World Literature
Portfolio Project
Over the course of the year, we will be on a journey around the world. We will ‘visit’ a variety of
countries and regions, and in doing so, will explore a wide range of poetry, short stories, plays,
and novels. Unfortunately, while we will read many of the world’s best authors, we will have to
leave some off the list.
Throughout your journey through world literature, you will be working on a portfolio project that
will showcase your work as a reader, writer, and thinker. By the end of the year, you will have
researched five worldly authors, read at least one text by the author who most interests you, found
critiques on your author, and ultimately put together a research paper/presentation on why your
author/texts should be taught in a future World Literature class.
Specifics:
 Your portfolio will include the following pieces:
o Research on five authors from the list provided. Your research should include
biographical information, awards/accolades, and titles of books, poems, short
stories, and plays by that author. You will need to include a formal MLA works cited
page with your research. (60 points)
o A formal proposal on which of the five authors you researched is your FIRST and
SECOND choice for the focus on of this project. Your proposal must include which
text(s) you plan to read by each of these authors, as well as the reasoning for wanting
to focus on them. (100 points)
o Summary/Responses (3) of critical reviews of the text you read by your author. (60
points)
o A personal critique of the text you read by your author. (50 points)
o A formal, 3-5 page, persuasive essay (incorporating your outside sources) arguing
why your author/text should be taught in the world literature class. This paper will
also include an MLA works cited page and in-text documentation. You will turn in a
draft of your paper and, after a conference with the teacher, will be required to make
final revisions. (200 points)
 You will be required to give a 3-5 minute presentation on your author/text at the end of the
year. Your presentation will need to include a visual aid. (100 points)
 You will be required to meet with the teacher at two check-points during the year. You will
include signed documentation of these meetings in your portfolio. (50 points each)
 Final portfolio (with revised persuasive essay) is due the day you present.
 This project is worth 620 points over the course of the year.
Timeline: The dates listed are DEADLINES! There will be some in-class time to do
research, read, and work on portfolio pieces, but please understand that you MUST do
work outside of class to successfully meet all deadlines.
DATE
First week of school
Thursday, October 15th
Friday, October 30th
Nov. 2nd-Nov 13th
Friday, January 8th
Friday, February 5th
Friday, March 5th
Friday, April 23rd
April 26th-May 7th
Friday, May 21st and Finals
Period
ACTIVITY
Introduce portfolio project
Research on five authors/MLA works cited page
Formal Proposal on top two choices
Conference with teacher on proposal
Finish book by your author
Summary/Responses (3) of critical reviews of the book you read
Personal critique of the book you read
Draft (3-5 pages) of persuasive essay
Conference with teacher on essay and required revisions
Presentations! Final Portfolios with all parts (including revised
essay) are due.
Note about final project presentations:
You will sign-up for a presentation slot and are expected to be ready on that day. Just so there
isn’t any misunderstanding….
If you are not ready to go on the day you are supposed to present, you will receive a ZERO
for the presentation.
If you have an unexcused absence on the day you are supposed to present you will receive
a ZERO for the presentation.
If you do not show up for the final exam period (even if you presented earlier), you will
receive a ZERO for the presentation.
If you have an excused absence on the final exam period, you are required to come in on a
make-up period or you will receive a ZERO for the presentation. Per FCHS policy: all
students are to sit through the final exam period regardless of completing aspects of a final
project earlier.
WORLD AUTHORS (PLEASE PICK FROM THIS LIST)
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Albert Camus (Algeria)
Naguib Mahfouz (Egypt)
Ngugi wa Thiong’o (Kenya)
Chinua Achebe (Nigeria)
Buchi Emecheta (Nigeria)
Andre Brink (South Africa)
Nadine Gordimer (South
Africa)
8. Jin Ha (China)
9. Anita Desai (India)
10. Kamala Markandaya
(India)
11. Rohinton Mistry (India)
12. R.K. Narayan (India)
13. Salman Rushdie (India)
14. Khaled Hosseini
(Afghanistan)
15. Yukio Mishima (Japan)
16. Haruki Murakami (Japan)
17. Sook Nyul Choi (Korea)
18. Michael Ondaatje (Sri
Lanka)
19. Bandula Chandraratna (Sri
Lanka)
20. Janet Turner Hospital
(Australia)
21. Alexandre Dumas (France)
22. Victor Hugo (France)
23. Franz Kafka (Germany)
24. Erich Remarque (Germany)
25. James Joyce (Ireland)
26. Oscar Wilde (Ireland)
27. Anita Lobel (Poland)
28. Elie Wiesel (Romania)
29. Fyodor Dostoyevsky
(Russia)
30. Anton Chekhov (Russia)
31. Ayn Rand (Russia)
32. Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
(Russia)
33. Miguel Cervantes (Spain)
34. Orhan Pamuk (Turkey)
35. Paulo Coelho (Brazil)
36. Austin C. Clarke (Canada)
37. Cecil Foster (Canada)
38. Dionne Brand (Caribbean)
39. Gabriel Garcia-Marquez
(Colombia)
40. Orlando Patterson
(Jamaica)
41. Isabel Allende (Mexico)
42. Laura Esquivel (Mexico)
43. V.S. Naipul (Trinidad)
44. Harold Sonny Ladoo
(Trinidad)
45. Ian Fleming (England)
46. J.K. Rowling (England)
47. Rudyard Kipling (India)
48. Arthur Conan Doyle
(England)
49. Alexander McCall Smith
(Scottland)
50. Mulk Raj Anand (India)
51. Jorge Luis Borges
(Argentina)
52. J. M. Coetzee (South Africa)
53. Carlos Fuentes (Mexico)
54. Pable Neruda (Chile)
55. Samuel Beckett (Ireland)
56. A. A. Milne (English)
57. Octavio Paz (Mexico)
58. Buchi Emecheta (Nigeria)
59. Athol Fugard (South
Africa)
60. Margaret Atwood (Canada)
61. Alice Munro (Canada)
62. Jerzy Kosinski (Poland)
63. Anzia Yezierska (Poland)
64. Choose Your Own
(needs teacher approval)
Brainstorming and Narrowing Assignment and Rubric for Final Portfolio
Due Thursday, October 15th (60 points)
List Five-Seven Authors whom you think may be interesting to research from the list provided or people who
fit the following criteria:
 From a country outside the United States
 Writing about characters or events that occur outside the United States
Authors Name
Country
Type of Literature
Novel, Biography, Poetry, Graphic Novel
Liked their Lit.
√
Did not Like
√
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
________________
________________
________________
Author
Research on five authors from the list provided
(Scan their biographies and works in Wikipedia or other sources)
Your research should include biographical information.
Awards/accolades, and titles of books, poems, short stories, and
plays written by that author.
Information about that author (awards, titles of books, biographical info)
_________________ You will need to include a formal MLA works cited page with your research.
Rubric and Assignment Sheet on Formal Proposal for Two Author Choices
Due Friday, October 30th (100 points)
A formal proposal on which of the five authors you researched is your FIRST and SECOND choice for the focus on of
this project. Your proposal must include which text(s) you plan to read by each of these authors, as well as the
reasoning for wanting to focus on them.
Grading Rubric
Author Proposal
Score _______
OVERALL
IMPRESSION:
Demonstrates
excellent writing
skills
Demonstrates good
writing skills
Demonstrates adequate
writing skills
Demonstrated fair writing
skills
FOCUS:
Very clear and
insightful
Clear and
interesting
Evident but vague or
too broad
Unclear, some confusion
Clear and logical
Clear
Not clearly related to the
thesis
Specific, ample,
and relevant
Thin and/or too general
Thin or missing
Order not
completely logical
Lack of order affects
reading
Random organization
Sets main idea
Starts slowly or
abruptly
Sets wrong expectations
Gives information
about the two
authors and their
work
Summarizes their work
but does not give an
opinion
Only names two authors
Body Paragraphs
Topic
Clearly connected
to thesis
Sentences:
Transitions:
Aid flow and
Connected to
thesis
Vague
Missing
Between and
within paragraphs
coherence
Aid coherence
Rough spots
Unconnected ideas
Concluding
Sentences:
Clearly connected
to thesis
Connected to
thesis
Vague
Missing
Conclusion:
Restates main idea
and adds insight
Restates main idea
Attempts to restate;
may add new
information
Missing or changes
direction
VOICE:
Rich, makes the
reader relate and
subtly shows
audience
awareness
Clear, appropriate
Attempts audience
awareness
Inconsistent or missing
Sentences:
Effectively
engaging, varied
Varied and
interesting; easily
read
Clear but with little
variation in length or
style or beginnings
Repetitious, stiff,
confusing, or empty
Word choice:
Effective, precise,
varied, not
overwritten
Appropriate, clear,
effective
Occasionally interesting
and effective
Wordy, wrong usage,
unclear, diction errors
Mechanics:
Error free
Few distracting
errors
Some distracting
errors, but meaning still
clear
Distracting errors
interfere with meaning
DEVELOPMENT:
Ideas:
Details:
Original and
thought provoking
Thoroughly
developed, specific,
rich, and relevant.
ORGANIZATION:
Overall:
Introduction:
Thesis
Order of
paragraphs logical
One paragraph
summary of each
author’s work
Tells what is
interesting to the
student about
these two authors
work and their
importance in
World Literature
STYLE:
Frequent errors you need to proof carefully for in the future
 RO- run on
 other___________
 SVA-subject/verb agreement
 SF- sentence frag
 CS-comma splice
 its/it’s
 there/their/they’re
 there is
 you
 get
Friday, February 5th Summary/Responses (3) of critical reviews
(60 points)
Guidelines

Using the online card catalogue as well as other internet resources, search for the three most meaningful
critical essays regarding the book you have now finished reading.

Browse a handful of available essays in order to find the most poignant and significant.

Finding essays with varying points of view will also lend more flavor to your reading and responses.

Once you have found three important, critical essays, summarize the main points of each essay and then
respond to those with your opinions / reactions.
Title of Article #1 _______________________________________________________________
Author #1 ______________________________________________________________________
Rubric (20 points each) 60 points total
__________
One paragraph summary
 mentions the three main points the author is making about the text
 the opinion the author expresses about the text and why
 gives examples from the text and cites those examples/quotations in MLA style
__________
One paragraph response



gives your opinion of the critics views
supports your opinion of the critic with examples
quotations are cited according to MLA style
Title of Article #2 _______________________________________________________________
Author #2 ______________________________________________________________________
Rubric (20 points each) 60 points total
__________
One paragraph summary
 mentions the three main points the author is making about the text
 the opinion the author expresses about the text and why
 gives examples from the text and cites those examples/quotations in MLA style
__________
One paragraph response



gives your opinion of the critics views
supports your opinion of the critic with examples
quotations are cited according to MLA style
Title of Article #3 _______________________________________________________________
Author #3 ______________________________________________________________________
Rubric (20 points each)
__________
One paragraph summary
 mentions the three main points the author is making about the text
 the opinion the author expresses about the text and why
 gives examples from the text and cites those examples/quotations in MLA style
__________
One paragraph response



gives your opinion of the critics views
supports your opinion of the critic with examples
quotations are cited according to MLA style
Grading Rubric
Student ________________________ Period _______
Final (200 pts.)
Score ________
OVERALL
IMPRESSION:
Demonstrates excellent skills
in writing and competence
Demonstrates good skills in
writing and competence
Demonstrates adequate skills
in writing and competence
Demonstrated fair skills
in writing and
competence
FOCUS/CLAIM:
Very clear and insightful
Clear and interesting
Evident but fuzzy or too
broad
Unclear, some confusion
Clear and logical
Clear
Not clearly related to the
thesis
Specific, ample, and relevant;
uses limited variety of
strategies
DEVELOPMENT:
Ideas:
Original and thought
provoking
Thoroughly developed,
specific, rich, and relevant.
Uses a variety of strategies
Incorporating
Research as
support
Research is integrated; used
as support of main ideas
Some research is
incorporated; may have one
area without support;
research may have
questionable bias
Unity:
Clear and unified
Minor unity breaks from thesis
and/or within paragraphs
Thin and/or too general; Uses
only 1 or 2 strategies; largely
opinion
Lack of research affects
objectivity & development OR
too much reliance on research
loses writer’s own voice OR
clear bias affects argument
outcome
Thesis and/or paragraph
breaks interfere
Logical Fallacies:
Avoided
A couple
3 or more
Too many; lose
credibility
Order not completely logical
Lack of order affects reading
Random organization
Sets main idea
Starts slowly or abruptly
Sets wrong expectations
Clearly connected to thesis
Aid flow and coherence
 Between para.
 Within para.
Connected to thesis
Aid coherence
 Between para.
 Within para.
Vague or misdirects
Rough spots
 Between para.
 Within para.
Missing
Concluding
Sentences:
Clearly connects to thesis
Connects to thesis
Vague or uses citation
Missing
Conclusion:
Restates main idea and adds
insight
Restates main idea
Attempts to restate; may add
new information
Missing or changes
direction
Voice:
Rich, makes the reader relate
and subtly shows audience
awareness
Clear, appropriate
Attempts audience awareness
Inconsistent or missing;
attacking
Sentences:
Effectively engaging, varied
Varied and interesting; easily
read
Word choice:
Effective, precise, varied, not
overwritten
Appropriate, clear, effective
Mechanics:
Error free
Few distracting errors
Clear but with little variation in
length or style or beginnings
Occasionally interesting and
effective
Some distracting errors, but
meaning still clear
Repetitious, stiff,
confusing, or empty
Wordy, wrong usage,
unclear, diction errors
Distracting errors
interfere with meaning
Follows MLA format without
any errors
Follows MLA format without
any errors
Some errors, but the main
format is clear
Major format errors
Missing
Few formatting errors
Inaccurate or incorrect
Missing
Support of
personal position
Thin or missing
Missing
Not unified - rambles
ORGANIZATION:
Overall
Introduction:
Body Paragraphs
Topic Sentences:
Transitions:
Logical sequences of
paragraphs
Captures reader’s interests
and sets main idea
Unconnected ideas
STYLE:
Works Cited Page
In-text Citations