American Author Research Paper

For this research paper, you will be asked to find information based on an assigned American author. You will not only provide a biographical account of the author, but also explain the works, motivation, impact, influences, and position of the author’s works, as well as tell about the author’s critical reception. In order to better understand and explain your author, it may be necessary to include some historical background. You may choose an author not on this list.

There is no maximum amount of pages for this paper, but a thorough research paper which addresses all of the information is usually a minimum of 5 pages long. You will be required to include a works cited page and use parenthetical citation, so that I can see where you have gathered your information and be able to verify that the source is reliable. Simply going onto Wikipedia will not be enough. I WILL COMPARE YOUR WRITING TO WIKIPEDIA. Your online research should be thorough and reliable. I expect that the research is done outside of class and includes books, magazine articles, movies, interviews, and any online sources that prove to be valid. Your works cited page should reflect all of the sources that are used within the paper. You will be required to use a minimum of 5 different sources- only 2 of which can be internet sources, meaning your other sources should come from periodicals, magazines, newspapers, critical papers, etc. These sources can be found on the internet, but they are not internet sources. There is a difference.

You will be required to turn in various elements throughout the month that show that you are working on the project. This will allow you to build points in your grade and also keep up with the research so that you are not overloaded with information. The due dates usually follow a day in the library in which you will be able to complete research. Below is chart showing what is due, on what day, and how many points each is worth.

What / When / How much
All sources note cards due / Monday, May 5 / 15 points
Introduction/Outline / Friday May 9 / 30 points
Rough Draft / Friday, May 16 / 50 points
Final Draft / Thursday, May 22 / 100 points

The entire paper MUST be written in MLA format.