Third Quarter Research Paper
“To read a writer is for me not merely to get an idea of what he says, but to go off with
him and travel in his company.” ~André Gide
Why this project?
Reading is essential—recommended for leisure and vital to life. Being enrolled in AP English means that you not
only are a literate reader, but also a lifelong reader—one who truly values and appreciates the power of the written
word. In addition to the reading you do each day for English class, the Independent Reading Project requires that
you will read one book OUTSIDE of class during third quarter AND write a research paper that underscores the
time period and biographical information of the author for your selected novel.
Step One:
READ!
1.
Select one novel from the attached list. You must be able to obtain a copy of this novel for yourself.
a. If there is a novel that you would like to read that is NOT on this list, you must get permission
from Mrs. Huynh-Duc first prior to Winter Break.
2. The book must be completed by Monday, February 1, 2016. Have a plot summary ready on this day.
Step Two:
1.
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9.
RESEARCH and WRITE!
This novel will provide the basis for your research paper. (Only a small portion of class time will be devoted
to the completion of this project; your research and writing will take place outside of class.)
TOPIC: How does the novel reflect the author’s life and time period?
LENGTH: Minimum of five pages; however, you will probably reach 10 pages with the Works Cited page.
By Monday, February 8, you must the following: an in-progress outline with a thesis statement and several
sources for your working bibliography.
By Monday, February 15, you should have your introduction completed with your thesis statement.
By Thursday, February 18, you should have completed your biography/time-period section with one point
of critical support pertaining to the novel.
By Monday, February 22, you should have a second point of critical support pertaining to the novel.
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 24, YOUR ROUGH DRAFT IS DUE (which includes your third and final point
of critical support).
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 29, YOUR FINAL DRAFT IS DUE. (You must have copies of all research materials
used in your paper, organized and clearly labeled, with the information you used highlighted.) Please
submit in a large manila envelope for Mrs. H-D to pick up from school. No late work will be accepted.
Step Three:
ORAL PRESENTATION!
In addition to your paper assignment, you will give a five-minute oral presentation. You will have the choice
between a creative dramatic monologue or a formal oral book report. Presentations will take place during the last
week of March before Spring Break. More information will be forthcoming.
Mrs. Huynh-Duc’s AP English 11 Independent Reading Book List
Maya Angelou
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
(1969)
Ray Bradbury
Fahrenheit 451 (1953)
An autobiography about the early years of African-American writer and poet
Maya Angelou. It is a coming-of-age story that shows how strength of character
and a love of literature can help overcome racism and trauma.
The Awakening
Kate Chopin (1899)
Set in New Orleans at the turn of the century, Edna Pontellier struggles with
unorthodox views toward her marriage and children. This novel is seen as a
landmark of early feminism as Edna seeks to find and live fully within her true
self at the controversial expense of her family.
A nameless African-American, male protagonist feels invisible to the world due
to horrid race relations in the early 20th century. He transcends the reader
through his life as a boy in the South to a college student in Harlem,
encountering betrayal from many and experiencing compassion from a few.
Set in Jefferson, Mississippi in the early 1900s, this novel centers on the
aristocratic Compson family and the 30 years in which they encounter financial
ruin, loss of faith, and loss of the town’s respect. It’s a four-part novel in which
each section is narrated by a different character; the first features a challenging
stream-of-consciousness section told by the 33-year-old mentally disabled son
Benjy.
Set in Florida during the early 20th century, the novel’s protagonist, Janie
Crawford, tells her life story of three marriages to her best friend Phoeby. This
novel is written in dialect, so it might initially be difficult to understand.
Ralph Ellison
Invisible Man (1952)
William Faulkner
The Sound and the Fury (1929)
Zora Neale Hurston
Their Eyes Were Watching God
(1937)
451 degrees is the temperature at which paper burns. This science-fiction novel
is regarded as Bradbury’s best work, presenting a future American society
where books are outlawed and “firemen” burn any books that are found.
Ernest Hemingway
A Farewell to Arms (1929)
One of Hemingway’s’ earliest novels (written when he was only 30), this work
features a love affair between an American ambulance driver (Frederic Henry)
and a beautiful English nurse (Catherine Barkley) during WWI. Divided into five
parts, this novel chronicles Henry as a wounded soldier who withdraws from war
and seeks solace in his love with Catherine. Ultimately, this novel reveals how
life can be tragic whether you’re in a war or not.
Toni Morrison
The Bluest Eye (1970
An 11-year-old African-American girl in Ohio in the early 1940s prays for her
eyes to turn blue so that she will be beautiful. NOTE: this novel contains graphic
content: she is raped by her father and the resulting child dies in infancy.
This bildungsroman follows the life of Macon “Milkman” Dead III, an AfricanAmerican male living in Michigan from birth to adulthood. Milkman has always
wanted to fly after learning that a neighbor threw himself off a rooftop in a vain
attempt to fly shortly before Milkman was born. Like other Morrison novels, this
work mixes mythology, folklore, and magic and requires a reader who is willing
to concentrate on the text and think about it on multiple levels. Includes graphic
language, violence, and sexually explicit scenes.
The only novel by Sylvia Plath (who committed suicide by sticking her head in a
gas oven at the age of 30), this semi-autobiographical account of a woman’s
descent into mental illness.
Song of Solomon (1977)
Sylvia Plath
The Bell Jar (1963)
Upton Sinclair
The Jungle (1906)
John Steinbeck
Of Mice and Men (1937)
The Grapes of Wrath (1939)
The disgusting conditions of the Chicago meat packing industry are described
through the eyes of a young immigrant in America. This novel began as an
undercover investigation for a newspaper and resulted in revealing the harsh
lives of immigrants and the health violations/unsanitary practices of food
production. It led to the passage of the Pure Food and Drug Act, which later
became the FDA.
A novella that tells the tragic story of George Milton and Lennie Small, two
displaced migrant ranch workers in Great Depression-era California.
The Joad Family struggles through the Great Depression by laboring as Dust
Bowl migrant workers. They put everything they have into making a journey from
Oklahoma to California to find work. (Note: this is a long novel.)
East of Eden (1952)
Harriet Beecher Stowe
Uncle Tom’s Cabin (1852)
Kurt Vonnegut
Slaughterhouse-Five (1969)
Alice Walker
The Color Purple (1982)
Tennessee Williams
The Glass Menagerie (1944)
A Streetcar Named Desire (1947)
Edith Wharton
Ethan Frome (1911)
Thomas Wolfe
Look Homeward Angel (1929)
Considered to be Steinbeck’s best work, East of Eden chronicles two families,
the Trasks and the Hamiltons, and is primarily set in Salinas Valley, California.
It aptly reveals the struggle between good and evil (frequently alluding to Cain
and Abel, among other biblical references). This is a long novel, but it’s fastpaced and gripping to read. “Timshel.”
Written by an abolitionist, this anti-slavery novel has been attributed for helping
lay the groundwork for the Civil War. The protagonist Tom is characterized as a
noble, long-suffering Christian slave who stands up for his beliefs and forgives
his overseers who savagely beat him. In recent years, “Uncle Tom” has become
a derogatory term for African Americans who “sell-out” to whites, and the novel
has also been deemed responsible for popularizing black stereotypes.
Regardless, its historical impact as a vital tool to end slavery cannot be
understated.
A post-modern, anti-war, science fiction novel that deals with a soldier’s
experiences during World War II and his subsequent journeys with time travel
and aliens. The first chapter is Vonnegut’s voice himself, followed by a thirdperson-limited point of view of Billy Pilgrim, who is ostensibly suffering from
PTSD after witnessing the Bombing of Dresden, Germany. (The war references
are based on Vonnegut’s real-life experiences…but not the time travel/alien
part.) Widely considered to be Vonnegut’s best work.
An epistolary novel that takes place in rural Georgia during the 1930s, this work
focuses on African-American women and their low position in society. There is
explicit content in this novel, so beware! Celie, the novel’s protagonist, is a poor,
uneducated black girl who is beaten and raped as a child and then grows up to
later endure physical abuse from her husband.
A semi-autobiographical play featuring the fictional Wingfield family: an overly
dramatic mother (Amanda) who was abandoned by her husband, a mentally
fragile sister (Laura) who has created a world through glass figurines, and the
protagonist (Tom) who must work to support the family but longs to escape.
Southern belle Blanche is a school teacher on a leave of absence who has just
lost her family’s home due to foreclosure. She is an alcoholic with a sordid past.
She arrives at her sister Stella’s apartment in New Orleans, whose own strained
marriage leads to a play filled with drama and conflict.
Set against a bleak New England background, the novel tells of Ethan Frome,
his hypochondriac wife Zeena and her vivacious cousin Mattie Silver who
comes to help take care of her. Poverty, winter, and a loveless marriage to an
older woman causes Ethan to be emotionally stirred by Mattie. This classic love
triangle leads to one of literature’s most powerful endings that is shocking and
savagely ironic. This novel is widely considered Wharton’s best work.
This novel chronicles the life of character Eugene Grant (believed to be a
depiction of Thomas Wolfe himself) from birth to age 19. Set in a fictionalized
version of Asheville, NC, this book is divided into three parts. Eugene suffers
from misunderstanding at home and at school; his restless, energetic character,
with a passion to experience life, takes him from his small, rural town to Harvard
University.