AUTHOR BIOGRAPHICAL STUDY
RESEARCH QUESTION: How has the author’s life influenced the novel you read?
PROJECT OUTLINE
1. CHOOSE A NOVEL AND READ IT.
2. RESEARCH THE AUTHOR’S LIFE.
3. MAKE CONNECTIONS BETWEEN THE NOVEL AND THE AUTHOR’S LIFE.
4. CREATE A POWERPOINT SHOW OF YOUR FINDINGS.
a. NOVEL SUMMARY
b. AUTHOR’S LIFE SUMMARY
c. CONNECTIONS
5. SAVE A COPY OF YOUR SHOW TO THE P: DRIVE. (MORE ON THIS LATER.)
6. UPLOAD A COPY TO TURNITIN.COM. (MORE ON THIS LATER.)
7. DUE DATE IS FRIDAY, APRIL 5.
STEPS
1 Choose a novel (fiction or nonfiction but no biographies, autobiographies or memoirs) that you would
WANT to read. You cannot choose a novel we have already done together.
a Obtain a personal copy (paper or e-book), or check out a book from your teacher, your school
library, or the Gloucester County Library.
2 Create a new Noodletools project and call it “Author Study”. Use MLA, Jr. format. You will need this to
keep track of your sources. There is no thesis or outline associated with this project, but you will need
a works cited page that includes citations for books, websites, and pictures/photos that are used in your
PowerPoint.
3 Begin reading and researching. It helps if you know about the author as you read so that you can make
connections.
a You will be provided with excellent sources to help you obtain worthwhile information about your
author. You will have two days in the classroom to research via laptops, and you will also be
given considerable time to read in class during the next couple of weeks.
b However, you will most likely need to continue researching and reading at home as well.
4 Once you have finished reading the book and collecting information on your author, you are ready to
start creating your PowerPoint.
CREATING YOUR POWERPOINT
A good PPT presentation does NOT have all your notes on the slides. You should put the basics on the slides
and then fill in the rest as you are presenting to your group. The detailed list of notes will appear at the end of
your PowerPoint for grading purposes. Do NOT read from your PPT. You may use note cards if you like.
Listed below are specific instructions for your PowerPoint. Read them carefully!
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To begin your PowerPoint, choose a style for the PowerPoint using the “Design” tab. Choose
something that “makes sense” with your author and novel.
SLIDES: Your PPT will have nine slides minimum in this order:
a A title slide (Choose a title that reflects the author and his/her work.)
b Two slides that summarize the novel.
c Two slides that summarize the author’s life.
d Two slides that make connections between the reading and the author’s life.
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e A resource slide.
f A notes slide (The detailed notes you are using in your presentation.)
PICTURES: You are required to use clipart and/or pictures from the web as part of your project (one
per slide except for the source and note pages).
a You do NOT need to create a citation for clipart that is included in MS PowerPoint.
b However, you MUST create a new source in Noodletools for ALL OTHER PICTURES.
i To do this, you must go to the SOURCE PAGE for the pictures. Copying and pasting
from Google images or other image databases IS NOT ALLOWED!
ii For example, if you find an image on Google that you want, click on the picture and then
click on the link Google gives you for the actual site. That is the website you’ll need to
cite the picture in Noodletools. We will demonstrate this for you.
FINISHED? Once your PowerPoint is complete, do the following.
1 Go through your entire PowerPoint as a slideshow. Check grammar, spelling, and use of
color/animation.
2 Save a copy of it to the P: drive in the English/Damminger/Author Study PowerPoint/Your class folder.
Once it is saved here, you cannot make changes, so be sure to save it only when you are completely
finished.
2 Go back to your PowerPoint so you can upload the text to Turnitin.com. We will demonstrate this for
you.
i On the far left, next to the “Slides” tab, click the “Outline” tab. This is not on the top
taskbar, but on the left side of the screen.
ii This will open a new window on the left showing all the text in your project.
iii Go to your notes slide(s), select, and copy the text.
iv Login to Turnitin.com.
v Go to the Author Study assignment.
vi Before you upload, switch from “single file upload” to “cut and paste”.
vii Paste your notes into the text box and upload.
viii Don’t forget to click the submit button after it uploads!
NOW WHAT? Go get another good book to read and enjoy!