OBJECTIVES: You will write a 4-5 page expository essay on the life and works of a selected author. You will research your topic in the library, and you must utilize at least four different sources in your essay, using proper MLA documentation format.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this essay is to inform your audience about an author and his or her writing. The essay you produce should be your own ideas and writing; documented research is used to support your own claims. If the majority of your essay is purely source information without sufficient comments by you, it will be returned to you to re-write.

AUDIENCE: Teacher and peers. You will use a formal tone (no slang, no contractions--can’t, don’t, etc.), no using "you," and you will build your ethos (credibility) by giving proper credit to your sources and correctly utilizing the MLA documentation format.

FORMAT: MLA Style: All information must be documented according to the format shown in class. Your essay should be all double spaced. Do not put extra spaces between paragraphs, after your title, or anywhere else. Font used must be Times New Roman, size 12. One-inch margins all around.

You will include a Works Cited page, MLA style, which will include all your bibliographical information for the sources you used in your essay, and it will be the last page.

You will keep note cards of all quotes and information that might be useful in your essay. These will be handed in with your paper.

You will hand in your research paper in a two-pocket folder. Put your final draft alone on one side of the folder, and your first draft, second draft and other materials on the opposite side.

You will hand in a copy of every source you cite in your essay. All information or quotes that you use in your essay must be highlighted. Photocopy or make a printout of all periodical articles, book sections, or website information that you use in your paper. Staple the pages of each source together, and in order. Write the author’s name (or if there is no author, the website title) at the top of the first page. Do this with each source, and include the four (or more) stapled sets of resource pages in your folder. DO NOT staple all sets together.

Several class periods will be spent in the library for research. During this time, you are expected to be actively searching for material to use in your essay, or reading and taking notes on said material. You will need some 3 X 5 and 4 X 6 index cards. The 3 X 5 are bibliography cards and the 4 X 6 are note cards.

If you miss any days during the research unit, be sure to copy someone’s notes and/or see what you missed upon your return.

Late papers will be accepted up to three days (not class periods) past the due date. Late papers will lose 10% of the final grade for every day late. If you do not hand in the research essay, plan to sign up for English 11 again next year. The due date stands for all students regardless of absences throughout the process.

MINIMUM REQUIRED CONTENT OF YOUR ESSAY

Biographical information about the author:

The author’s childhood and life

The author’s greatest challenge

The author’s greatest achievement

Important works by the author

ADDITIONAL CONTENT (this will help you find the "point" you are to make):

Identify literary techniques the author uses (see your lit. terms definitions)

How does the literary work represent the author’s particular time, place, or culture?

What influence has the author and/or his or her works had on society as a whole?

What experiences of the author have had a profound effect on his or her beliefs, attitudes, or life in general?

Search for critical analyses written about the author’s works

Study the characters, themes, settings, conflicts, plots of various works by the author

How does the content of one text compare with that of another by the author?

INTRODUCTION

Begin with an attention-getting device: an interesting quote, a humorous story, a startling fact, or other effective beginning. Then, you may want to introduce your author by discussing her or him in a general manner. Finally, get to the point of what your essay will be about by stating your thesis.

BODY PARAGRAPHS

Whether your middle section is five or fifteen paragraphs long, it is here that the power of your essay lies. You must include enough information to fully discuss your topic and make your point clear.

There are various ways to organize your essay. Chronological order follows the topic from beginning to end, life to death, past to present. Each paragraph covers a section of the chronology. An essay may also be organized by idea, where each paragraph covers a different issue or idea about your author.

Each paragraph should have its own topic sentence, and plenty of supporting details and evidence should be provided. A transition statement should be used between paragraphs to help your ideas flow smoothly.

CONCLUSION

Restate your thesis (main point) in a different way. You also want to relate back to the attention-getting device in some way to wrap things up nicely. Do not introduce new information.

There are three basic formats for taking notes:

1. Summary—Presents the author’s main ideas in your own words. Usually takes a long passage or paragraph and makes it into a shorter statement.

2. Paraphrase—Presents specific facts or details in your own words. Uses roughly the same number of words as the source.

3. Quotation—Presents the exact words of the source. Use a direct quote when exact wording is needed for accuracy, when language is especially specific or vivid, or when the words of an authority lend weight to your point. Quotation marks must be placed around a direct quote.

See Sample Note Cards

You don’t need to mention sources of facts or ideas you know based on firsthand experience.

You don’t need to cite sources of common knowledge. For example, you would not need to explain where you learned that Mark Twain’s real name is Samuel Clemens.

You do need to cite information, ideas or opinions that you take from others that is not considered common knowledge. In general, if it’s not your idea or you didn’t know it before you started your research, then you need to cite it.

You cannot simply "drop" information from your sources into your paper. Instead, you should weave quotations or paraphrases smoothly into your own sentences. Introduce them somehow. One way to do this is with signal phrases:

According to Jeffrey Deutscher, "…" (direct quote)

Author Lynn Benningfield has noted, "…" (direct quote)

Patricia Kennealy has stated that… (paraphrase)

Transcendentalists believe… (paraphrase)

Once you work your source material into your essay, you must be prepared to comment on it! You cannot just throw in a paraphrase or quote and let it stand on its own. You should show a relationship between the quote and the point you are trying to make, or explain in your own words what the quote means and/or how it relates to what you are trying to say. Helpful lead-ins to you comments include:

In other words, …

It seems that…

It is clear how…

We see that…

As John Doe points out, …

You should present about EQUAL amounts of borrowed material and your own comments!

When you use source information, you must document it parenthetically within the text of your essay. You may introduce borrowed information with or without a signal phrase, but you still must cite it within the sentence. This means you include the author and page number of a book, or the title of a website, placed in parentheses directly after the source information.

According to Francis Lerner, "America’s heritage is fast becoming a thing of the past. Traditions once considered sacred are now being replaced with a hodgepodge of makeshift pageantries" (17).

Some people believe that "America’s heritage is fast becoming a thing of the past. Traditions once considered sacred are now being replaced with a hodgepodge of makeshift pageantries" (Lerner 17).

The American Patriot Website says our heritage ceases to be what it once was. New customs are replacing the old ways.

Many hard-core patriots think that America’s heritage ceases to be what it once was. New customs are replacing the old ways (TAPW).

This is the last page of your essay. It should contain your last name and page number in the right top header, just like all the other pages. You should center the words "Works Cited" at the top of the page. Your bibliography entries should be alphabetized, and the whole page should be double spaced. The following are guidelines on how to document your sources on your works cited page:

Last Name of Author, First Name. Title of Book. City of Publication: Publisher, Date of Publication.

Nabokov, Vladimir. Pale Fire. New York: Vintage Books, 1962.

Last Name of Author, First Name. Title of Website. Date of Posting/Publication. Name of institution

or organization affiliated with the site. Date of Access <website address>.

Lorenzen, Pauline. Roughcut. 26 Oct. 2006. Turner Network Television. 7 Dec. 2006

<http://www.roughcut.com>.

Last Name of Author, First Name. "Article Title." Title of Website. Date of Posting/Publication.

Name of institution or organization affiliated with the site. Date of Access <website address>.

"Using Modern Language Association (MLA) Format." Purdue Online Writing Lab. 2007. Purdue

University. 6 Feb. 2007 <http://owl.english.purdue.eduhandouts/research/r_mla.html>.

NOTE: If any information for your bibliographical entries is missing, like the author, the institution affiliated with the website, the publication date, or anything else, simply skip that piece of info. and go on to the next.