Cottrill

LIBA 110

Happiness Project
Throughout the semester we have tried to address several questions including what makes people happy and how people
create happiness in their lives. Weve explored what it means to be happy while negotiating life circumstances, and our
readings and discussions have shown that people from all walks of life have explored happiness and tried to even create more
happiness. But how possible is it to create happiness? Your final project for this class takes up this question and asks you to
create your own, mini, happiness project.
As a class, we will create our own version of Gretchen Rubins book The Happiness Project. Using both primary and secondary
research, we will create a collection of happiness research projects. This means each of you will write an original research
paper that situates your understanding of happiness in scholarship. To do this, you will design a brief experiment to try to
create more happiness, and then use your findings to help inform a revised or new understanding of happiness for a modern
audience. In other words, what can your readers learn from your findings?
Assignment: Using the model set out by Rubin, each of you will conduct a two-week experiment in an attempt to increase
your happiness. Like Rubin, we have and will continue to spend a lot of time looking at what others say about happiness. You
will build on this vast amount of knowledge and try to implement a single resolution. You will practice this for two weeks,
keep track of your progress daily, and then write about your experience and findings at the end of the two weeks. At the end
of the semester, we will share our findings and each of you will post your happiness project to your web portfolio so others
can read and learn from it.
Audience: Your happiness project should be written to a broad audience with a variety of previous knowledge, all of which are
interested in the topic. You may have readers who know a lot about happiness and readers who know nothing about what has
been said in the past about happiness. That means you will need to provide relevant information, clear explanations, and must
build your credibility by providing evidence and credible research.
Parts of your Paper: Your happiness project results will include
An introduction that engages your reader, introduces the theories of happiness that inform your understanding,
explicitly states your purpose, and gives your reader an idea of what to expect from the rest of your paper.
A body that includes several sections (each of which will be multiple paragraphs). Your paper will have a section on
the design of your happiness experiment, a section that summarizes the day-to-day successes and/or failures of your
experiment, a section on the results of your study, and a section on what can be learned from you experiment.
A conclusion that wraps up your argument without restating your points.
A works cited page as well as MLA in-text citations.
Format: Your paper should:
Be typed, double-spaced, using Times New Roman (or comparable) 12 pt. font, and follow MLA standards.
Include a complete research log (which must be attached as an appendix, and you must have it in class).
Include 8-10 credible sources from your source list/annotated bibliography, and MLA in-text citations and works cited
page.
Be approximately 8-10 pages.
Assessment: Your essay will be graded based on the rubric on Blackboard.
Important Dates
Introduction of Assignment Sheet
Research Proposal
Keep Research Log
Rough Draft Due on Blackboard
Final Due on Blackboard

Tuesday 10/14
Thursday 10/16
Week 10-11 (10/27 11/2)
Tuesday 11/11
Tuesday 11/25