Objectives
Students will be able to:
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Research a Holocaust survivor who became an author and write a 3 page paper about this author and his/her contributions to the literary world.
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Use data bases and CLCs for research.
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Evaluate possible sources of information for credibility and usefulness.
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Write an annotated works cited page for four sources.
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Cite sources using MLA format.
 Write a personal evaluation and reflection of the research process.
Process
Many Holocaust survivors used the printed word to relate the horrors of the Holocaust. We will be researching some of these authors.
Steps
1.
Choose an author from the list.
2.
Research your Holocaust survivor-author.
What critical reviews can you find about them? What were the author’s contributions to the literary world? How did your author relate his/her experiences of the Holocaust? What kind of life did your author lead after the Holocaust?
3.
Find articles about the survivor/writer you chose in the data bases using the internet and CLC’s in the LVA library. You can also use the public library if you have a library card. On your annotated works cited page you must use at least 3 database entries and at least one entry
from the CLCs.
4.
You may also use .org, .edu and .net websites. Here are some possibilities: www.remember.org
http://fcit.usf.edu/HOLOCAUST/
Remember: none of your required sources may be websites. Wikipedia and all .com websites are not acceptable.
5.
Read at least 4 articles.
6.
Take notes about the author you have chosen. How has the Holocaust affected this author’s writing, life, contributions to society? In what ways did this author deal with the horror of the
Holocaust and returning to a “normal” life? Write the page numbers and the citation for each bit of information that you record. If it is not your idea, you must cite it. Make sure when paraphrasing or summarizing that you do not use the author’s words. Simply adding a few words or mixing in some of your own is still plagiarizing—even if you cite it. You must put the information in your own words. If you want to borrow the author’s words, simply put it in quotations and cite it. Then it is ok.
7.
Make a conclusion about your author and write a thesis statement.
8.
Write a paragraph summary of each article. Also, evaluate the quality of this source in a
second paragraph. Would you use this source in a research paper? Is it credible, authoritative, and reputable? Is the information easy to understand? Is the article or website easy to navigate? Can you find what you need to know? Etc.
9.
Write the information about where you found each article. This is called a citation. This information must be presented in a certain way—this is called its design. We will be using the
MLA design or format.
10.
Put the summaries, evaluations and citations together to form an annotated works cited page.

(We’ll discuss this more in class.) You will have an annotated bibliography that has at least 4 entries—one for each article you read.
11.
Write an outline for your research paper. (See the format below.)
12.
Write your research paper.
13.
Write a one- page personal evaluation and reflection of your research process. What did you do well? What could you have improved? What problems did you encounter? How did you solve those problems? After researching a Holocaust survivor have you reached any conclusions or do you have any new thoughts on this topic?
14.
Arrange your research paper to turn in as follows:
Section 1—3-page research paper on a Holocaust survivor-writer.
Section 2—personal evaluation and reflection paper in MLA format
Section 3—annotated works cited page in MLA format.
15.
Turn it in on the due date. Due April 19 (odd), 20 (even).
MLA Help

P. 1167-8 in your English textbook—don’t use—out of date.
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Examples of MLA format at http://owl.english.purdue.edu/
This is the Online Writing Lab of Purdue University-Awesome!
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Hacker Pocket Manual
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Easybib.com
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Library handout
Definitions
An annotation is a summary and/or evaluation.
Therefore, an annotated works cited page includes a summary and/or evaluation of each of the sources.
Depending on your project or the assignment, your annotations may do one or more of the following:

Summarize: Some annotations merely summarize the source. What are the main arguments? What is the point of this book or article? What topics are covered? If someone asked what this article/book is about, what would you say? The length of your annotations will determine how detailed your summary is.

Assess: After summarizing a source, it may be helpful to evaluate it. Is it a useful source? How does it compare with other sources in your bibliography? Is the information reliable? Is this source biased or objective? What is the goal of this source?
 Reflect: Once you've summarized and assessed a source, you need to ask how it fits into your research.
Was this source helpful to you? How does it help you shape your argument? How can you use this source in your research project? Has it changed how you think about your topic?
Choose a topic from list:
LIST 2
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Nelly Sachs
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Elie Wiesel

Tadeusz Borowdki

Paul Celan

Levi Primo

Viktor Frankl

Magda Herzberger

Inge Auerbacher

Your Tentative Title goes here
(One that states the author’s name and a sneak peak about your conclusions)
Section I. Introductory Material and Thesis
A.
Short introduction about the Holocaust
B.
If you have found a great quote from the author or about the author that might introduce him/her, this might be a good place for that.
C.
Thesis statement: must include the author’s name and what your statement about that author is after researching that author.
Section II. Synthesis of Critical Reviews.
A.
What did the articles you read say about the author and his/her writing?
B.
Did you see any similarities or contrasts among the articles? You might note that.
Write one paragraph for each article.
Section III. Author’s Life / Personal info.
A.
How has the Holocaust affected the author’s writing?
B.
In what ways did the author deal with the horror of the Holocaust and the return to
“normal” life?
Section IV. Conclusion
A.
What were the author’s contributions to the literary world? ( What novels or kinds of writing did he contribute?)
B.
What were the author’s contributions to society after the Holocaust?
C.
What are your personal conclusions about the author?

Sample works cited page
Annotated Works Cited
Abel, Darrel. “Black Glove and Pink Ribbon: Hawthorne’s Metonymic Symbols.”
The New England Quarterly Vol. 42, No. 2 (1969): 163-180.
This article is dense, scholarly writing and contains researched information. Even so,
the information regarding The Scarlet Letter is interesting due to the author’s approach.
He discusses symbols that rename characters and sins in the novel. It is dated 1969, but
the content does not suffer. The title is intriguing; however, not all the information is
related to symbols in The Scarlet Letter. The author focuses on feminist aspects of the
novel, and while this is interesting reading, it did not provide any notes for a paper
on changing symbols. It is also not easy to read and very specific. The bibliography did
not seemingly hold any topics to revisit either.
This article would be a good source for a research paper on The Scarlet Letter. There are
many notes about symbols which would be an interesting topic. There is also the aspect of
feminist issues in The Scarlet Letter which would make an interesting topic as well. Putting these
two together would like this author did is a great idea. Even though no other sources were gained
from it, the source itself was worth wading through its academic language.
Nichols, Kendra. "Scholars Fear Diminished Access to Hawthorne Manuscripts." The Chronicle
of Higher Education 51.3 (2004). General Reference Center Gold. Web.
Some researchers are really upset that very old documents are no longer available for viewing
at the public library, Peabody Essex Museum's Phillips Library, in Salem Massachusetts—Nathaniel
Hawthorne’s hometown. They argue that because of layoffs of librarians and shortened hours at
the library, they can no longer see documents vital to their research. Library officials say that the
documents have painstakingly been put online and that most documents can be viewed any time.

Part I of research project (class presentation, Notes and MLA works cited
10 research notes due (show notes and sources) 4/11,12
10 research notes due (show notes and sources) 4/13,14
Typed research paper outline due 4/28,29
First Draft of project due 5/4,5
Final project due 5/10,11 (for 75% by 5/12,13; for 50% by 5/16,17; not
accepted after 5/17)
Sample works cited page

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