Your task will be to research an author and then present this author to your colleagues of the “Book of the Month” club, of which you are a prominent member.

The Final Product will be a documentary of this author in the form of a MS Power Point presentation, a timeline handout, and a one page “synopsis” overview of your group’s presentation.

In 7 teams of 3 people, and 1 team of 2 people, you will work collaboratively to create the documentary that will effectively and efficiently present a Guest Author to your Book Club members.  The authors you are going to study are:

You will each have an assigned role as either; Historian, Biographer or Literary Critic.  The group with 2 people will only fulfill the roles of Biographer and Literary Critic.

As a group read each assigned role in order to choose one per student.

Historian

Your role will be to research the time period in which the author lived and worked and report on such things as the political and social climate of this time as well as significant, interesting and important events pertinent to this era.

1. Research the country, region and city or town that the author comes from.  Include maps, pictures and any visual & statistical information you may need. Include such information as founder, population patterns, prominent industries, socio-economic situation, etc.

2. Research the time period that the author lived in and comment on the political and social climate of this time. Include a brief visual overview of men and women’s clothing fashions and trends of this period.

3. Research and then inform us about some of the major discoveries, inventions, significant events and influential people of this period.

4. You will work collaboratively to prepare a one page handout, for the class. This handout will be a brief “synopsis” of your group’s presentation.

5. You will be in charge of creating the Timeline handout of the author using the Timeliner software. You will need information from the other team members to create it.

Back to top

Literary Critic

Your role is to present a visual timeline of the author’s works. You will inform us of the different writings by this person as well as a brief insight into the author’s most notable work. You will also inform us about some of the various literary awards bestowed on this artist, as well as a brief overview of some of the literary awards available.

1. Research, and then by means of a chronological timeline (just the information not a table), introduce us to the author as well as any special awards or recognitions the author has received.  

2. Present a brief review of the author’s most noted work. Briefly describe the main theme, basic situation, some thing about the characters as well as the conflicts and complications of the story. Provide a visual commentary such as, book jacket, pictures, photos of characters etc.

3. Through your research describe 3 or 4 literary awards that are bestowed on authors. Firstly, you will describe any awards your author has received. Include such information as; who gives it, what is the criterion for winning, who decides on the winner, is there cash involved, and the names of some past winners.  Remember these awards are international, national and local in nature. This year the Nobel Prize for literature is a woman – first since 1996.  Who is she?

4. You will work collaboratively to prepare a one page handout, for the class. This handout will be a brief “synopsis” of your group’s presentation.

5. You will be in charge of the Synopsis handout that is explained in the Final product page.  You will need information from the other team members to create it.

Back to top

Biographer

1. Describe the early life of the author including any photos available. Include specific and interesting anecdotes, as well as information about parents, siblings etc. Mention things like standard of living, occupation of parents and family activities enjoyed.

2. Present an overview of the author’s education, and comment as well on friends, associates and significant events that may have contributed to the author’s success and also to the underlying themes in his/her works.

3. Inform us about some of the more popular books, movies and songs from this era.

4. You will work collaboratively to prepare a one page handout, for the class. This handout will be a brief “synopsis” of your group’s presentation.

5. You will be in charge of the documentary presentation that is explained in the Final product page.  You will need the slides from the other team members to create it.

Back to top