EIII Research Paper Spring 2011 Author study

Research Project Parts… Part 1: Title Page Part 2: Author Biography Part 3: Historical Context Part 4: Theme Analysis Part 5: Character Analysis Part 6: Style Analysis Part 7: Personal Response Part 8: Works Cited Part 9: Oral Presentation on two aspects of your project Part 10: Daily productivity log

Formatting Rules Each section of the report will appear on a separate page Each page must have the proper title All quotes used in the paper must be properly cited Typed in Times New Roman, 12 pt. font For final copy, sections must be placed in order, as directions state to get full credit This is a FORMAL paper. ALL FORMAL WRITING RULES APPLY AND WILL BE TAKEN INTO GRADING!!!!!

Part One- Title Page This can be designed however you want. It MUST, however, include the following items somewhere on the page: Your name Your teacher’s name The author’s name The title of your text (novel titles need to be underlined or italicized.) The date A design, picture, or graphic of some sort Mary Smith Mrs. Brown Mark Twain Huckleberry Finn Date EXAMPLE:

Part 2- Author Biography Your project will begin with a biography on the author you choose. Criteria: Two to three paragraphs (min. 15 sentences) Include Important Author Information- 1.Birth and Death (Dates and Places) 2.Family and Educational Backgrounds 3.Places where he/she lived and/or wrote 4.Any writing styles or subjects their writing favors 5.Major Life events or Jobs that affected him/her (MOST IMPORTANT) Include at least three quotes from secondary sources in this section. Center Author Biography as the title for this section. Author Biography Hawthorne was born in…. EX:

Part 3- Historical Context This section is to be two paragraphs (min. 10 sentences). Research the following: –When was your novel written? –What was going on in the U.S. during the decade in which it was written? (Look up some on-line timelines for help with this activity.) –Find two events from the timeline to further research and write in your paper how those events affected your story or your author. The point here is to find what was going on around the author when this text was created. (Ex. If the story were written in 1862, the Civil War would have been in full swing and would have affected any writing being done.) Then apply your findings to the work and tell how historical timeframe directly affected the work. Center Historical Context as a title for this section.

Part 4- Theme Analysis You will discuss the theme of the work in this section. This is to be at least two paragraphs. Look at what you saw in the author bio and the historical context. Consider: –What message could the author be trying to get across to readers? –What is the point of the story? –Does the tone of the story say anything about the theme? –What about life, people, or the world is the story pointing out? You must include AT LEAST FOUR quotes from secondary sources to support this section and prove your point. Center Theme as the heading for this section.

Part 5- Character Analysis Write ONE to TWO pages giving brief descriptions of each of the important characters. (You must have at least TWO characters! You do not have to do more than five) THERE MUST BE A SEPARATE PARAGRAPH FOR EACH CHARACTER! You must include TWO quotes from the story for each character expressing : –A physical aspect of the character (how they look) –An emotional aspect of the character (what kind of person they are) Give the character’s name and explain what part the character plays in the novel (protagonist, antagonist, foil, etc.) Tell whether that character was necessary to the story, how, and what, if anything, the character added to an overall understanding of the story. How would the story be different without them? What makes them important or unimportant? Center Characters as the header for this section.

Part 6- Style Analysis In this section, discuss your opinion of the author’s writing STYLE in the work. (What did you think about it?) –Which literary devices are used? (diction, syntax, tone, symbols, patterns, imagery, figurative language, etc.) Give examples. –Are they effective? Give your reasons why or why not. –Was the writing difficult to understand? Give examples and reasons “why” it is or is not. –What rhetorical devices, if any, would you change to make it better? (Give your specific ideas here.) Give plenty of detail (specifics/quotes from the story) to explain WHY you like the author and/or the style. Must be 3 paragraphs (15 sentences) in length and must include min. 5 quotes from the story Center Style as this section’s title.

Part 7- Personal Response The last section (4 paragraphs min.-20 sentences) is for your personal response to the story. Write in this section: –Did you learn anything about yourself, the world, or people? What is it? Tell how the story affected you or your attitudes about things in life. –Did you relate to the characters in any way? Which ones and how? –Was there an element in the story that you think applies to all readers? What and how? –What ideas in the text seem logical or just completely crazy to you? Justify your answer. THEN, be sure to include a paragraph describing what you would do if you were in a similar situation to the main character of your story. Center Personal Response as this section’s title

Part 8: Works Cited Book: Author’s Last Name, First Name. Title of Book. Place of Publication: Publisher Name, Year. Website: Author of the site. Last update date. Site Title or Name. Retrieval date.. Article on a website: Author Last, First. “Article Title.” Name of Site. Publication Date. Retrieval Date.. Book with various articles and parts: Author Last, First. “Article Name.” Full Work Title. Publication City: Publisher Name, Year. Page Numbers. Your project MUST have a Works Cited Page at the end. This will be the alphabetical listing of all the sources that you use for your project. The format is very specific; please follow it exactly!

Sample Works Cited Page: Works Cited Kerry, Tim. The truth of Twain. Colorado: Smith Publishing, Manis, Kim. Samuel Clemens: the Real Story. New York: Princeton U P, Timmons, Sam. “Writing Like Twain.” American Encyclopedia. Vol. 4 New York: Smith Publishing, Sanders, Helen. “Twain, Mark.” Wikipedia: the free encyclopedia. Retrieved on

Checklist for Project Elements: __Title Page __Author Bio Section __Historical Context Section __THEME Section __CHARACTER Section __Style Analysis Section __Personal Response to story __Works Cited Page __Format and Formal Writing Rules Followed __ TOTAL (approx. 10 Pages)

GRADING SCALE: SectionPoints Format (MLA Style)10 FORMAL WRITING RULES25 Title Page10 Author Bio10 Historical Context10 Theme Analysis10 Character Sketches10 Author’s Style10 Personal Response10 Works Cited10 Oral Presentation10 Daily productivity log75 _________________________ Total200