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Table of Contents
Cover Page .. pg. 1
Academic Honesty Form .... pg. 2
Table of Contents pg. 3
Introduction . pg. 4
Objective A: Investigating .. pg. 5
Objective B: Planning . pg. 6
Objective C: Taking Action pg. 7
Objective D: Reflecting .. pgs. 8-9
Works Cited ... pg. 10

Introduction

The topic of this project was to inform people about current events including 9/11, the
Syrian Refugee Crisis, and the Paris Terror Attacks through poetry. The goal was to raise
awareness about current events in a new way of interesting poetry and originally stories. The
global context of this project was Identities and Relationships. This connects to my project
because the poems that I wrote were each about specific cultural things and were in the point of
view of several different types of citizens.
The poems explored the essence of identity among groups of people such as the Syrian
refugees, Muslims in America, and the French. They informed about different ethnic groups and
the feelings toward them. It also raised awareness about the relationships among family and
government in the world for different cultures. The poems explained culture and communities
around the world along with the common goals of mankind such as finding peace and ending
violence.

Objective A: Investigating
As a pre-planning activity I spent a lot of time researching different current events about
many different topics. I originally planned on writing news articles about the Iran nuclear deal
and the Greece financial problems. I read several news articles and found different opinions and
perspectives on each of the events. By researching the different perspectives, my poems were
influenced to be in several points of view. I studied several recent news stories before
determining the most relevant and interesting, and I learned more about society and how people
view world events. All of these opinions combined to influence the poems.
Prior knowledge that I had about each of the poetry topics also influenced the poems that
I wrote. I knew quite a bit about 9/11 before starting my project so I used that background
knowledge to write. Also, I spent time watching the news each day to learn more about the
Syrian Refugees since I knew the least about that topic. The news informed me about the
situation that the Syrians are in and helped inspire the poems Freedom, Growing Up, and A
New Day. I did not know much about the Paris attacks either so I gained new insight on terrorist
groups and the French through my research.

Objective B: Planning
I spent the most time of this project planning. I wrote drafts of each of the poems that I
wrote, and I also had to plan out the layout of the website. First I had to decide what current
events to write about. I originally was going to focus on more topics, but I narrowed it down to
three: 9/11, The Syrian Refugee Crisis, and the Paris Terror Attacks. I had to create an outline
and timeline to follow to work on my project. I also evaluated different research path to reach my
objective. Then I selected a design for my website. I created a website on Weebly which had the
topics on the top with a drop down menu. It included overviews about the topics for background
knowledge and later I decided to make a section called Connect so that visitors could make
global interactions.
Originally I was going to write both stories and poems, however with homework, math
team, and band I decided to only write poems to save time and ensure quality material for the
website. After creating a research path, I had to begin actually writing and planning out each of
the poems. It also took some time to plan out how to design the website once the layout was set. I
did determine that I did not need any public help such as interviews or questionnaires to
complete the project. The planning took quite a while but I was able to write three poems per
global topic and create a product on time and with quality work.

Objective C: Taking Action

The first thing I did was plan through reading and watching the news. I planned out the
website and the poems. Then I spoke with Mr. Karram to understand how to format the website
more effectively. I began writing and editing my poems and researching information about each
of the topics. I dedicated time each week to write and brainstorm ideas for the poems. I used the
internet to research specifics about September 11th, The Syrian Refugees, and the Paris Terror
Attacks. I consulted news websites and also for the connect section I researched different
charities and organizations for each of the events. For 9/11 the History channel was most
informative, and the BBC News was very helpful in understanding the Paris Terror Attacks and
specifics on each of the bombs and gunmen.
There were certainly both successes and challenges with this project. I first met a
challenge in the beginning when I did not know how I wanted to write my poems. Then I got
very busy with school and did not have time to complete my stories. I had to change my plan and
only write poems instead of poems and stories. I found great success within that though, as I
wrote several poems about each of the topics. Another success I had was creating a global
context and sense of purpose on my website. The poems were varied and the connect section
really made a global connection about solving crises and finding world peace.

Objective D: Reflecting
The final product was very successful in my opinion. It followed my plan and everything
was finished the way I wanted it to in the end. I found a lot of success within the actual poetry
writing, as I wrote several poems about many different global topics. Another success I had was
creating a global context and sense of purpose on my website. The poems were varied and the
connect section really made a global connection. The poems each targeted a specific group of
people and were all different in the sense they had different perspectives and made many global
connections. I wrote about different cultures and different viewpoints, and I had an interactive
section where people could visit different websites to learn more about current events and also
donate towards charities and foundations to help and honor the victims and other people involved
in each of the events and tragedies. All in all, the whole website was very world oriented and
highlighted different perspectives around the globe.
I feel that several things could have possibly been done differently with this project. If I
had been allowed more time I would have definitely written more poems and also included a
story section where I would write stories in the point of view of different people. I would have
spent more time focusing on writing different topics and making an even larger effort to include
a global context. Another thing that could have been done differently is if I had conducted
interviews with people who have a connection or insight on each of the current global events. I
could have interviewed Muslim-American, immigrants, French, professors, journalists, and other
people who have a connection to each of the events.
This project actually had quite an impact on me. I learned a lot about September 11th, the
Syrian Refugees, and the Paris Terror Attacks. I feel more connected to each of the people and

groups who were affected and learned more about the world. This project taught me about time
management as well, and also gave me self confidence in conducting research. Since I want to be
a political scientist, this gave me some background in conducting research and writing. I actually
want to continue this website to raise awareness about the people of the world. This project
helped me become a better worker and learn more about self-conducting an idea and putting the
wheels into motion to actually get something done by myself.
Some new insights that I could use are interviewing people and reading from more
sources. If I interviewed Muslim-Americans I could write more accurate poetry. I feel that by
having more voices I could have gone further in fostering interaction around the world and also
to understand more about whats going on in the middle east. Having a larger amount of people
helping me to write would be the most helpful and also create a sense of more global interaction.

Works Cited
History Staff. 9/11 Attacks. History.com. A&E Networks. 2010. Web. 11, Feb. 2016.
www.history.com/topics/9-11-attacks
World Vision Staff. What You Need to Know: Crisis in Syria, refugees and the impact on
children. World Vision. 27, Jan. 2016. Web. 12, Feb. 2016. www.worldvision.org/newsstories-videos/syria-war-refugee-crisis
Chalabai, Mona. Where are the Syrian refugees going? the guardian. 29, Jan. 2014. Web. 12,
Feb. 2016. www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2014/jan/29/where-are-the-syrianrefugees-going
BBC Writers. Paris Attack: What happened on the night. BBC. 9, Dec. 2015. Web. 12, Feb.
2016. www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-34818994

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