Research Paper: British Literature (English IV)
We may only cover a specific set of authors in a specific set of time periods in this course, but you
should know as much about British authors throughout time as humanly possible in order to best
understand the connections between everything we study. There’s a reason for everything studied in
this course, and being able to locate and understand those reasons is vital to your success in class and in
life after high school.
Research Topic:
Select a British author from the list below. Write about their life, their literary works, and their
contribution to British (and overall) literature as a whole.
William Shakespeare
Mary Shelley
Charles Dickens
Charlotte Bronte
Emily Bronte
Rudyard Kipling
Anne Bronte
William Golding
C.S. Lewis
Bram Stoker
J.R.R. Tolkien
Lewis Carroll
Agatha Christie
William Wordsworth
George Orwell
J.K. Rowling
William Blake
George Eliot
Aldous Huxley
Oscar Wilde
Douglas Adams
Neil Gaiman
Virginia Woolf
Thomas Hardy
Geoffrey Chaucer
Roald Dahl
A.A. Milne
Beatrix Potter
Joseph Conrad
Arthur Conan Doyle
Other (IF YOU GET IT APPROVED BY ME FIRST!!!)
Rubric:
A – 5 sources (2 primary sources) minimum; 3-5 pages. Answer all three sections of the research topic in
a cohesive, flowing manner. Zero to minimal grammatical errors.
B – 5 sources (2 primary sources) minimum; 3-5 pages. Answer all three sections of the research topic in
a somewhat relevant, average manner. Average grammatical errors.
C – 5 or less sources; 3-5 pages. Answer two or less sections of the research topic in an un-cohesive,
elementary manner. Abundant grammatical errors.
D – 3 or less sources; less than 3 pages. Answer only one section of the research topic. Poor construction
of paper. Abundant grammatical errors.
F – 0-1 source(s); less than 3 pages. Answer one or less section of the research topic. Unacceptable
construction of paper. Grammatical errors affect readability of paper.