Record of Activity and Final Paper (Project)
Record of activity
This is a record of the daily activity that the student completes during the internship. As this record is meant to help produce the final paper (project), it should be more robust than a description of tasks.
The record of activity should seek to describe the tasks and projects the intern was assigned, but also to reflect on how these activities helped the organization accomplish its short- and long-term goals. What is the field in which the organization operates? What's the organization's role and/or position in this field? How is the organization organized? What are the key functions? What constituencies does the organization serve?
The record of activity should also seek to bridge assigned tasks and projects with the student's course of study. Students should consider: How do the activities you've been assigned to do relate to your preparation in the study of English and English literature? Are there particular courses that informed your work as an intern--either in terms of their subject matter focus or their format (lecture vs. seminar style coursework)? How do you anticipate the experience of interning is going to shape your progress through the English major--govern what courses you might take next, or what sort of papers or projects or campus activities you might focus on next?
This is a means by which students can take stock of the skills they've used, the skills they've acquired through this process, the skills that overlap within the workplace and academic setting, and the skills that don't (or that overlap in unexpected ways). For their own sake (i.e., to build a portfolio of samples for future job applications), students are encouraged to be comprehensive in their descriptions of their activity and to ask their intern sponsors for copies of the materials they’ve produced or helped produce while interning.
Final Paper/Project
This 5-page final paper (or equivalently sized project) is essentially a demonstration of how student's internship experiences connect to her/his coursework in the English major. It should be submitted to the Internship Coordinator on the first day of finals week of the internship semester.
This paper should showcase the educational aspect of the internship experience by analyzing how this experience was informed by and will perhaps now inform the student's progress through the English major at Saint Louis University.