English 2F - Children's Lit
Project #1 - An Author's Life

Purpose: To demonstrate familiary with the techniques of literary analysis, particularly Biographical and Historical, to examine and identify how historical context influences literature and vice versa.

Directions: 

1. Pick a favorite author. This author should be fairly well known so you can research some of the facts of his or her life and times.

2. Conduct some research on that author and the time in which he or she lived, using the guidelines in the material on Historical and Biographical to direct your inquiry.

3. Think about the following questions as you research:

• How did the author's life and the historical era in which he or she lived influence the writing of one or more books?
• How was the book or books received when it was first published?
• Who was the original intended audience, and what effect was this book supposed to have on that audience?
• Would a modern audience react substantially differently to the book? Why or why not?
• What is this author's overall contribution to the field of children's literature?
  

4. Present your findings to the class on March 18.  You can do this in any form you wish. Some suggestions:

• Create a posterboard display with photos, timelines, etc.
• Create a film, Powerpoint or other multimedia presentation
• Write and illustrate a biography of the author
• Create a curriculum unit on this author's life that you could use in a K-12 classroom.
• Interview teachers, parents and children about their reactions to the book/s and compare it to the reactions of the original audience.
• Create a bibliography of resources designed to help someone who wanted to find out more about this author and his or her works.
• Create a work of art designed to represent this author's life or contribution to the field of children's literature.
• Dramatize some crucial events of an author's life, either in print or as part of the presentation, and explain  how these events influenced the writing of the book.
• Write and summarize in class an essay analyzing the effect of history on the author's work, or vice versa.
• Free choice - design a project and submit a proposal.

5. Submit a bibliograhy in MLA format listing all the sources you consulted to find information on your author.

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