British Author Research

1. Pick a novel or novel-length play by a British author.

2. Get a physical or digital copy of the novel. Many of these works are in the public domain, and finding an online PDF of most of these titles should pose no problem. You may also check the book out at the SCC library or the local library if you would like to read a physical novel.

3. Complete the required journal entries while reading the text. This is to ensure that you read the chosen novel.  

4. After you read the novel, you will compose a short (3 to 5 page) research paper AND create a presentation with a visual aid (like a brochure, which can be turned in online). Here is the prompt that you will be answering while writing this paper:

John Donne once wrote, "No Man is an Island'. No man is an island entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main. . . " This is a fact. Each of us are connected to others, to our society, and to our culture. This is true for every day people and famous writers. In a research paper, choose a famous British author (which must be the author of the book that you are reading). Determine how this individual was influenced to write the way that he or she wrote. Include information about his or her personal biography or life story. Move onto the cultural or personal influences that impacted this author. Move onto what the author was able to accomplish. Finally, highlight the novel that you read and, if possible, include how the author's personal life, society, culture, and possible other influences creep into the story. Altogether, you are taking a deep look at literature and how an author creates what he or she creates not out of a vacuum but out of the world that he or she experienced.

(Note: There is a paper attached that can serve as a guide for how to compose your paper.

Paper and Project Objectives

While doing the British Authors Research Project, a student will have opportunities to:

Research a Briish author.

Read a novel by the British author, which will give a brief summary of in the paper.

Educate him or herself about author's life and features of his or her cultural envrionments that impacted his/her literary works.

Learn and correctly utilize Modern Languages Association (MLA) research documentation.

Incorporate research finding appropriately into a thesis-driven, well-supported research essay, and

Prepare a cogent, lucid public presentation.

Research Paper Guidelines: You will write a research paper about society or culture's influence on the author and how he/she wrote. This research paper will count as two test grades.

Write up the results of your resesarch in an academic research essay. Note: Throughout the rest of the semester, you will have check-ins on the work so that it doesn't become overwhelming. Each check-in has a due date. Be sure to keep up with these due dates.

The essay should support a thesis which is clearly stated at the end of the essay's introduction. The content of all body paragraphs must clearly support this thesis statement.

The essay should utilize MLA documentation: in-text citations and a comprehensive Works Cited list at the end of the paper.

Source requirements (minimum): 3 reputable sources. Wikipedia is NOT regarded as a reputable source.

The use of any ideas, references, quotes, graphics, or other material not either in the public domain or originating from the student must be documented appropriately. Use MLA format. Projects not documentated appropriately will be assigned a grade of a "0" for plagiarism, a serious academic integrity issue.

Use standard academid format (12 pt Times New Roman font, 1" margins on all sides. appropriate header. See the model essay(s).

The paper will be submitted to Schoology.