Multi-Genre Research Project: English 9 – Mrs. Mace
“A Life Worth Knowing”
OVERVIEW: You will create a research portfolio that includes a variety of
genres, each of which explores some aspect of the life of the person you have
selected, and each of which demonstrates that this person’s life has been one
of positive impact and significance, and hence, a “life worth knowing.”
PROCESS
1. SELECT A TOPIC. Look for a person whose life you wish to explore in
depth. A list of possibilities will be provided. You may select a person
not included on this list, so long as I approve him/her. The person you
select must have made significant positive impact on the world.
2. FIND INFORMATION. You need a MINIMUM OF FIVE SOURCES that will give you
specific, concrete details about the life of the person you have selected.
Your work needs to show insight into your subject. Keep your research/data
(i.e. notes, pictures, quotation, artifacts, etc.) with appropriate notations
about the sources in an organized folder. This documentation will be part of
your grade.
YOU MUST USE AT LEAST TWO PRINT SOURCE (i.e. BOOK) YOU MAY USE ONLY ONE
ENCYLOPEDIA TYPE BOOK. YOU MUST USE AT LEAST TWO INTERNET SOURCES.
YOU MUST INCLUDE ONE “INFOGRAPHIC” (photo album, scrap book, chart. poster,
etc., or other form of visual information) AS PART OF YOUR RESEARCH.
3. DETERMINE THESIS. You can only formulate a good thesis after you have
completed a fair amount of research, so that you have some idea of the impact
of your selected individual’s life experience. Eventually, you will need a
statement that gives focus to your subject. This thesis statement should
represent the focus of the person’s life, as you intend to present it in your
research. The genres that you select should support and reveal this thesis.
The thesis will connect your selected genres: a thread that ties everything
together and demonstrates the point of your paper. (NOTE: You may begin
with a preliminary thesis to guide your research, and then revise it as you
continue to discover the impact your individual has had on the world.)
4. SELECT GENRE. Your paper will include seven (7) pieces for Honors/five
(5) pieces for Regents – EACH A DIFFERENT GENRE FROM A DIFFERENT GROUP; you
MUST select one from Group E. Select the genres that will best present your
subject and insightful details. Your thesis should be reflected in each one.
GROUP A
poster
brochure
advertisement
GROUP B
commentary
editorial
letter to the editor
GROUP C
timeline
resume
news article
obituary
GROUP D
letter
advice column
diary or journal
GROUP E
photo essay/album
scrap book
GROUP F
interview
press conference
GROUP G
song
poem
dialoque
script
horoscope
recipe
YOU MUST EXPLAIN YOUR INFOGRAPHIC (Group E)INFORMATION. (i.e. - captions)
There are numerous other forms of writing that can also be used, with my
approval.
5. WRITE ROUGH DRAFTS. Each piece should include and incorporate
appropriate information from your research. Each piece must have a title.
Each piece must be completed on a separate page. Each page should be at
least a full page or even two or three pages. All must be typed.
You must use at least TWO sources (documented) in each piece.
Your pieces should be proofread by at least two people.
6. REVISE AND EDIT PAPERS. Make all necessary corrections in clarity,
sentence structure, mechanics, etc. Your paper should present a CONCRETE
foundation of evidence (FACTS AND DETAILS) to support your thesis. Your
pieces should be easy to read and understand as well as be free of
mechanical errors.
Be sure to give credit to your sources with in text citations as well as a
Works Cited page. PLEASE DO NOT PLAGIARIZE. Remember that WORDS AND IDEAS
belong to others. Please give appropriate credit.
7. PREPARE FINAL PRODUCT:
Title page
Thesis page
Table of Contents: includes title of each genre, type of genre, and page
number.
Genre pieces presented in an effective order.
Works Cited page. List all sources THAT HAVE BEEN USED in alphabetical
order
DUE DATE: THURSDAY
POSSIBLE TOPICS
Winston Churchill Marie Curie Alfred the Great
Evita Peron Cleopatra Napoleon
Margaret Thatcher Golda Meir Catherine the Great
Queen Victoria Mahatma Gandhi Julius Caesar
Albert Einstein Vincent Van Gogh Christopher Columbus
Ponce de Leon Magellan Louis Pasteur
Sigmund Freud Louis Braille Martin Luther
Charles Dickens Peter the Great William the Conqueror
Florence Nightingale Mother Teresa Che Guevera
Pablo Picasso Charles de Gaulle Mikhail Gorbachev
Nelson Mandela David Ben-Gurion Yasir Arafat
Simon Bolivar Corazon Aquino Hanan Ashrawi
Jacques Cousteau Leonardo da Vinci Beethoven
Mozart John Calvin Thomas Hardy
Shakespeare Justinian Vasco da Gama
Johannes Gutenburg Isaac Newton Galileo
Machiavelli Dante Confucius
Urban II Michelangelo Pope John Paul II
Genghis Khan Saladin Oliver Cromwell
William Wallace Joan of Arc Mark Twain
Charles Dickens Geoffrey Chaucer D.H. Lawrence
Ernest Hemingway J.F. Kennedy M.L. King,Jr.
F. D. Roosevelt Medgar Evers Eleanor Roosevelt
Lou Gehrig Maya Angelou Toni Morrison
Oprah Winfrey Leonard Bernstein Aaron Copland
Mikhail Barishnikov George Balanchine Margaret Sanger
Audrey Hepburn Monet Helen Keller
JRR Tolkien Babe Ruth Dali
Freda Princess Diana Micky Mantle
Annie Sullivan Andy Warhol Harriet Tubman
Walt Disney Elie Wiesel Oskar Schindler
Hillary Clinton Bill Clinton Ronald Reagan
John McCain Sarah Palin Barack Obama
Ted Kennedy Bobby Kennedy Bill Gates
MULTI-GENRE RESEARCH PAPER
Evaluation Rubric
Name: _________________________ Period: _____
CONTENT (30 points)
� Wide range of information used (5)
� Specific, relevant details incorporated (5)
� Depth of understanding demonstrated/Insightful comments made (5)
� Ideas developed clearly and fully (5)
� Reference to thesis made in each text (5)
� Information in one text not repeated in another (5)
FORMAT (20 points)
� Cover page (2)
� Thesis page: Statement provides an appropriate focus (3)
� Table of Contents (2)
� Correct number of genres included/Correct format used
for each genre (3)
� Appropriate sequence of genre and information is used (2)
� Suitable titles are given to each genre (3)
� Infographic incorporates visual information which is clearly
explained (5)
RESEARCH (20 points)
� Works Cited includes minimum number (FIVE) of sources (3)
� Correct format is used in Works Cited (3)
� All sources listed are used in text citations (3)
� In-text citations are correct, and correctly placed (3)
� Two different sources are cited in each text (3)
� Works Cited and Note Cards are complete and on time (5)
WRITING SKILLS (30 points)
� Clear and appropriate focus is maintained (3)
� Appropriate paragraphing used (3)
� Transitions employed effectively (3)
� Proofreading suggestions used effectively (3)
� Conventions demonstrate mastery in:
� Spelling (3)
� Punctuation (3)
� Capitalization (3)
� Grammar (3)
� Usage (3)
� Sentence Structure (3)
TOTAL POINTS: _____
