Research Process

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Research Process

• 7th Grade Author Study Model

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Topic

• Authors
• This topic is way too broad to cover in one year,
  let alone in one research paper, so we have to
  make it a more specific topic.

3
Narrow the Topic

• Juvenile Fiction Authors (this is still too broad
  a topic as it encompasses hundreds of authors).
• Chose one specific author and focus your research
  on that one person.

4
Statement of Controlling Purpose

• The purpose of this research is to determine
  three direct connections (synthesized by elements
  such as setting, character, theme, etc,) between
  the writings of _______ and his/her own life
  experiences including the impacts of literary
  criticism on his/her craft.
• Note that this statement can be revamped into a
  thesis statement later to be included in your
  first paragraph of your research paper.

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Guiding Questions

• What is a guiding question?
• What is the purpose of a guiding question?
• What makes a good guiding question?

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Questions cannot be

• answered with yes or no
• too broad
• too narrow
• vague
• opinionated
• irrelevant

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Questions should be

• open ended
• clearly stated
• relevant
• answerable

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PURPOSE

• Guiding Questions are used to guide your
  research and help you stay on track.
• These questions eventually should help you form
  your thesis.
• Your thesis contains specific examples that
  support your statement of controlling purpose.

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Irrelevant Model Questions

• What was his/her favorite color?
• What was his/her favorite food?
• Where did he/she go on vacation?
• When did he/she get married?

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Relevant Model Questions

• Where did the author grow up? What connection
  does the setting of their upbringing have on
  his/her novels/writings?
• What other places has the author lived or
  visited? What bearing does this have on his/her
  novel/writings settings?
• Why kind of family life did the author have? What
  connection does that have to do with his/her
  novels/writings for character development?
• What other jobs did he/she have before becoming a
  writer? What connection does that have to do
  with theme in his/her novels/writings?
• Who influenced him/her as a writer? What
  connection or examples of this is displayed in
  his/her character development or theme of the
  novels/writings?
• What is one example of literary criticism written
  about the author that you can analyze?
• How has this literary criticism possibly shaped
  his/her novels/writings linking setting,
  character development and theme?

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Gary Paulsen

• Brainstorm with a partner one relevant guiding
  question about Gary Paulsen.
• After you and your partner write it down.
• Now turn to your group and share each guiding
  question that you came up with.
• Last, try to write two guiding question by
  yourself about Gary Paulsen.
• In a four people group, you should end up with 5
  questions total. One for each member the first
  time and one that you create in the end alone.
• Guiding Questions about Gary Paulsen
• 1.
• 2.
• 3.
• 4.
• 5.
• 6.

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Prime Questions

• Why?
• Why does Paulsens writings have such an
  interconnection with his life experiences?
• Why is he such an influential writer to his
  readers?
• How?
• How does he approach the writing process to form
  his craft?

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Research with Librarian
Website Username Password
Ebsco horry hcs
Discus discus09 infonow
Streamline fmmedia 123456
Destiny Click on this link and select Forestbrook Middle School, then select the second tab for the card catalog. Click on this link and select Forestbrook Middle School, then select the second tab for the card catalog.
Author Research And Biography Pages Here you can research about your author and see a list of books that they have written. You can also go to the bottom of the screen to see the links to other websites option which usually includes the authors own website address. This information will help you greatly to fill out your Authors Personal Data Sheet. Fantastic Fiction Childrens and Young Adult Authors Illustrators Young Adult Authors Young Adult Authors on the Web Here you can research about your author and see a list of books that they have written. You can also go to the bottom of the screen to see the links to other websites option which usually includes the authors own website address. This information will help you greatly to fill out your Authors Personal Data Sheet. Fantastic Fiction Childrens and Young Adult Authors Illustrators Young Adult Authors Young Adult Authors on the Web
Lexile Search page You can search the Lexile Book Database using basic search parameters Title (including partial titles -- e.g., "moon" when looking for "Goodnight Moon") Author (including partial names -- e.g., "rowl" when looking for Rowling) Lexile Range (allows a variance around a reader's Lexile measure) Keywords (searches both the book's title and its description) ISBN (allows you to target a specific title) You can search the Lexile Book Database using basic search parameters Title (including partial titles -- e.g., "moon" when looking for "Goodnight Moon") Author (including partial names -- e.g., "rowl" when looking for Rowling) Lexile Range (allows a variance around a reader's Lexile measure) Keywords (searches both the book's title and its description) ISBN (allows you to target a specific title)
MLA Citation Maker This website will be a major aid to you after you have conducted your research and gathered your information on your Source Information Form. You just select what type of source you would like to create a citation for and you plug in data. The citation maker puts all of the information in the correct order with punctuation. Of course you need to also practice this without the website. This is just a great place to double check your work. This website will be a major aid to you after you have conducted your research and gathered your information on your Source Information Form. You just select what type of source you would like to create a citation for and you plug in data. The citation maker puts all of the information in the correct order with punctuation. Of course you need to also practice this without the website. This is just a great place to double check your work.
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Possible end result(focus of the research)

• How have his/her writings impacted the literary
  community (readers) because of the staying true
  to themselves?

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THESIS STATEMENT

• Gary Paulsens life experiences and literary
  criticism have had a direct reflection on his
  writings as evidenced in the following novels
  with (setting, character development and theme)
  A, B, and C.
• A, B, C are three specific novels that show
  obvious connections to his life experiences and
  show shaping through literary criticism.