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NEPEAN HIGH SCHOOL ENGLISH DEPARTMENT
ENGLISH 4U
INDEPENDENT STUDY UNIT
(Mrs. Meldrum)
RATIONALE:
By the end of the course, students will
· read and demonstrate an understanding of complex texts, with an emphasis on analyzing ideas, themes and concepts
· revise written work independently and collaboratively, with a focus on content, organization, clear expression and effective style
· employ oral communication skills with a focus on academic language appropriate in seminars of independent study topics (The Ontario Curriculum: English Grades 11 & 12)
The Independent Study Unit prepares the student for university writing, introduces formal research skills, and offers a forum for well-supported, independent argument.
Each student will write a literary/ research essay of 1200 - 1500 words that will
· refer to a least TWO, non-World Wide Web secondary sources
· conform to the conventions of the Exemplar Booklet and the Nepean Style Guide
· be typed in Times New Roman, 12 pt, double-spaced, 5-7 pages (Note: do not rely on your word processor word count. University length calculations are based on a base of 250 words per page and do not include quotations).
The Written Component: The written independent study will consist of SIX stages. Stages 2, 3, 4, and 6 will compose part of your term work, while stage 5 is the Summative for the course and will constitute 10% of the final mark:
DEADLINE / TASK / MARKS1. / Wednesday, Feb. 17 / Book approved by teacher
2. / Tuesday, Mar. 9
Last Date: Fri., Mar. 12 / Annotated Bibliography / 30
3. / Monday, Mar. 29
Last Date: Thurs., Apr. 1 / Thesis Proposal and Directional Statement / 10
4. / Tuesday, Apr. 20;
Last Date: Fri., Apr. 23 / Detailed Essay Outline; / 50
5. / Tuesday, May 25
Last Date: Fri., May 28 / FINAL COPY OF ESSAY
1200-1500 word essay (5-7 typed pages) on a specific topic / 100 (10% Summative)
6. / June / Oral presentations
5-10 minute oral presentation / 40
Stages 1, 2, 3, 4 must be completed and submitted before the submission of the final essay (stage 5).
The essay then must be submitted in a folder with all process and draft work included and an electronic copy emailed to your teacher at :
If for any reason, you think you will not be able to meet one of these deadlines, you must negotiate a reasonable date with your teacher, expect a call home to inform your parents, and expect a zero if you do not meet the negotiated deadline.
LIST OF POSSIBLE NOVELS (Any other books must be approved by the teacher. Each student in the class must choose a different novel.)
1. Beowulf (Ideally the Seamus Heaney translation)
2. The Robber Bride (Margaret Atwood)
3. Alias Grace (Margaret Atwood)
4. The Blind Assassin (Margaret Atwood)
5. The Handmaid’s Tale (Margaret Atwood)
6. Oryx & Crake (Margaret Atwood)
7. The Penelopiad (Margaret Atwood)
8. Emma (Jane Austen)
9. Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen)
10. Sense and Sensibility (Jane Austen)
11. Mansfield Park (Jane Austen)
12. Persuasion (Jane Austen)
13. Jane Eyre (Charlotte Bronte)
14. Wuthering Heights (Emily Bronte)
15. A Clockwork Orange (Anthony Burgess)
16. The Outsider (Albert Camus)
17. The Plague (Albert Camus)
18. The Favorite Game (Leonard Cohen)
19. The Secret Agent (Joseph Conrad)
20. Lord Jim (Joseph Conrad)
21. Heart of Darkness (Joseph Conrad)
22. A Sunday By the Pool in Kigali (Gil Courtemanche)
23. The Hours (Michael Cummings)
24. The Man in the High Castle (Philip K. Dick)
25. Great Expectations (Charles Dickens)
26. Crime & Punishment (Fyodor Dostoevsky)
27. Invisible Man (Ralph Ellison)
28. Absalom, Absalom! (William Faulkner)
29. The Sound and the Fury (William Faulkner)
30. Pilgrim (Timothy Findley)
31. The Wars (Timothy Findley)
32. Not Wanted On the Voyage (Timothy Findley)
33. Headhunter (Timothy Findley)
34. The Piano Man’s Daughter (Timothy Findley)
35. The Great Gatsby (Scott Fitzgerald)
36. Madame Bovary (Gustave Flaubert)
37. A Passage to India (E.M. Forster)
38. 100 Years of Solitude (Gabriel Garcia Marquez)
39. Love in the Age of Cholera (Gabriel Garcia Marquez)
40. Sweetness in the Belly (Camilla Gibb)
41. The Tin Drum (Gunter Grass)
42. The Heart of the Matter (Graham Greene)
43. Tess of the D’Ubervilles (Thomas Hardy)
44. The Return of the Native (Thomas Hardy)
45. Jude the Obscure (Thomas Hardy)
46. The Mayor of Casterbridge (Thomas Hardy)
47. The Scarlet Letter (Nathaniel Hawthorne)
48. A Student of Weather (Elizabeth Hay)
49. Stones From the River (Ursula Hegi)
50. Catch-22 (Joseph Heller)
51. A Farewell to Arms (Ernest Hemingway)
52. The Sun Also Rises (Ernest Hemingway)
53. For Whom the Bell Tolls (Ernest Hemingway)
54. Siddhartha (Herman Hesse)
55. The Glass Bead Game (Herman Hesse)
56. The Kite Runner (Khaled Hosseini)
57. One Thousand Splendid Suns (Khaled Hosseini)
58. Les Misérables (Victor Hugo)
59. A Prayer for Owen Meany (John Irving)
60. The World According to Garp (John Irving)
61. Widow for a Year (John Irving)
62. Deafening (Frances Itani)
63. Remains of the Day (Kazuo Ishiguro)
64. Portrait of a Lady (Henry James)
65. Navigator of New York (Wayne Johnstone)
66. Colony of Unrequited Dreams (Wayne Johnstone)
67. A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (James Joyce)
68. The Swallows of Kabul ( Yasmina Khadra)
69. On the Road (Jack Kerouac)
70. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (Ken Kesey)
71. The Poisonwood Bible (Barbara Kingsolver)
72. The Diviners (Margaret Laurence)
73. A Jest of God (Margaret Laurence)
74. Women in Love (DH Lawrence)
75. Sons & Lovers (DH Lawrence)
76. The Rainbow (DH Lawrence
77. Armies of the Night (Norman Mailer)
78. The Road (Cormack McCarthy)
79. Fall on Your Knees (Anne-Marie Macdonald)
80. The Way the Crow Flies (Anne-Marie Macdonald)
81. No Great Mischief (Alistair MacLeod)
82. The Magic Mountain (Thomas Mann)
83. Life of Pi (Yann Martel)
84. Amsterdam (Ian McEwan)
85. Antonement (Ian McEwan)
86. Lonesome Dove (Larry McMurtry)
87. Moby Dick (Herman Melville)
88. Fugitive Pieces (Anne Michaels)
89. A Fine Balance (Rohinton Mistry)
90. Such a Long Journey (Rohinton Mistry)
91. Family Matters (Rohinton Mistry)
92. Roughing it in the Bush (Susanna Moodie)
93. Beloved (Toni Morrison)
94. The English Patient (Michael Ondaatje)
95. In The Skin of a Lion (Michael Ondaatje)
96. Anil’s Ghost (Michael Ondaatje)
97. Animal Farm (George Orwell)
98. 1984 (George Orwell)
99. Doctor Zhivago (Boris Pasternak)
100. In the Heart of the Sea (Nathaniel Philbrick)
101. The Bell Jar (Sylvia Plath)
102. The Shipping News (Annie Proulx)
103. The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz (Mordecai Richler)
104. Barney’s Version (Mordecai Richler)
105. The God of Small Things (Arundhati Roy)
106. The Catcher in the Rye (J.D. Salinger)
107. Funny Boy (Shyam Selvadurai)
108. Frankenstein (Mary Shelley)
109. The Stone Diaries (Carol Shields)
110. Larry’s Party (Carol Shields)
111. Unless (Carol Shields)
112. Grapes of Wrath (John Steinbeck)
113. East of Eden (John Steinbeck)
114. Dracula (Bram Stoker)
115. Sophie’s Choice (William Styron)
116. Gulliver’s Travels (Jonathan Swift)
117. Vanity Fair (William Thackeray)
118. Huckleberry Finn (Mark Twain)
119. The Underpainter (Jane Urquhart)
120. Away (Jane Urquhart)
121. The Englishman’s Boy (Guy Vanderhague)
122. The Last Crossing (Guy Vanderhague)
123. Slaughterhouse 5 (Kurt Vonnegut)
124. The Color Purple (Alice Walker)
125. Night (Elie Wiesel)
126. The Picture of Dorian Gray (Oscar Wilde)
127. To the Lighthouse (Virginia Woolf)
128. A Room of One’s Own (Virginia Woolf)
129. The Waves (Virginia Woolf)
130. Mrs. Dalloway (Virginia Woolf)
131. Clara Callan (Richard Wright)
ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY
DATE DUE: Tuesday, Mar. 9
Last Date: Fri., Mar. 12
MARKS: /30
WHAT IS AN ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY?
An annotated bibliography is a list of citations of books, articles, and documents. These are potentially three of your secondary sources. Each citation is followed by a brief (usually about 150 words) descriptive and evaluative paragraph, called “the annotation.”
Annotations are descriptive and critical; they expose the author's point of view, clarity and appropriateness of expression, and authority.
WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF AN ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY?
The purpose of the annotation is to inform the reader of the relevance, accuracy, and quality of the sources cited. In addition to bibliographic data, an annotated bibliography provides a concise summary of each source and some assessment of its value or relevance. Depending on the assignment, the annotated bibliography may serve a number of purposes. Including but not limited to:
· a review of the literature on a particular subject
· illustrate the quality of research that you have done
· provide examples of the types of sources available
· describe other items on a topic that may be of interest to the reader
· explore the subject for further research
THE PROCESS: Steps to Follow
Creating an annotated bibliography calls for the application of a variety of intellectual skills: concise writing, succinct analysis, and informed library research.
1. First, locate and record citations to books, periodicals, and documents that may contain useful information and ideas relating to your topic.
2. Briefly examine and review the actual items. Then choose those works that provide a variety of perspectives on your topic.
3. Cite the book, article, or document using the MLA Style Guide (see blue sheet on MLA style in Library).
4. Write a concise annotation that summarizes the central idea and scope of the text. Include one or more sentences that (a) evaluate the authority or background of the author, (b) comment on the subject matter and summarize the main argument of the source, (c) explain how this work illuminates your topic (i.e. briefly identify how you intend to use the source and why).
Note: You may also compare or contrast this work with another you have cited.
THE FORMAT
Your list of sources must be arranged alphabetically, based on the authors’ last names or on the first word in the citation entry. You must create all bibliographical entries following the MLA Style Guide format. Remember to indent the second (or any subsequent line) in each citation as shown in example below.
YOUR TASK
You must research and collect at least THREE credible secondary sources for your annotated bibliography. You may include more for your teacher’s perusal, but should asterisk (*) the three that you want marked. Since many Internet sources are not “refereed,” you need to gather your sources from published texts or from the library databases available to you through our NHS Library and the Ottawa Public Library (see below). If however, you find an Internet source that you assess to be valid, you must have it approved by your teacher in order to include it. Please note that Mr. Turner, the Library teacher, is willing to assist you and give you some suggestions.
Your annotated bibliography must be typed, and it must follow the process and format explained in this document.
EXPECTED FORMAT AND MARKS BREAKDOWN
Quality of writing will be evaluated for each evaluation. Poor quality of writing will negatively impact your mark.
Revised March 25, 2010
Reference sheet for ENG 4U
Independent Study Paper – finding secondary sources
See the Nepean Library Wiki – nepeanhslibrary.pbworks.com for up to date information
If you are uncertain, ask Mr. Turner.
MLA styleWorks Cited list
(Should be double-spaced)
Book / Author’s last name, first name. Title of book: subtitle. Place of publication:
publisher, year of publication.
example / Pepin, Ronald E. Literature of Satire in the Twelfth Century.
Lewiston: Edwin Mellen Press, 1988.
Encyclopedia or reference book /
Author’s last name, first name. “Title of article.” Title of reference book.
Ed. name of editor. Place of publication: publisher, year of
publication.
example /Rowe, J.G. “Inquisition.” Encyclopedia Americana. Ed. Tom Coker. Danbury,
Conn.: Grolier, 2002.
Periodical / Author’s last name, first name. “Title of article.” Title of periodical date ofpublication: page numbers.
example / Geddes, John. “Out for blood.” Maclean’s 21Nov. 2005: 30-32.
Online periodical database
(ex. CPI.Q) / Author’s last name, first name. “Title of article.” Title of periodical date
of publication: page numbers. Name of database. Name of subscriber
to database. Date that you found article. <URL address of database’s
home page>.
example / Reid, Robert. “Fondly Remembering Timothy Findley.” The Kitchener/
Cambridge/Waterloo Record 7 Feb 2004: J3. CPI.Q. Nepean High
School, Ottawa. 5 Dec 2005. <http://search.epnet.com>.
Website / Author’s last name, first name. Title of web page. Date page created or
last revised. Organization responsible for site. Date you found page
<URL of webpage>.
example / Khoo, Heiko. 10 Years On: assessing Tiananmen today. 25 May 1999. In
Defense of Marxism.com. 5 Dec 2005
http://www.marxist.com/Asia/ /tiananmen. html>.
Citing your sources: bibliographic information
Write down all key bibliographical information for any resource you use to gather ideas! Different types of sources require different types of information, as you see below. Use the library’s coloured research notes sheets to keep track.
Books
Author of bookTitle and subtitle of book
Place where book was published (closest)
Publisher
Year that book was published (most recent)
Encyclopedias and other reference books
Author of articleTitle of article
Title of book
Editor of book
Place where book was published (closest)
Publisher
Year that book was published (most recent)
Periodicals (magazines & newspapers in print and on-line)
Author of articleTitle of article
Title of periodical where article first appeared
Volume and issue numbers
Date that article was originally published
Page numbers where article originally appeared
Database where you found article (if any)
Name of organization subscribing to database
Date that you looked at article in database
URL (address) of database’s homepage
Websites
Author of web pageTitle of page
Date that page was created or last revised
Organization that sponsors site (if any)
Date that you looked at page
URL (address of page)
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