Research Process 7 th Grade Author Study Model

Topic Authors This topic is way too broad to cover in one year, let alone in one research paper, so we have to make it a more specific topic.

Narrow the Topic Juvenile Fiction Authors (this is still too broad a topic as it encompasses hundreds of authors). Chose one specific author and focus your research on that one person.

Statement of Controlling Purpose The purpose of this research is to determine three direct connections (synthesized by elements such as setting, character, theme, etc,) between the writings of _______ and his/her own life experiences including the impacts of literary criticism on his/her craft. Note that this statement can be revamped into a thesis statement later to be included in your first paragraph of your research paper.

Guiding Questions What is a guiding question? What is the purpose of a guiding question? What makes a good guiding question?

Questions cannot be answered with yes or no too broad too narrow vague opinionated irrelevant

Questions should be open ended clearly stated relevant answerable

PURPOSE Guiding Questions are used to “guide” your research and help you stay on track. These questions eventually should help you form your thesis. Your thesis contains specific examples that support your statement of controlling purpose.

Irrelevant Model Questions What was his/her favorite color? What was his/her favorite food? Where did he/she go on vacation? When did he/she get married?

Relevant Model Questions: Where did the author grow up? What connection does the setting of their upbringing have on his/her novels/writings? What other places has the author lived or visited? What bearing does this have on his/her novel/writings settings? Why kind of family life did the author have? What connection does that have to do with his/her novels/writings for character development? What other jobs did he/she have before becoming a writer? What connection does that have to do with theme in his/her novels/writings? Who influenced him/her as a writer? What connection or examples of this is displayed in his/her character development or theme of the novels/writings? What is one example of literary criticism written about the author that you can analyze? How has this literary criticism possibly shaped his/her novels/writings linking setting, character development and theme?

Gary Paulsen 1. Brainstorm with a partner one relevant guiding question about Gary Paulsen. 2. After you and your partner write it down. 3. Now turn to your group and share each guiding question that you came up with. 4. Last, try to write two guiding question by yourself about Gary Paulsen. 5. In a four people group, you should end up with 5 questions total. One for each member the first time and one that you create in the end alone. Guiding Questions about Gary Paulsen

Prime Questions Why? Why does Paulsen’s writings have such an interconnection with his life experiences? Why is he such an influential writer to his readers? How? How does he approach the writing process to form his craft?

Research with Librarian WebsiteUsernamePassword Ebscohorry hcs Discusdiscus09 infonow Streamlinefmmedia Destiny Click on this link and select Forestbrook Middle School, then select the second tab for the card catalog. Author Research And Biography Pages Here you can research about your author and see a list of books that they have written. You can also go to the bottom of the screen to see the links to other websites option which usually includes the author’s own website address. This information will help you greatly to fill out your Author’s Personal Data Sheet. Fantastic FictionFantastic Fiction Children’s and Young Adult Authors & IllustratorsChildren’s and Young Adult Authors & Illustrators Young Adult AuthorsYoung Adult Authors Young Adult Authors on the WebYoung Adult Authors on the Web Lexile Search page You can search the Lexile Book Database using basic search parameters:  Title (including partial titles -- e.g., "moon" when looking for "Goodnight Moon")  Author (including partial names -- e.g., "rowl" when looking for Rowling)  Lexile Range (allows a variance around a reader's Lexile measure)  Keywords (searches both the book's title and its description)  ISBN (allows you to target a specific title) MLA Citation Maker This website will be a major aid to you after you have conducted your research and gathered your information on your Source Information Form. You just select what type of source you would like to create a citation for and you plug in data. The citation maker puts all of the information in the correct order with punctuation. Of course you need to also practice this without the website. This is just a great place to double check your work.

Possible end result (focus of the research) How have his/her writings impacted the literary community (readers) because of the staying true to themselves?

THESIS STATEMENT Gary Paulsen’s life experiences and literary criticism have had a direct reflection on his writings as evidenced in the following novels with (setting, character development and theme) A, B, and C. A, B, C are three specific novels that show obvious connections to his life experiences and show shaping through literary criticism.