Content
Your purpose is to present as much information (in 5 to 10 minutes) as you can about the life one of the writers that we will encounter this semester. 

What should you cover?  Discuss the writer's childhood and home life, his or her education, his or her loves and losses.  Talk about friends and family, employment, wealth or poverty, personal philosophies, and religion.  Let us know who influenced the writer and also who or what the writer influenced.

For sources of information, consult encyclopedias as a first stop, but dig deeper.  Consult several biographical sources so that you get a wide range of perspectives on the individual.  Chances are that some biographies were written by people who admired the writer, and some biographies were written by those who despised him or her.   Be prepared to tell us which biography is the most reliable.  (Do not consult only internet sources, many of which have not passed the tests of editors and publishers.)

The Technical Parameters
Please follow these guidelines for the written portion of this assignment: 

1. Type an outline of the information that you will present, double-spaced, using one of the following fonts:
• Courier New, size 12 
• Bookman, size 12 
• Arial, size 12 
2. The page layout must follow MLA guidelines.  Review the sample on p. 733 of the Holt Handbook (6th ed.).  Use Roman numerals for your main divisions, Upper case letters for your major subdivisions, and Arabic numerals for your minor subdivisions and specific details, like this:
I.  Main division
A.  Major subdivision
 1.  Minor subdivision or specific detail
3. Be sure to include plenty of references to the years and to the age of the writer during significant events in his or her life.
4. All material that is borrowed from the text—whether quoted, paraphrased, or summarized—must be documented appropriately following MLA guidelines. Use parenthetical references rather than footnotes or endnotes.  Include a "Works Cited" or a "Works Consulted" page in which you list the complete citations for all your sources.

1. Excellent—You gave your presentation on the day it was due.
2. Good—You did not meet the deadline, but you arranged to give your speech at a later date.

6. Oops—You were not prepared to give your presentation.

1. Excellent—You have found an amazing amount of information and have organized it clearly, neatly, and logically, making it easy for anyone to understand and to locate information.
2. Good—You have found a good amount of information and have organized it clearly and logically, making it easy for anyone to understand and to locate information.
3. OK—You have found a satisfactory amount of information but could have dug deeper to find out more.  Nevertheless, you have organized the information clearly and logically, making it easy for anyone to understand and to locate information.