Project Narrative Assignment Sheet

Senior Capstone Project

While exploring a line of inquiry for an extended period of time, especially when that
exploration is attached to a long-term project of some sort, it is helpful to pause, take stock,
and actually attempt to communicate what it is that is driving this inquiry, what you’ve
discovered, etc. Sometimes this move to finally articulate the thinking you’ve been
involved in clarifies your thinking in ways you’d expect. More often, though, the synthesis
that you must undertake to complete this step reveals exciting connections and leads to
discoveries you might not otherwise have had.

We are at the point in the Capstone Project that a synthesizing moment like this will be
helpful, so take some time to complete what we are calling a Project Narrative.

DESCRIPTION
Your Project Narrative is essentially an informal proposal and will include the following
specific sections:

● INTRODUCTION: a paragraph or two explaining your central question, your topic,

and, briefly, your research plan
○ My central question for my Senior Capstone Project is whether life is
determined for if humans have free will to make their own, uninfluenced
decisions. Additionally, I would like to explore how humans grapple with
this debate on an individual basis and how people can utilize these concepts
to better their understanding of their own lives. This debate of free will
versus determinism will allow me to revisit Scott’s Better Living Through
Criticism and Greenblatt’s Rennaisance Self Fashioning and explore if
people have the ability to make their own decisions and opinions separate
from their given situations. The situations that I will be exploring include
birthplace, family life, culture, childhood experiences, social class, and
financial backgrounds. My research plan will begin with individual
exploration using various videos, databases and scholarly articles detailing
this philosophical debate. Next, I will speak with Mr. Diez-Williamson to
investigate his take on this subject and learn from his personal and
educational experiences regarding my topic. Finally, I will investigate my
topic on a larger scale by analyzing information from my external subject.
● SUBJECT MATTER EXPERTS: a list of potential internal and external subject
matter experts, how they connect to your topic/question and what you hope to learn
○ Internal:
■ Gordan Mathis
■ Alex Diez-Williamson
 ■ Ayesha Fakhrid-deen
○ External:
■ Andy Abrams
● TIMELINE: a personal capstone project calendar (what you need to accomplish +
when, as detailed as you need it to be)
○ Research Timeline:
■ February 7: I will begin to discuss with DW internally, and externally
I will begin to familiarize myself with Sigmund Freud, Aristotle and
Viktor Frankl’s theories on my chosen topic. Additionally, I will gain
a basic understanding of the argument; this research may lead me to
add or remove external sources to my list. Additionally, I will get my
father’s take on this as someone who is very interested in philosophy
and the most opinionated person I have ever met.
■ February 13: I will discuss my topic with Gordon Mathis and Ayesha
Fakhrid-deen and will deepen my research of Sigmund Freud,
Aristotle’s and Viktor Frankl’s theories and what lead them to
formulate these theories.
■ March 13: I will formulate my thesis and opinion of whether humans
have free will or if the decisions people make are all predetermined.
● The remaining steps are dependent on the discoveries that I
make in the previously outlined steps, and therefore I will
have to update my timeline as I move along,
● THE SCHOLARLY CONVERSATION: a list of important scholarly voices on your
topic and a brief explanation of why they’re on this list
○ Sigmund Freud
■ Freud was a strict determinist, so his opinions will be an important
element in providing a diversity of opinions throughout my research.
Additionally, Freud was an extremely renowned philosopher has
greatly influenced the study of philosophy and the human mind.
○ Viktor Frankl
■ By using Frankl’s work, I will be able to explore how individual
humans react to the events which occur throughout their lives and
how this helps to prove or disprove the theories of determinism and
free will.
○ Aristotle
■ Aristotle, unlike many modern philosophers, believed in free will and
the idea that humans have the choice to do or not to do and that this
choice is voluntary. His ideas, therefore, will be important to
contradict Freud’s theories and help facilitate a discussion regarding
both Freud and Aristotle.
 ○ Steven Greenblatt
■ I will be referencing Rennaisance Self Fashioning to explore how
external events and internal forces affect the formulation of self and
identity.
○ A.O. Scott
■ I will be referencing Better Living Through Criticism to explore of
external events and internal forces affect one’s taste.
● INITIAL THOUGHTS: a collection of possible speculative answers to your research
question (written in paragraph/s? as a mindmap? in bullet points? Choose a format
that makes sense to you.)
○ In my opinion, every decision that we make and the event that results in this
decision is situated in our surroundings. These surroundings include financial
status, social class, culture, upbringing, etc…

LOGISTICS
5 Feb, 8am
MANDATORY IN-CLASS PEER REVIEW - Print + Bring Two Copies to Class (DO NOT
WAIT UNTIL CLASS TIME TO PRINT) AND Upload this as a Word Document on
Canvas
14 Feb, 9am
Revised Project Narrative Due - submit a link on Canvas to this specific page on your
portfolio website