Author Research Paper
Assigned: _____________
Final copy due date: _____________
PROMPT:
For this research paper, you will pick an important author, read a novel, anthology of short
stories, or an anthology of poetry by them, research their life and contributions to the literary
world, and write a 5-7 page research paper.
This paper is designed to facilitate your progress in research, organization, and writing. It is an
extensive project that entails research in and out of school. You will be expected to utilize class time
effectively and complete all benchmark assignments along the way, including researching, creating note
cards, completing an outline, and composing drafts. Your preparation and organizational skills will pay a
large role in your success in completing this paper. Make use of the resources here at school (the library,
support teachers, and me) and in your community (the public library). DO NOT put it all off until the last
minute!
Since this paper is on an author’s life you will be required to use the following resources in
creating your essay: biographical information about your author, something written by your author (you
MUST quote some of their work in your essay!), and a critical review of your author’s work. In total you
will need a minimum of five sources for your essay. Each source must be printed off or photocopied, too.
This will help me determine whether or not you are creating correct Works Cited pages and parenthetical
documentation.
The topic and thesis that you choose MUST be pre-approved by me, and cannot be duplicated by
anyone else in your hour. Please look through the following list of authors for ideas; these authors were
chosen because they have extensive writing careers and will be easier to research. Make sure you have
at least 3 or 4 authors you would like to research in case your first choice is chosen.
Jane Austen
F. Scott Fitzgerald
Ernest Hemingway
J.D. Salinger
William Shakespeare
John Steinbeck
Emily Dickinson
Willa Cather
William Faulkner
Stephen King
Toni Morrison
Zora Neale Hurston
Kat e Chopin
Leo Tolstoy
Sylvia Plath
Walt Whitman
Daniel Defoe
Charles Dickens
Frederick Douglass
Harriet Beecher Stowe
William Golding
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Ray Bradbury
Henry David Thoreau
Nathaniel Hawthorne
Neil Gaiman (GN)
Alan Moore (GN)
Marjan Satrapi (GN)
Art Spiegelman (GN)
Pearl S. Buck
H.G. Wells
Michael Lewis
Ayn Rand
George Orwell
Isaac Asimov
Margaret Atwood
Dante
Miguel De Cervantes
Anton Chekhov
Ralph Ellison
Gustave Flaubert
George Bernard Shaw
Alice Walker
Gertrude Stein
Langston Hughes
Emily Bronte
Bram Stoker
Sinclair Lewis
Upton Sinclair
Stephen Crane
O. Henry
Theodore Dreiser
T.S. Eliot
Alexandre Dumas
Homer
Guy De Maupassant
Salman Rushdie
Edgar Allan Poe
Maya Angelou
Joseph Heller
Henry James
James Joyce
Franz Kafka
Sylvia Browne
Louisa May Alcott
Virginia Woolf
William Blake
Robert Frost
Herman Melville
Samuel Taylor
Coleridge
William Wordsworth
Percy Bssyhe Shelley
John Keats
George Eliot
Henrik Ibsen
Amy Tan
Maxine Hong Kingston
Jack London
Herman Melville
Flannery O’Connor
Erich Maria Remarque
Robert Louis
Stevenson
Richard Wright
Tennessee Williams
Kurt Vonnegut
Johnathan Swift
Jack Kerouac
Jules Verne
Betty Smith
Frank McCourt
(Any other author we
have forgotten but you
believe would be
enjoyable to research!)
***Please Note: Mark
Twain is off limits
because all examples
will be based on
researching him!***
RESEARCH PAPER REQUIREMENTS:
Length:
 Papers should be about 5-7 pages in length. Each paper will be narrowed into three sections
based on your author’s life. Use my example on Mark Twain as your guide.
Format:
 The essay and all of its components (note cards, outline, works cited page, title page) must follow
MLA formatting/ style guidelines as outlined in the handout provided in class.
Final Essay Content:
 Title Page
 Outline: Final draft must reflect the content and organization of your final essay.
 Essay:
o Fully developed introductory and concluding paragraphs.
o Original thesis serving as a roadmap for your essay
o At least three distinctive sections about your author, which correspond with your thesis.
Each of your sections should have a minimum of two body paragraphs.
 Works Cited: Must contain an entry for each source cited within your paper and only those
sources.
 Turnitin.com Receipt: Proof that you successfully submitted your essay. Failure to do so will
result in a “0”.
Research Documentation:
 Your thesis and each of your three main sections must be solidly supported by credible research
information.
 You must include and document research from a minimum of 5 credible sources in your paper.
You must cite at least one of each of the following:
o A work from your author (Note: if we have read something from the author in English 9,
you can quote and discuss that piece in your essay BUT YOU MUST READ ANOTHER
PIECE BY YOUR AUTHOR. Also, this will not count as one of your five sources.
This will be yet another.)
o A critical review on your author’s career or a piece of their writing.
o An article or book containing biographical information.
o At least one of your sources must be a book.
 Each body paragraph must include at least one supporting quotation from a source.
 You must provide and submit a copy of each source used (photocopy or print out).
 All quoted material (exact words taken from a source) and paraphrased material (information put
into your own words) must include a parenthetical citation, properly documented and formatted
according MLA guidelines.
 All parenthetical citations must correctly correspond with an entry in your Works Cited page.
Additional Requirements:
 Research Proposal / Cluster Map
 Note cards for each source (40 minimum)
 A well-organized outline
 A works cited page
 2 rough drafts
 Submit final paper (only the final draft) to turnitin.com. Essays not submitted to turnitin.com will
not be graded, resulting in a zero!!
 Complete all prewriting and benchmark assignments outlined on the next page.
 KEEP EVERYTHING!!! (Drafts, outlines, note cards, notes, works cited, etc…)
FINAL RESEARCH PAPER & MATERIALS DUE 4/30/12 by 3:30 p.m.
NO LATE PAPERS WILL BE ACCEPTED, REGARDLESS OF ATTENDANCE.
OUTLINE OF ASSIGNMENTS/ POINT VALUES:
Because you have a calendar of these dates, I expect you to turn in all work on time, and if you
are absent on a due date, you should have the assignment on the day of your return.
_____ Research proposal worksheet— 5 points
_____ Thesis and three topic sentences— 5 points
_____ Rough Draft Outline—30 points
o Outline must be complete (6 body paragraphs) and follow the guidelines provided in class.
_____ Note cards, copies of 5 sources, Works Cited due at the end of class
o Note cards—40 pts: A minimum of 8 per source (40 total), each containing one fact or
quote from the source and correctly formatted according to MLA style
 Note: If you cannot generate 8 cards for each source, you will need to find
additional sources
o Rough Draft of Works cited—15 pts: Must include an entry for each source you will use in
your paper (5 minimum) and be formatted correctly according to MLA guidelines
_____ Rough draft— 20 points.
o Must be typed and include at least 6 paragraphs
o Must include research information from 5 sources and proper documentation.
_____ Final essay, materials, and turnitin.com submission due by 3:30 p.m.—150 points
265 points total!
On final essay due date, submit:
Essay: Staple these items in the following order ONCE in the top left-hand corner of the page. Please,
no binders or essay covers:
o Title page
o Outline (should reflect the content and organization of your final essay)
o Final “clean copy” of your paper
o Works cited page
o Grading rubric
Manila folder containing: your final essay (see above), all note cards bound together in rubber band,
copies of all rough drafts (essay, works cited, outline), essay rubric, turnitin.com receipt. (At teacher’s
discretion.)