American Authors Writing Assignment and Procedure

American Authors

Research Assignment American Authors – Writing Assignment and Procedure

Due Date: Wednesday, April 27, 2016

Assignment: To select one of the appropriate American authors and write a multi-paragraph paper (five paragraphs) based on their background, to inform the reader about the author’s life and influences and to reference at least one of the author’s works.

Procedure:

1. Select an author from the given list.

2. Brainstorm on your author – use the hand out provided.

3. Review the information on writing a thesis statement and draft a thesis statement.

4. Locate three quotes from the author or one of his/her works to back up each of your limited topics from your thesis statement. Be sure to include the exact wording on the quote page.

5. Take the information gathered in step 2,3,and 4 and place it into the skeletal outline provided in the packet.

6. Review the information on writing an introduction and draft an introduction.

7. Review the information on writing body paragraphs and draft three body paragraphs.

8. Review the information on writing concluding paragraphs and draft a concluding paragraph.

9. Revise and edit your paper using the revise and edit sheet provided.

10. Prepare your final typed copy. Refer to the paper checklist.

11. Refer to the Paper Rubric hand out to see how your paper will be evaluated.

12. Do not hesitate to set up a time to conference with me prior to your paper being due! What Do I Write About?

An author’s work will always in some way show evidence of their life. Your assignment is to investigate the works of your author and demonstrate within your paper ways in which those writings are reflective of your author’s life. You will need to research his or her writings, and know (at least) the main idea, characters involved and theme of the work. You will also need to research the author’s life. You will need to focus on the author’s motivation for writing a particular work and events of the author’s life which have influenced the author to write. You will find various influences such as family life, health issues, education, social class, and social issues, which inspire your author to write about particular topics, settings, themes, etc.

**The focus of your paper is to demonstrate how the life/background of your author is evident in his or her writings.

My author choice is: ______

Brainstorming

Directions: In the space provided, write down all the ideas you can think of for your particular work. Each topic or example has three limited ideas to it. For example, a work one may show strong evidence of the author’s family life, another may show an example of a health issue that the author suffered from and yet another may demonstrate a strong theme that ties with the author’s education.

** Place your limited idea in the middle cluster and then branch out from it with your ideas and examples from the novel or other research.

Limited idea #1 is ______

Limited idea #2 is ______

Limited idea #3 is ______Compile a Works Cited Page

 The “Works Cited” page is a bibliography of the sources you cited in your paper.  All entries are listed in alphabetical order according to the author’s or editor’s last name.  If there is no author or editor, begin with the title of the work. Note that the words “the” “a” and “an” are not alphabetized when they begin a title.  Do not number the entries on the “Works Cited” page.  When two books by the same author are cited, use three hyphens in the second entry instead of the author’s name. Alphabetize these entries according to the titles of the books.  All sources cited in your paper must be included.  Include at least one main novel.  Place a header in the upper right hand corner with your last name and the page number.  Additional “Works Cited” pages include a header, but are not titled.  The title “Works Cited” is centered.  All lines are double-spaced.  Indent second and subsequent lines of entries five spaces.

You will need at least 4 main sources, either in print or electronic. Thesis Statements

The thesis statement of a composition is like the topic sentence of a paragraph; it expresses the main idea, or thesis of your paper. Your thesis is not your topic (such as Emily Dickinson) but what you want to say about your topic (Emily Dickinson’s life as a recluse, for example.) Your thesis statement will have a main topic – reclusiveness, and it will have subtopics – low self-esteem, unfulfilled love, poor health. In addition, your thesis statement can be expressed in one sentence which will be the last sentence of your introduction.

How to limit a topic:

1. Bret Harte 2. Bret Harte characters 3. Bret Hart’s characters of the mining camps of the west 4. Bret Harte’s use of stereotyped characters in portraying the camps of the west 5. Thesis: Bret Harte utilized stereotyped characters such as the gambler and the dance hall girl with a heart of gold to portray vividly the mining camps of the west.

Sample thesis statements:

1. In The Crucible, John Proctor and Giles Corey react honorably to the events in Salem. 2. In The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Huck demonstrates his loyalty to Jim and Tom Sawyer. 3. D.H. Lawrence’s poem “Snake” utilizes the snake to represent evil and a hidden part of man.

To start you off…

The works of ______show evidence from (his/her) life experience through…______(your limited ideas!)

(This can be reorganized to your liking, but you must include the author’s name and your limited ideas.) Locating Quotes

A quote must back up your ideas. It lends proof to what you have stated in your paper. Choose at least three quotes to back up your limited ideas.

Limited Idea – Quote #1 Name of Source: ______

______.

______. Checklist for Paper

1. _____ Spacing – entire paper is double-spaced (no extra space between paragraphs)

2. _____ Font – use 12 pt. font

3. _____ Font type – use regular font (i.e. Time New Roman or Arial)

4. _____ Length of paper – five paragraphs total (introduction>5-7 sentences, body paragraphs>5-7 sentences, conclusion> 5-7 sentences)

5. _____ Thesis placement – last sentence of introduction

6. _____ Transitions – use transition to connect examples and paragraphs – First, next, in addition, likewise, etc.

7. _____ Formal tone – do not use “I” “you” “we” or “us”

8. _____ Quotes – at least one quote per body paragraph

9. _____ Proper citation of quotes – “He had no rifle” (Crane 472)

10. _____ Use of at least 4 internal citations to prove your limited ideas.

Example: (Harte 43)

11._____ Ellipsis marks – i.e….signifies that information has been left out of the quote; therefore, it is a partial quote

12. _____ Title of novel – either underline or italicize it. Choose one and be consistent. Do not put title in quotes.

13. _____ Verb tense – maintain present verb tense.

14. _____ Contractions – do not use contractions (i.e. can’t, wouldn’t, etc.)

15. _____ Spelling – proofread, especially for characters names, and use spell check. Evidence of Research

You must submit evidence of your research on the day that your paper is due. This can be in the form of note cards, handwritten or typed notes, or writing webs. The following are the guidelines for evidence:

1. If you are submitting notes, you must submit at least three handwritten or typed pages pertaining to what information you have found about your author. 2. If you are submitting note cards, you must submit at least 5 note cards for each source – a total of 15 note cards total. 3. If you are submitting a web, you must submit at least three webs, one for each source used.

Evidence of research will be worth a total of 25 points and all evidence is due on the day your paper is due! American Authors Sources in the SVSHS Library

You will need a minimum of 4 sources for your paper.

1. On the desktop: Power Library - Contemporary authors

2. In the Reference Section(s) 800’s and 900’s: - Great American Authors (off-white books) - American Authors and Artists (teal blue books)

3. On the shelves: you will find many good books on the library shelves. You need to search Destiny on the desktop and search under the name of the author.

4. Internet – you may use internet sources, but be sure to write down the name of the webpage and the author, if given. You must also print out these sources to be turned in with your paper.