Project Description and Scoring Guide Overview The research paper represents your effort, and in addition to its content, it informs the instructor about your competence in writing, organizational skills, ability to integrate and synthesize information, use of grammar and punctuation, and overall effort expended in the completion of the work. The written course project should be viewed as a challenge to show your competency in a content domain, an opportunity to express your knowledge, and a chance to show your fluency in written communication. Seen in this light, the assignment becomes an avenue to explore a topic and your creative talents. In addition to completing textbook readings, Web-based readings, and initial and responsive postings to discussion questions, each of you is expected to complete a graduate level paper that follows one of the formats described below. Your paper (that is, your course project) will entail a considerable amount of time, synthesis of thought, and critical analysis. It is therefore worth your while to write a paper at the level of an advanced graduate student in psychology. A paper at this level is a scholarly piece of work. It should be more than just a summary and commentary. It should have a main point that is supported by the evidence that you present. Your organization and writing style is as important as the content you are trying to present. Option 1 The first option for a course project involves the careful summarization and analysis of a major influential thinker in the history of psychology. This assignment requires a minimum of eight references, one of which must be an original source, such as a book or journal article written by the thinker. The purpose of the assignment is to clearly and completely outline the personal life, historical background, and current events that led to the formation of this individual and his or her work. In other words, how might the person''s home life, cultural upbringing, religion, political climate, social conditions, and schooling have come together to shape the individual''s ideas, theories, and concepts? Many of the great psychologists have written autobiographies, and the remainder have all had biographies published. These will provide insight into the man or woman you have chosen for your project. It is not enough to simply cite facts and summarize well-documented theories. Rather, you should speculate and critically examine how these elements might have lead to the insights and writings of the individual, and how these events might have led to the formation of a system, foundation, or theoretical perspective