Major American Author Project
The purpose of this assignment is to place major American authors within the time frame of our country’s history and analyze both the affects of the time period and their own unique viewpoint on both their lives and their work. Some suggested authors are below:
Washington Irving Mark Twain Stephen King
Nathaniel Hawthorne Ernest Hemingway Jack London
Edgar Allen Poe (see me if you choose ) John Steinbeck Maya Angelou (see me if you choose)
Louisa May Alcott Richard Wright Ray Bradbury
Timeline: Due Date ______
1. Make the actual timeline, all printing and illustrations, dark and neat enough to be seen and understood.
2. Include title "Major American Author" and the author's name at top, without quotes or underlining.
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3. Include 5 important historical events in U.S. history that might have affected the author, 10 titles published by the author, and 5 important personal dates of the author's.
4. Illustrate the timeline with pictures or symbols (for every date) that depict the themes of books, occasions in author's life, and events in history. Vary the color of the illustrations/symbols to make artistic work attractive.
Oral Presentation: Due Date ______
1. Present the author's life in some novel and creative way; be sure to have at least one visual.
2. Try to have the most interesting and unique facts/ideas about the author
3. Tell about the life of the author, not his work; should run between 3-6 minutes.
4. Only give a date if it has some importance. In other words, do not repeat your timeline as your presentation. This should have a narrative feel to it. Dates are dull.
5. As in all -presentations, you must have a clear introduction and conclusion as well as use index cards for any notes you might need.
Written Analysis (Author’s Perspective Essay): Due Date ______
Write an analysis in the form of a 5 paragraph essay based on one fiction novel,and must be an AR book, of about 200 pages, written by your author. Incorporate your research on the author’s life by revealing the author’s perspective using the following guidelines
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1. Please reveal the author’s perspective in three out of the five choices below. Use both textual evidence and your own analysis or explanations in each body paragraph.
1. Character(s)
2. Theme
3. Mood
4. Subject Matter
5. Setting
*****You may also choose one of the above and describe/analyze 3 ways it was revealed in the novel. Choose this if one is overwhelming revealed throughout the novel*****.
2. Please format the report in MLA style as follows:
· Double spaced, one inch margins, 12 size font, Times New Roman ,and use parenthetical citation
· No folders, but you may have a cover page
· Include a bibliography for the entire project (timeline, oral, and report) in the written report.
****. Remember, to do analysis, you must ask questions and critically think about the parts of the piece. The answers to those questions are what you write in the paper in a logical fashion; not the questions.*****