Summer School Homework 8/7/09

Students are asked to continue working on research. Students are asked to spend a little time researching the life of a famous writer. After researching one of these writers life, I want you to make a clear comparison to one of their pivotal works of literature. Your comparison should go to the meat of the event or events in this persons life as it can be seen to manifest in a work of literature created by this author.

CAS Literary Response and Analysis Compare and contrast the presentation of a similar theme or topic across genres to explain how the selection of genre shapes the theme or topic.

Your choices are: Mary Shelly
Edgar Allen Poe
John Donne
William Shakespeare
Nathaniel Hawthorn
Mark Twain
Joseph Conrad
Charlotte Perkins Gilman
Chinua Achebe

You are asked to first research the writer's life to see if you can make any parallels to one of their works of literature. Your research and comparison should be very analytical, in the sense that you will need to really research and analyze the writer's life and liken it to one of their pivotal works.

Please use the rubric that was provided for your other homework assignment to complete this assignment. This assignment is worth 200pts. You are to write a 3-4 page essay.

In general, in 9th and 10th grades, students write coherent and focused essays that convey a well-defined perspective and tightly reasoned argument. The writing demonstrates students' awareness of the audience and purpose. Student’s progress through the stages of the writing process as needed.
In constructing your essay, you must:

Establish a controlling impression or coherent thesis that conveys a clear and distinctive perspective on the subject and maintains a consistent tone and focus throughout the piece of writing. (Organization 1.1)

Use precise language, action verbs, sensory details, appropriate modifiers, and the active rather than the passive voice. (Organization 1.2)

Develop the main ideas within the body of the composition through supporting evidence (e.g., scenarios, commonly held beliefs, hypotheses, and definitions). (Research and Technology 1.4)

Integrate quotations and citations into a written text while maintaining the flow of ideas. (Research and Technology 1.6)

Use appropriate conventions for documentation in the text, notes, and bibliographies by adhering to those in style manuals (e.g., Modern Language Association Handbook, The Chicago Manual of Style). (Research and Technology 1.7)

Design and publish documents by using advanced publishing software and graphic programs. (Research and Technology 1.8)

Revise writing to improve the logic and coherence of the organization and controlling perspective, the precision of word choice, and the tone by taking into consideration the audience, purpose, and formality of the context. (Evaluation and Revision 1.9)

Produce legible work that shows accurate spelling and correct use of the conventions of punctuation and capitalization. (Manuscript Form 1.4)

(As appropriate) use clear research questions and suitable research methods (e.g., library, electronic media, personal interview) to elicit and present evidence from primary and secondary sources. (Research and Technology 1.3)

Synthesize information from multiple sources and identify complexities and discrepancies in the information and the different perspectives found in each medium (e.g., almanacs, microfiche, news sources, in-depth field studies, speeches, journals, technical documents). (Research and Technology 1.5)


Have a great time finding these connections.