Research Guide: Author’s Heritage Group
Note: You may either:


Print out and write on this document or
Word-process your information on this document and save/print according to
your teacher’s directions.
Name:
Date:
Class:
Teacher:
Research Model: Esperanza Rising
Essential Question: How does an understanding of the historical and cultural
background of Esperanza Rising enhance your reading of the novel?
Time Management:
 Research to be completed by:
 Display materials due date:
Research Team Members (assigned or approved by your teacher):
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Group Controlling Question: How did the heritage and background of the author
influence the writing of the novel?
Subsidiary Questions: Starter questions are listed below. You may want to brainstorm
additional questions about your topic using Who, What, When, Where, Why, or How as
question-starters.
1. How did the author, Pam Ryan Munoz, get the idea for the story of
Esperanza Rising?
2. What aspects of the story are factual?
3. How could you best represent these aspects and details on a poster (or series
of small posters)?
Keywords: Your specific keywords will be the words in questions # 1 and 2 above that
you are trying to define. You might want to also use the following words:
Pam Munoz Ryan
Esperanza Rising author
biography
biographical information
Notes: Use the note-taking organizer below to record main ideas and key details
about each subsidiary question (scroll down to the next page).
 If you need additional space for notes, or if you prefer to write your notes in a
lined space, write each subsidiary question at the top of a separate sheet of
notebook paper or lined index card.
Note-Taking Organizer
IMPORTANT: If you copy and paste text from a Web page onto this organizer, you
must paraphrase this information before including it in your research project to avoid
plagiarism! Remember also to cite your sources!
Topic:
Subsidiary
Questions/ Main
Ideas/Words to
Define
1.
Notes
2.
3.
4.
Summary:
Don’t forget to keep track of your sources on your source cards or source worksheets.