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Biography Assignment English 10 Advanced You are to select a biography of at least 200 pages. (The actual text must be at least that long, excluding table of contents, notes, bibliography, etc.) You are welcome to read a paperback; but if you do, it must be at least 250 pages. (If the hardbound volume is not long enough—i.e.: Tolkien—the same book in paperback cannot be, not matter how many pages it has. The opposite is also true, if the hardbound volume is adequately long, the same book in paperback form will qualify.) The book must be a biography—not an autobiography, ghost-written account, or fictionalized biography—of a single person. It must also be a biography which has been reviewed by at least 2 published literary sources. See the Book Review Digest or the JKF Library Web Resources page before you begin: http://schools.scusd.edu/kennedy/JFK%20Library/Web_Resources.htm. Look for reviews on Questia or EbscoHost. Passwords are as follows:
Also try the Library’s Research Help page: http://schools.scusd.edu/kennedy/JFK%20Library/Research.htm. Click on the link to Book Review Databases. In order to be of any real use to you, the reviews must be at least 250 words in length. You may find your reviews by using any of the above sources at Kennedy, or by visiting your local public or academic library (or its website). You must obtain full text copies of the 2 reviews you are relying upon. You will need to cite the review using MLA format, so be sure that your article provides you with the necessary information, or that you are able to obtain the same. Please read the reviews and make sure that they actually are reviews of the book you wish to read. You are to have finished reading the book by __________________________________. On _________________________________, you will be required to turn in summaries of two reviews of the biography you have read along with the following additional required information: (1) You must give the sources of your reviews—in MLA format. (2) You must give a short summary (four to five sentences) of each review, noting any strengths and weaknesses that each reviewer may point out about the book. (Summary means in your own words, not just a smattering of quotes or paraphrases from the review.) (3) With these you are to hand in a list of five vocabulary words you learned from reading the book. With each word, give the sentence from the book, the definition as it fits the word in that sentence, and the page number where it is to be found in the biography. (4) With the rest of the assignment, you will also turn in the copies of the actual reviews. All of this assignment is to be typed, double-spaced, using Times New Roman, size 12 font. It counts as a composition, so follow directions and take pride in your work. Organize the parts of this assignment in the following order, from top to bottom, before handing it in:
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