High School Senior English Project Help

[tim21391]

we have to do a senior project in my english class.. we have to write a 5 page research paper double spaced.. then we have to have a presentation.. people are doing theirs on welding, baseball, criminal law, and my teacher suggested that i do mine on my truck since i'm redoing it. he is thinking do it in the nature of autobody. is there any ideas you guys might have concerning this project like what i should research..oh and he said we have to have the thing here..like for the people welding they bring in projects, baseball they have a video of them pitching and such, he said. to have my truck here to present.. so that gives me inspiration to get it done by april when we present. any of you guys have an idea that can lead me into researching for this.. he said i can make a video of what we are doing on it during the build... gives me a good oppurtunity to put at the end of the video when trucks all done of me doing some good donuts

[rambler]

check out the build threads on this site,, some (all) are very good, keep attention to detail, and you can always make a video with those pictures showing the transformation. Also check out the paint and body forum and the Q&A section,, both great places for ideas.. good luck,, sounds like a cool teacher and great project

[1968SWBBigBlock]

Why not do it on restoration overall - You can use a build thread from start to finish as your presentation -
How long do you have to give your presentation?

[tim21391]

doesnt matter he said we will do one presentation per day of class.. so i have an hour if needed...

[clemson71guy]

i had to do the same thing exept mine had to be 10 pages. and i just done mine on truck restoration and next year when im a senior im going to bring in my truck when its done as my product....but my paper failed the state requirments by 2 points lol so i have to rewrite it again

[smoked68]

This is a real good thing for you if you play it right. Rebuild your truck and write it off as educational expenses...Hope you get an A+, good luck. Did mine many moon ago on my 66 Mustang. Don't remember the grade but my dad loved helping me with the homework...

[LuckyHenriksen]

Sweet man. Check my build thread. The whole thing is my senior project, and I have to present within the next few months. I just did mine on a basic overhaul/restoration of the whole works, including freshening motor and swapping transmissions. It has been great for me, because I have so much info in my head from reading magazines and on here, I don't even really have to work very hard to write research papers and make reports. Good luck

[ChevLoRay]

Time limits for presentations suck. Trying to fill an hour is not really any different that trying to limit your presentation to five minutes. But, that hour-long presentation can be practiced and the delivery made and be successful. As long as you impassioned about the topic, you should do great.

[LuckyHenriksen]

That what I thought. I can talk to people all day about my truck and others like it, so I should be able to fill a half hour time period.

[tim21391]

its not an hour long he is saying do one presentation that hour and be done..if we have time left over we do whatever we want

[tim21391]

and i also have to write a research paper to be able to get into the program in mcpherson, ks in the auto restoration program... it has to be a paper of the restoration so i can kill two birds with one stone here

[LuckyHenriksen]

I wrote my 5 page research paper on how people view trucks as work horses, but they have become hot rod icons in the last few years.

[72lb4x4]

Just a few crazy ideas, but, make a list of what the truck needs as far as bodywork goes. For example:

Fenders, dents and rust
Cab, cab corners, some floor, supports
Bed floor, replaced
Bed sides, dents and rust
Inner fenders, ...
Core support, ...

Next create an outline of how repairing these things should happen. Example:

Fenders
Rust, cut out bad bits. Fabricate/buy patches or replace (wuss)
Dents, (Research panel beating), provide details

Once you have an outline (skeleton) flesh it out w/ sentences, paragraphs, etc. to make a presentation.

Chances are good you'll have more than you need and then need to make it shorter. This is better than having to drag things out and make it longer.

Build it in steps to make it easier...

This is pretty much what you hopefully were taught in some English class along the way, or at least I was...

[72lb4x4]

Oh, we were taught to begin and end paragraphs with a "thesis statement" which is something I always thought was stupid, but...

A presentation should have a few words or paragraph as an introduction and an ending paraphrasing the introduction, something like the thesis statement.

The idea is tell them what you're going to say, tell them, then tell them what you said. This way you repeat and make them remember. Teachers (and bosses) love this stuff.

Finally, clean up the English, use good grammar, spelling, etc.

That's creative writing 101 in a nutshell or two posts...

[4x4s4allie]

ahh, the dreaded senior englih project ... i had to do mine on a criminal ... *yawns* ... i chose frank and jesse james ... while everyone chose these nasty mass murderer people ... but who cares to research something they'll never use in their life ...

make an outline ... you'll need a good thesis statement ... you'll need a list of paragraphs (and keep in mind most high schools consider a true paragraph at least 10 sentences) that are the most pertinent ... at least 5 ... (i'm thinking engine, tranny, drivetrain, body work, and then the essential customizations like tires wheels chrome etc.) ... theres 5 good solid topics for paragraphs ... that should well take up 5 good pages, if you do it right ...

the easiest way to present hard facts and details (automotive is definitely that, and a majority of your class isn't going to understand the gear ratio setup or care to understand why you chose to put a 350 in it instead of a 305 or whatnot, so pictures/slideshow would help ... use video clips, pictures, put up quotes in it of details, use inspirational automotive quotes, etc. and create a visual presentation) ... after you present to them the facts and details of it, leave time to take them out, point out what you did to your truck in person, let them ooh and ahh, and then, have a sweet kick butt presentation finish with a good video clip of a burnout if you choose ...

if you need help writing such said paper, i specialized in english and journalism in highschool, and took a good chunk of college classes on the matter as well, so, pm me if you want ... besides, i'm just down the road from you in salina ...

[tim21391]

thanks guys if u have anymore ideas please jot them in a post

[72lb4x4]

Whoa, I guess things got a bit more visual and computer oriented since my horse and buggy days. A good thing no doubt!

For a presentation, practice Say it out loud several times before you do it. Preferably in front of people so you don't clam up like I do...

Good luck!