ENG 1DO - CULMINATING ACTIVITY 2005/06
BIOGRAPHY/AUTOBIOGRAPHY ASSIGNMENT
(30%)
Assignment:
You will be writing a five-paragraph essay in class over several periods on the subject of the biography or autobiography that you read. The topic of each student's essay will be different because it will depend on the subject of the book, but, in general, you will be trying to analyse the person's life to determine the factors that account for his or her strength, success, downfall, tragedy ... The thesis that you formulate will have three parts - the three factors that you decide are the most important in the person's life and which have had the greatest impact or influence on him or her.
The essay that you write will be in support of these three factors, incorporating your views with documented evidence from the book.
Process:
1. Choose a biography or an autobiography of someone who interests you. Choose a book with some literary merit. You must have your book approved by your teacher before starting work on this assignment. Each student in the class must read a different book
2. You will be taking point-form notes on each chapter, with page references, outlining factors that seem important in the life of the person about whom you are reading. Remember that if you are copying directly from the book, you must use quotation marks to indicate this, and the words must be exact (copied directly from the book with no changes, not even in punctuation).
These notes will be submitted to the teacher to be assessed. The clearer and more detailed these notes are, the easier the rest of the work on this project will be for you. It is important, however, to try to be concise in the notes that you take. Do not copy long sections from the book; try to find the key ideas, and record the most pertinent information. Do not forget to note page numbers for both direct quotations and paraphrased information. You must write in point form. Do not simply summarize the section that you read. (See the separate handout on chapter notes.)
3. After you have finished reading the book and taking your chapter notes, you will develop a tentative thesis in consultation with the teacher. You will use this thesis as the basis of your thesis notes - notes that will be organized around the three points that you have decided are most important or influential in the life of the person about whom you have read. The thesis notes will be based on the chapter notes and may be extended from the chapter notes if you find that you need more detailed information on certain points; keep accurate notes of page references.You may use your book for this process.
4. You must complete all of the steps in the process or your work will have to be redone. This means that you must have both chapter notes and thesis notes. Even if you miss the deadline for submitting chapter notes for assessment, you must still submit them if you wish to write the culminating activity essay or do the oral presentation.
5. Oral presentations will begin the period after the essay writing is finished..

TIMELINES:
CHAPTER NOTES:
Chapter notes on your whole book are due on Tuesday, April 18th for Day 1 classes and
Wednesday, April 19th for Day 2 classes. Chapter notes will be accepted until five days after the due date, but there will be a late penalty (barring extenuating circumstances) for each day late. Even if you have not submitted your chapter notes for assessment by the ultimate deadline, the chapter notes will still have to be done fully if you wish to complete the culminating activity (essay and oral).
Before the notes are submitted for assessment, they will be checked by your teacher to ensure that you are completing them according to the guidelines above. Your teacher will advise you of a date after the March break, but before the deadline of April 18th (Day 1 classes) or April 19th (Day 2 classes), when your chapter notes will be checked in class. (You should have notes on several chapters completed by the check.)
THESIS CONFERENCE :
After your chapter notes have been returned to you, you should begin to formulate a thesis based on the guidelines above. (The thesis that you formulate will have three parts - the three factors that you decide are the most important in the person's life and which have had the greatest impact or influence on him or her. The essay will be in support of these three factors, incorporating your views with documented evidence from the book.) The teacher will set a time to have your thesis approved by him or her.
ESSAY WRITING - 4 PERIODS:
Periods A, B, C, D classes :
• Preparation of thesis notes (using chapter notes and reading book): Wednesday, May
10th
• Preparation of outline (using chapter/thesis notes): Friday, May 12th
• Writing of first draft of the essay (using outline only): Tuesday, May 16th
• Revising of rough draft and writing final essay (using outline and draft):
Thursday, May 18th
Periods E, F, G, H classes :
• Preparation of thesis notes (using chapter notes and reading book): Thursday, May llth
• Preparation of outline (using chapter/thesis notes): Monday, May 15th
• Writing of first draft of the essay (using outline only): Wednesday, May 17th
• Revising of rough draft and writing final essay (using outline and draft): Friday,
May 19th
Breakdown of 30%:
1
•
50 marks: essay
• 25 marks: oral with visual component
• 25 marks: process (chapter notes - 15 marks, thesis notes - 5 marks, outline - 5 marks).
Total: 100 marks (30% of the final mark)
NOTE: Other than excused absences for TDSB sports events, and other extenuating circumstances excused through the VPO, a medical certificate must be presented for students to be allowed to make up missed work
during the four periods of essay writing.

ENG 1DO: THESIS DEVELOPMENT
When your chapter notes have been returned, check them carefully and correct any problems that have been identified, for example, missing page references or a lack of direct quotations. Once your chapter notes are complete, reread them and try to identify factors important to the character's success or failure. (See the original assignment instructions and the sample thesis statements below.) Once you have identified at least three factors, write your thesis in the space below, and check it with your teacher.
Original Assignment: ,
You will be writing a five-paragraph essay on the subject of the biography or autobiography that you read. The topic of each student's essay will be different because it will depend on the subject of the book, but, in general, you will be trying to analyse the person's life to determine the factors that account for his or her strength, success, downfall, tragedy ... The thesis that you formulate will have three parts - the three factors that you decide are the most important in the person's life and which have had the greatest impact or influence on him or her. The essay that you write will be in support of these three factors, incorporating your views with documented evidence from the book. -
After you have finished reading the book and taking your chapter notes, you will develop a tentative thesis in consultation with the teacher. You will use this thesis as the basis of your thesis notes - notes that will be organized around the three points that you have decided are most important or influential in the life of the person about whom you have read. You will prepare your thesis notes on the first day of the culminating activity. The thesis notes will be based on the chapter notes and may be extended from the chapter notes if you find that you need more detailed information on certain points; keep accurate notes of page references. You may use your book for this process.
SAMPLE THESIS STATEMENTS
#1
Jan Cramer suffered a great deal during her life, combatting AIDS; however, due to her fierce willpower, supportive family and unrelenting courage, she died peacefully, with a strong sense of accomplishment.
#2
-Allan; physically challenged since birth, proved to the world and himself, above all, what motivation, inspired by his parents, perseverance, learned from his teachers, and courage, found within himself, could achieve.
Write your thesis below . Be sure that the points that you wish to discuss are identified clearly.
Your thesis:

ORAL PRESENTATION (25 marks)
As a conclusion to your project, you will give a creative oral presentation that will differ in organization from the essay, but will be about the subject of your book. The format of your * presentation should be significantly different from your essay. You should not simply describe how you supported your thesis. What you may do, for example, is a monologue, an interview, a role play ... There are many possibilities, but a visual component (described below in #3) must be included.
(i) The presentation should be no more than five minutes in length . If you go over the time limit, you will be asked to stop; therefore, it is important to time your presentation carefully.
(ii) You should try to decide what the most interesting element, most dramatic part or most significant aspect is of the life of the subject of your book. Alternatively, you may focus on the period in time in which your person lived - the social or political environment. Instead of either of these, you may wish to discuss social issues arising from your book. The choice is yours, but you must not simply read your essay, or repeat the main ideas that you presented in your essay.
(iii) As part of your presentation, you must choose an object to show to the class that symbolizes something about your person or represents something that is important in his or her life. In your presentation, you should explain the object and why it is important. The object that you should must be meaningful.
(iv) Try to be creative, but remain within the five-minute time limit.
Oral presentations will begin the class following the writing of the essay.
A schedule will be made available in advance for you to choose the date of your presentation. Because you will have submitted your chapter notes with your essay, you must be sure to keep separate the notes that you need for your oral presentation.
Once you have chosen your presentation date, you are committed to it. If you are absent or are not prepared on this date, and if you have not presented appropriate documentation (as described on— the previous page), you will receive a mark of zero for the oral component of the culminating activity.
Evaluation for oral presentation - see the marking grid on the back.

ORAL PRESENTATION (25 marks)
Knowledge/Understanding (5 marks)
• understanding of topic (information, ideas and concepts)
Thinking/Inquiry (10 marks)
•
• analysis and explanation (5 marks) relevance and appropriateness of the object chosen (5 marks)
Communication (5 marks)
• sense of audience and purpose
• organization
Application (5 marks)
• clarity and effectiveness of voice
• use of visual aids
• language conventions (accuracy and effectiveness of grammar and sentence structure)
25 marks
While you may have note cards for reference, you must learn your presentation. You must not simply read from prepared notes. .
Oral presentations will begin the class following the writing of the essay. A schedule will be made available in advance for you to choose the date of your presentation. Once you have chosen your presentation date, you are committed to it. If you are absent or are not prepared on this date, and if you have not presented appropriate documentation (as described on the previous page), you will receive a mark of zero for the oral component of the culminating activity.