Finish Bean Trees for test Friday, June 5th.
HOMEWORK/DAYWORK: Watch this great example of a an Ignite style PowerPoint:
Phi, My Favorite Irrational Number
It hits all of the bases: 15 sec/slide, background info, examples, presenter's position.
It's a good model for what you will be doing.
Due date reminder: Papers June 3; Bean Trees presentations June 3 and 4, others June 8
How to set 15 second automatic transitions in PowerPoint: 15 sec transitions
Your research paper needs to follow MLA as far as citations and bibliography go. Google scholar creates citations for you if you just click the blue "cite" button at the bottom of the entry. You can also find MLA bibliography format at the MLA sites under the Resources tab on this blog.
Do citations like this. "Here's my quote from the article" (Isom 6).
And if another quote from "Isom" is included after that quote, omit the name (7).
Then when you cite another author, let the reader know that you've switched references by changing last name (Obama 8).
RESEARCH PAPER on topic relating to one of the novels studied this semester
FINAL PROJECT--PowerPoint showing the connection between your research area and the novel.
Your final paper is a 750-1000 word mini-research paper on a topic related to one of the novels that we have studied this semester. Topics range from WWI to baseball to the Women's Movement. 5 sources minimum, one of which is a Google Scholar article and one is your novel.
40 points, due June 3. You will have four class periods to do your research and to work on these papers and the project (which is described after the research paper)
RESEARCH PAPER. Your research is to focus on a very specific area or issue that is dealt with in one or more of the novels studied this semester. There are numerous approaches to finding a topic.
Probably the easiest is to simply review the plot of the novel and look for interesting details in the story, and ask yourself if those details might relate to a bigger societal issue that would merit research. Here are a few examples:
--The Old Man and the Sea--Joe DiMaggio
--The Catcher in the Rye--the correlation between wealth and the frequency of stealing
--The Great Gatsby--the Valley of Ashes and exploitation
--Of Mice and Men--compensation for farming accidents during the 1930's
--The Bean Trees--flapper balls in toilets--Taylor's feminist view of men
Another way to come up with a topic is to think about issues in the world that take place during the setting of the novel, or which might have influenced the author's perspective on life and thereby influenced his writing. For example, when Nietzsche said "God is dead," that pronouncement and accompanying rejection of a theistic view of the world changed the perspective of authors, and their perspective is seen in the stories they tell (think Hemingway).
A list of these topics can be found below.
Structure of the paper:
1. Background. Introduce the novel and the issue that you will be researching
2. What you found in your research
3. How this information helps us better understand the novel
Probably the easiest is to simply review the plot of the novel and look for interesting details in the story, and ask yourself if those details might relate to a bigger societal issue that would merit research. Here are a few examples:
--The Old Man and the Sea--Joe DiMaggio
--The Catcher in the Rye--the correlation between wealth and the frequency of stealing
--The Great Gatsby--the Valley of Ashes and exploitation
--Of Mice and Men--compensation for farming accidents during the 1930's
--The Bean Trees--flapper balls in toilets--Taylor's feminist view of men
Another way to come up with a topic is to think about issues in the world that take place during the setting of the novel, or which might have influenced the author's perspective on life and thereby influenced his writing. For example, when Nietzsche said "God is dead," that pronouncement and accompanying rejection of a theistic view of the world changed the perspective of authors, and their perspective is seen in the stories they tell (think Hemingway).
A list of these topics can be found below.
Structure of the paper:
1. Background. Introduce the novel and the issue that you will be researching
2. What you found in your research
3. How this information helps us better understand the novel
Some possible topics to consider for your paper include:
- WWI--how did it change perspective--Fitz enlisted; Hemingway went and were changed
- Nietzsche and nihilism--"God is dead"; Hemingway influenced, perhaps.Code Hero
- Freud, psychology, therapy--
- Post-traumatic stress disorder--attitudes of Salinger, Holden, and Hemingway
- The Lost Generation, including Gertrude Stein and expatriates. Characters are lost
- Alienation
- Existentialism--individual responsibility for moral code. Sartre and Hemingway, perhaps?
- White supremacy, racism
- Organized crime--be specific. Did crime change perspective of people? New morality?
- Prohibition, alcohol--drinking culture among characters in Fitzgerald and Hemingway
- Nouveau riche--
- Capitalism; free market system
- The Women's Movement, suffrage
- Feminism
- Divorce rights
- Single mothers
- WWII
- Communism, socialism
- Minimum wage; New Deal
- The Oklahoma Dustbowl; drought
- Latin American revolutions of the 50's-70's
- Che Guevara
- Immigrants/emigrants
- Immigration policy
- Where do the ducks go in winter? :)
- Others abound. Check with Mr. Isom
FINAL PROJECT
Ignite PowerPoint presentation (30 points) of 4 minutes, 16 slides, 15 seconds per slide.
6 minutes, 24 slides if done with a partner, which I recommend.
An Ignite presentation is simply a timed PowerPoint, not some special slideshow software.
The PowerPoint will cover the same research topic but will discuss that topic in a more dynamic manner. The idea here is that your research will help the class better understand an aspect of the novel. During your slide show you will need to make at least one reference to the novel (more is better, if you have the time) as you show the connection of your research to the book.
The presentation doesn't have to cover exactly the same material as the research paper and definitely should not use the same wording. These PowerPoint presentations are meant to be dynamic, perhaps even funny, and research papers are more formal.
An Ignite presentation is simply a timed PowerPoint, not some special slideshow software.
The PowerPoint will cover the same research topic but will discuss that topic in a more dynamic manner. The idea here is that your research will help the class better understand an aspect of the novel. During your slide show you will need to make at least one reference to the novel (more is better, if you have the time) as you show the connection of your research to the book.
The presentation doesn't have to cover exactly the same material as the research paper and definitely should not use the same wording. These PowerPoint presentations are meant to be dynamic, perhaps even funny, and research papers are more formal.
Bean Trees Ignite presentations must be delivered on June 4 and June 5.
*Students who work with partners will submit their own papers, which MUST show individual work.
Due final exam period, at which point you will present.
Our Bean Trees final test will be June 3. No vocab final. These presentations are much more important.
HOMEWORK tonight. Watch YouTube video showing how to do an Ignite presentation and read the recommendations for Ignite presentations found at the following links:
Ignite YouTube video--the why and the how to of Ignite PowerPoint presentations
Ignite Portland presentation--Automated Cat Feeding Robot
