USING FOUR OR MORE SOURCES, YOU WILL WRITE A THREE-PAGE RESEARCH PAPER ABOUT

AN AMERICAN AUTHOR.THE PAPER WILL BE WRITTEN IN COMPLETE SENTENCES USING THE

SCRIBE PARAGRAPH FORMAT.

ELA Research project on an American author

ELA Research Paper

All information will be cited using MLA format. You will have approximately two weeks to

complete all segments of the research paper. It may require you to work outside of class gathering information and typing the final copy.

The research paper will be placed in your literacy portfolio.

Students can work in groups of two or three, one topic per group.

Ela Research Paper

Think About:

What Do I want to know about this topic

What do I need to know

ElA Research Paper

What do I already know about this topic

How do I know this

ELA Research Paper

Focus questions to answer: these could become paragraphs

Author’s backgroundListing of all noteworthy writings and what they are

aboutWhy the author is important to studyHow the author reflected a particular movement or time

periodAuthor’s influencesKey themes the author writes aboutAny stylistic elements unique to the author 

ELA Research Paper

Steps to takeAfter choosing a topic you will write a

thesis statement that narrows your focus to what you will prove or support in your paper.

Each paragraph will provide evidence of this. Use prior knowledge, collaboration and classroom resources to fill out the thesis template.

 

ELA Research Paper

Possible author topics: You will sign up for one with instructor (all found in the Prentice Hall textbook). You may sign up for an author not on this list.

  Sherwood Anderson Frederick Douglass Abigail Adams Robert Frost W.H. Auden Alex Haley James Baldwin Nathanieol Hawthorne Willa Cather Ernest Hemingway Ralph Waldo Emerson Langston Hughes Emily Dickinson Zora Neale Hurston E.E. Cummings Washington Irving Stephen Crane Jack London Kate Chopin William Faulkner Henry Longfellow James Russell Lowell F. Scott Fitzgerald Herman

Melville Benjamin Franklin Joyce Carol Oates Carl

Sandburg John Steinbeck Henry David Thoreau Mark Twain John Updike Alice Walker Edith Wharton Walt Whitman William Carlos Williams  

ELA Research Paper

Thesis   ______________________(author name) is best known

for__________________________________ His other works included_______________________________ and

he was involved in _____________________________________(what literature movement, political event or time period).

This author was unique because ___________________________________________(reason) and I will explore this author’s life in this paper.

ELA Research Paper

Gather evidence – using note pages for each source, write the work cited information and all the answers to the questions you posed on note pages from each source. You must use two text sources, one may be your textbook. A computer database like Wilson’s counts for a text source. You also must use two Internet sources. Avoid any site that has a .com in its address.

 

ELA Research Paper

Develop an outline that shows the order the paper will flow in. (Roman numerals and letters)

 Write a rough draft, citing where information

came from at the end of each paragraph. Type final copy, three pages minimum, double

spaced, one inch margins, numbered at the top right, plus type work cited page following MLA format.

ELA Research Paper

Demonstrate your knowledge in a presentation.

One group member will provide the author’s biography.

Another member will recite from the author’s body of work and relate what it means to him.

Students not presenting will evaluate the speeches, providing input to the teacher.

ELA Research Paper

Work Completion check off list Thesis Statement 25 points (March 10)Outline 25 points (March 11)Rough draft 25 points (March 15)Final paper 50 points (March 18)Work cited page 25 points (March 18)Presentation 50 points (March 18-

24th)Total 200 points 

ELA Research Paper

Points will be taken off for grammar and spelling errors, poor content, and less than required four work cited sources

  Format: Title Page; optionalFirst page at top: Your name, my name, ELA 10

research paper, title of paper, page numberIntroduction: Includes thesis statementEvidence paragraphs: each page is numbered top

rightConclusion: restate introductionWork Cited Page

ELA Research Paper

Project Rubric Lacking(components missing, poor content, grammatical and spelling errors) Presentation lacking components

Satisfactory (most components present, free grammatical and spelling errors) Presentation meeting requirements

Excellent (meets or exceeds all requirements) Presentation exceeding requirements

Thesis Statement

Outline

Rough Draft

Final Draft

Citation Page

Presentation