actual process of how exploration is undertaken? This should take at least a paragraph and maybe as much as a couple pages, depending on the length of the paper. Normally it will be no more than about one-fifth of the total paper text.

Third, the main body of the paper needs to be presented. This section should be carefully organized in a logical fashion, generally paying attention to the following:

• Select and deal with only 2-4 major points; don’t attempt to cover too much. 
• Avoid simply listing points; instead you should develop and discuss each point at some depth. 
• Organize the points so that the reader knows where you are and where you are going at all times; do not jump around in a disjointed manner. 
• Present just the facts and support them with references to data, either in the form of collected measurements or citations to literature. 
• Do not interject personal comments or conclusions at this point; this is appropriately done in the conclusion / comments section.

The intent of this section is to present the material you have gleaned from your reading and research into the topic. This will commonly take about two-fifths to three-fifths of the text length, depending on the nature of the paper.

Fourth, you need to summarize and/or comment on the points of the paper. Briefly draw together the ideas in the previous section and include any personal observations and comments. Come to some kind of conclusion to indicate that you have thought about the material. Students often do not appreciate the importance of this section and tend to just hurriedly dash something off. Remember, this is where you get to connect together everything else you have written and to make clear any insights that you have gained from the research. This section therefore needs to be clearly written and to say something of relevance. This may take from about one-fifth to two-fifths of the paper.

Each of the main parts of the paper should have a section heading, such as Introduction, Early History, The Current State of Research, Conclusion, etc. Note, for example, the section headings used in this handout and how they serve both to organize the information and to alert the reader about changes in subject matter. When listing a number of points or major ideas, set them apart with bullets, numbers, etc.

WRITING STYLE 
The paper title should be relatively brief, precise and descriptive of what the paper is about. Remember, the title is the first thing that the reader encounters when picking up your paper and it will impact both the first impression of the paper (“This sounds like an interesting paper,”) and the final impression (“Wow, this paper does just what the title said it would do.”) The paper should be written in a professional manner. Clarity, logical organization, and conciseness are of primary importance. Assume that what you are writing will be read by another student who knows nothing about the topic, and include enough detail so that they will understand but not so much that they would be overwhelmed. Avoid the use of either slang or an excessive amount of jargon. Attempt to identify and properly employ only the commonly used professional terms relevant to a subject. If you use a specialized term or one that is likely to be unfamiliar to another student, be sure to explain it. Specialized terms are frequently shorthand for complex ideas, so be sure that the idea is clear or the term will be meaningless and/or confusing. Your goal is to communicate effectively, not to impress your reader with esoteric terminology, and the judicious use of terms can be very effective in helping to communicating ideas.

BIBLIOGRAPHY 
The length of your bibliography will vary with the topic but it will usually consist of more than a couple references. These may be journal articles, proceedings of professional meetings, portions of books, maps, research reports or Internet sources. Note two things:

• An encyclopedia is not an acceptable reference for a college level term paper. 
• While Internet sources are acceptable and may provide valuable information, if a minimum number of references is specified for a term paper, Internet sources are not counted toward the minimum number. In order to count, sources must be from published, peer reviewed / edited literature; this means books, journal articles and technical reports. 

The bibliography should appear at the end of the paper and should include all materials referenced in the paper. It should be organized in alphabetical order by the author's last name. Normally the bibliography is typed single spaced, with a blank line between each entry. Refer to MLA format for preparing your entries.

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Research Paper Topics 

1. Cryonics – Can Science Cheat Death? 
2. Revolution in Evolution – Evolution vs. Intelligent Design 
3. Genius – Myth and Reality 
4. Ecology/Global Warming – Myth and Reality 
5. Environmental Skeptic (Several Topics) 
6. Science & Society (Several Topics) 
7. Chaos Theory and Complexity 
8. Cloning 
9. Skepticism & Religion 
10. Human Population – Explosion vs. Control 
11. A.I. & Theology of UFOs 
12. Human Development – Nature vs. Nurture 
13. Medieval UFOs – Myth and Reality 
14. Anthropology Wars (Several Topics) 
15. String Theory – Science or Science Fiction 
16. PseudoScience (Several Topics) 
17. Open Choice

Macbeth Project

You are to select one of the following options. For whichever you choose, you are to write either an Elizabethan sonnet or a 14 line (or more) poem entirely in couplets. For each, remember poetic devices such as alliteration, sense imagery, figures of speech, consistent rhythm, elevated language. After your poem has been revised, you will create an illustrative background to accompany it, and you will record it as a podcast.

Elizabethan sonnet format:
14 lines of iambic pentameter
3 quatrains (abab, cdcd, efef) and a couplet (gg)

A. RECIPE. Create a witch’s brew.

1. Explain the purpose for which your brew is to be used. Your purpose must have some connection to a theme or motif of the play (e.g., chicken soup cures a deranged mind).
2. Include ingredients and measurements but don’t get too bizarre (please!)
3. Detailed instructions should be included in a step-by-step format. 

B. ANNIVERSARY CARD. From Lady Macbeth or Lady Macduff to her husband or vice versa.

1. Capture the personalities of the characters involved.
2. Consider the time period and action of the play.

C. LADY MACBETH’S LOST MISSIVE. In Act V, Scene I, Lady Macbeth’s gentlewoman reveals that the queen has been “sleep writing.” Write Lady Macbeth’s never before read letter. 

1. Capture Lady Macbeth’s character and state of mind at this point in the play.
2. What might she be writing? To whom? Why?

D. INVITATION TO A BANQUET. The Macbeths are holding a feast and sending out invitations.

1. Decide on an appropriate occasion.
2. Include the important details: purpose, where, when, entertainment, menu, attire, gifts, invitees, etc.