Introduction-Dear+Reader

//Dear Reader, //

// I have always been interested about cats, big cats, domestic cats, purring cats, all type of cats. As I grew older, though, I realized that obsessing about them was not the way to go, so I veered off onto a different path. That path was one that an elementary school student would have taken, the evolution of cats. I observed, asked questions, and researched all of the different types of cats, until I got bored. When that day came, I finally took yet another path, just plain evolution. Every chance that I had, I included something about how that particular organism came to be what it is today. This pleased me for a while, but not for long. I became bored with just adding sprinkles of the subject into every little thing I did, and then, this project came along. //

// When my teacher told the class that we were going to be doing a single project for our last unit, I wasn’t very exhilarated. I rolled my eyes and put my head down on the cold, flat, gray desk and closed my eyes, trying to imagine myself buried in a colossal mound of homework. That made me even more upset. Then, my teacher added the one detail that made it all worth while, we could chose any topic we wanted! Once these words were processed through my brian, my head perked up and my eyes were as big as a pig is smelly(pigs are very smelly by the way). She told the class that as long as it was school appropriate, we could research the topic, and my thoughts went immediately towards my life long passion, evolution. She let us out beyond our fences, and allowed us to prance through the meadow of knowledge and interest. I found two websites and one online article that day in class, and as soon as I got home, my dad and I were off to the Morse Institute Library to get some books. //

// Every night, I spent hours learning about the evolution and the history of the Earth from these five resources. My mind was blown and I my fingers were exhausted from typing so much about this one subject, and on May 21st I finished all of my notes. When the notes were e-mailed in I was lost, I was no where near an idea for my narrative! “How in the world can evolution be put into a short story?!”, I asked myself over and over again and then it hit me. This project is was about my passions and what I wanted to do, so I combined something that I was passionate about with something that was every scientists’ dream, time travel. Well, I have to admit that the story was about time travel, but it was close enough. //

// Through the many genres, narrative, comic strip, letter and more, I have made he experience of learning the theory of evolution, much more interesting then a plan old textbook page. This project allows people to be exposed to this scientific topic, in other ways then science and from scientists. All of these different writing styles, I was able to show how I am able to write in the more creative perspectives. It enabled me to show voice in my writing and to put in all of my styles and techniques that I used in the past, but was not able to use in the month before this project. //

// All of the different writings in the Multi-Genre Research Project, the readers are able to view the different fields of the topic in a way that makes the most sense. This facilitates the learning that goes on inside ones brain to compartmentalize the different facts in the most memorable way possible. Doing this has also helped me learn and remember all of the facts that were planted in the compositions. //

// I hope I did a good enough job that everyone has a great time reading this and that all readers walk away with a new piece of information in their pocket to use on a rainy day. //

// Your author, // // Rachael Podtburg //

//Table of Contents // //Evolution Narrative //