In order to bring light to influential figures who positively impacted our world, we were tasked with highlighting their accomplishments through a blog post, speech, learning center, and annotated bibliography. From October 11 to November 25, we conducted research from credible sources, connected our findings with our personal experiences, created a five-minute speech, and challenged ourselves with finding interactive ways of demonstrating the eminence of our chosen notable. For my project, I chose to focus on Beatrix Potter, the author of numerous written works, the most famous of which is undoubtedly The Tale of Peter Rabbit. 

A link to the script of my speech about Beatrix Potter can be found here, a link to the Eminent page on my blog, containing my highlights of a notable’s achievements and my annotated bibliography,  can be found here, and pictures of my learning center which was presented at Night of the Notables on November 27 can be found here.

3) I respond to the work or ideas of my peers in a way that is compassionate and productive.

As a strong believer in collaboration, teamwork, and mutual growth, I was very active in providing and receiving constructive criticism and valuable feedback while my class was in the process of constructing our speeches. I gave suggestions they could consider to achieve a more effective structure or create a greater impact. I also commented on grammatical errors such as incorrect usage of commas or verb tenses. To promote constructive learning, I always included multiple positive remarks and strived to preserve their voice and writing style, rather than attempting to entirely rewrite their speech.

10) I identify and discuss bias in research sources.

Since the eminence of individuals can be a highly controversial topic, I always considered the background of the author who wrote each article. For instance, I weighed information from someone who had personally encountered and interacted with Beatrix Potter more heavily than the insight of an individual who has simply collected and compiled information from other sources. In addition, I consulted various sources to ensure that the information I was absorbing was credible and not contradictory. 

13) I attribute credit to ideas that are not my own by preparing a bibliography/works cited and by using in-text citations.

To give back to my community and attribute credit where credit is due, I created an annotated bibliography that I posted on my blog.  In this bibliography, I provided summaries of websites I found particularly beneficial to direct others to credible resources and formated the works in MLA format, an academic standard that will ensure others receive important information like the publishing date. The sources range from essays explaining Beatrix Potter’s secret coded journal and her enchanting writing style to documents of her lifelong love for nature and exemplary artwork.

15) My work demonstrates a positive, productive, and empathetic worldview.

Because the purpose of this project was to appreciate and praise various individuals for their hard work and dedication, my objective was to highlight the accomplishments and difficulties that Beatrix Potter faced throughout her life, with regard to the lingering impact she has on the world today. I wished to inspire others to follow her example and to challenge themselves to seek improvement and innovation, just like Potter did with her cultivation of beautifully illustrated children’s books suitable for small hands.