Introduction | Tasks | Process  | Author Biographical Questions |  Annotated Bibliography |  Resources | Evaluation | Conclusion

Introduction

    The history of Native American writing perhaps can be said to have begun in the early 19th Century when a number of works by Native Americans were published. Authors from this time include William Apess, George Copway, Elias Boudinot, John Rollin Ridge, Maria Chona, and Sarah Winnemucca. These writers generally wrote in English and often followed the forms of traditional English literature. Typical subjects were protests of white treatment of the Indians, attempts to obtain justice, criticism of removal and assimilation policies, and autobiographies and personal experiences. A typical approach of both Native American writers as well as African Americans of this time was to use Christianity to argue against injustices against minority groups. Another stream of Native American writing was the anthropological one, often written down by whites studying Indians. There are a number of works often involving myths, legends, or stories originally created orally and retold by Native Americans to white researchers. Towards the end of the 19th Century a number of Native American writers (Zitkala-Sa (Gertrude Bonnin), Luther Standing Bear, and Charles Eastman) began writing down the oral stories their elders had told them.
     In the early decades of the 20th Century,  D'Arcy McNickle is considered to be the founder of modern Native American literature. However, it was not until N. Scott Momaday's House Made of Dawn, published in1969 and winner of the Pulitzer Prize, that Native American literature experience its Renaissance.  Many Native American writers have contributed to this rebirth, including Sherman Alexie, Betty Louise Bell, Joseph Bruchac, Diane Burns, Maria Campbell, the Deloria family, Michael Dorris,  Louise Erdrich, Janet Campbell Hale, Joy Harjo, Linda Hogan, Simon Ortiz, Wendy Rose, Leslie Marmon Silko, Luci Tapahonso, and James Welch. These are only a few of the Native American writers. Until recently the majority of these writers were known to only a few.  Many people are surprised at how many Native American writers there are.

Tasks

    This is a research assignment about Native American authors. Your assignment is to research the life and literary works of a Native American author. Learn as much as you can about your chosen author, the typical genres s/he works in, the typical themes and subjects s/he writes about, who influenced him/her and who s/he influenced, and what her/his critical reputation is. For many authors, it may be important to also learn about the tribe they are affiliated with.

    Your task is four-fold:

    1. Prepare a thorough annotated bibliography, listing in MLA bibliographical format and summarizing what was contained in the sources you used and stating how and how much you used each of your sources. See the Evaluation section below to determine how many sources to include.
    2. Complete the attached Author Biographical Sheet. Make a photocopy for each class member plus one for the instructor.
    3. Prepare to role play your author on the class period selected for Native American Authors Celebration day.
    4. Select a short example of your author's writing (no longer than 5 minutes reading time) and prepare to read it on Author Reading Day.

Introduction | Tasks | Process  | Author Biographical Questions |  Annotated Bibliography |  Resources | Evaluation | Conclusion

Process

    1. Select a Native American author to research. You may use someone from our text or check some of the listed websites for other Native American authors.
    2. Register your name with the instructor. Only one student in class may research an author. First come, first serve.
    3. Gather sources about your author. You must include at least one of each of the following for a minimum of  four sources:
           1.A biographical source
           2. One work by your author
           3. One reputable on-line source
           4. One scholarly source
    4. Other sources you may choose to use include videos, television productions, audio tapes, interviews you conduct,
       autobiographies and biographies, or works about the person or time period in which s/he lived and worked.
    5. Take notes, photocopy or print materials. You are looking for answers to complete the Author Biographical Sheet and prepare yourself for role playing your author.
    6. Prepare an ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY listing all your sources used. Include the following information in each source annotation. See the Resource section of this assignment for an example of annotated bibliography.
           1.A MLA formatted bibliographical entry for the source
           2. What type of source is this (i.e. biographical dictionary, article, interview, Internet website, etc.)?
           3. What type of information did you find in the source?
           4. How much did you use this source in preparing your project?
           5. Why did you use or not use much of this source?
           6. Did this source seem credible and reliable? Why or why not?
           7. Each annotation should be at least several sentences in length but may be several paragraphs long. The average length
              will probably be a paragraph.
    7. Word process your Annotated Bibliography, following these guidelines:
           1. Use regular text-type margins (approximately 1 1/2" for left and right margins as well as for top and bottom ones)
           2. Double space
           3. Use 12 point type, preferably Times or Times Roman font
           4. Use black ink
    8. Complete the Author Biographical Questions (word process this) and make enough photocopies for each student in
       class plus one for the instructor.

       NOTE: The Annotated Bibliography and the Author Biographical Questions are the only two written parts of this assignment.

    9. Prepare to role play your author for 75 minutes during class on the due date. This means you have to know your person well. You may get creative with this--dress like the person, carry artifacts that s/he would be familiar with or writes about, create a picture album of this person's family or literary creations, do a scrapbook of his/her literary career, or ????
   10. During the Native American Author celebration, I will be a reporter interviewing you or listening to you as you role play. What I  hear and observe will be the basis of your grade for this part of the assignment. You must portray your person during the entire class period celebration and demonstrate your understanding of this author. You do not have to talk to or give a presentation to the  entire class.
   11. Prepare a short reading (no more than 5 minutes) of a work or part of a work that you believe is typical of your author. On Native American Author Reading Day you will read your selection to the class.

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Author Biographical Questions

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1. Author's Full Name ______________________________________________________ 2. Pen Name __________________________________

3. Birthdate ____________________  4. Birthplace _________________ 5. Death date __________________ 6. Death Place _________________

7. Parents' Names ______________________________________________________________________________________________________

8. Siblings' Names _____________________________________________________________________________________________________

9. Education or training __________________________________________________________________________________________________

10. What genres does this author work in?____________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

11. List at least three or more of this author's works____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

12. What are his/her typical themes? ________________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
 

13. What are her/his typical subjects?________________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

14. Describe his/her writing style.__________________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
 

15. What is this author's critical and literary reputation?__________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

16. Highlights of her/his career ____________________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
 

17. Who was this author influenced by? _____________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
 

18. Who did this author influence? _________________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
 

19. Other pertinent or interesting information about this author  __________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Introduction | Tasks | Process  | Author Biographical Questions |  Annotated Bibliography |  Resources | Evaluation | Conclusion

Resources

                        USEFUL RESEARCH SITES OR SEARCH ENGINES

LITERATURE RESEARCH--REFERENCE BOOKS AT PC

DISCOVERING MULTICULTURAL AMERICA--PC LIBRARY

ENCYLOPEDIA BRITANNICA--PC LIBRARY

EXPLORING POETRY--PC LIBRARY

DISCOVERING U.S. HISTORY--PC LIBRARY

                                    NATIVE AMERICAN WEBSITES

NATIVE AMERICAN WEB LINKS--PC LIBRARY HOMEPAGE

UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA'S ELECTRONIC TEXT CENTER
    Texts by and about African-American, Native American, women, American Civil War, Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton, literature in translation, for young readers., Best Sellers 1900-1930 (not limited to American), and University of Virginia Special Collections. Searchable by topic and author. Also contains some reviews and critical material. Not all texts are accessible to non-University of Virginia users.

AMERICAN NATIVE LINKS
    A site with many Internet links, including history, law, images, and other resources.

NATIVE AMERICAN LINKS
    This site focuses more on history of specific individuals and tribes, but it does contain links to other web resources.

NATIVE AMERICAN AUTHORS
    Includes primarily contemporary Native American authors, including bibliographies, biographies, and links to
other online resources (i.e. interviews, texts, and tribal websites).

NATIVE AMERICAN STUDIES COLLECTIONS
    Basically a bibliographies, library catalogs, and handbooks or a wide variety of sources. Maintained by Stanford University. May not have access to full texts.

NATIVE AMERICAN AUTHORS--TEACHER RESOURCES
    Resources and lesson plans for teachers, including information on authors, bibliographies, and links to other sites, including personal websites for many authors.

VOICES FROM THE GAP: WOMEN WRITERS OF COLOR
    Includes biographies, bibliographies, pictures, and related links for African-American, Hispanic, Asian-American, and Native
American female authors.

NATIVE AMERICAN RESOURCES
    Site contains links to many other resources on the web, including these categories: Guides to Internet Resources | Tribal Directories | Arts & Crafts | Education Electronic Mailing Lists | Government Resources | Health | History | Issues Languages & Literature | Law | Museums and Cultural Centers | Organizations Publications | Symposiums

Introduction | Tasks | Process  | Author Biographical Questions |  Annotated Bibliography |  Resources | Evaluation | Conclusion

Evaluation

Introduction | Tasks | Process  | Author Biographical Questions |  Annotated Bibliography |  Resources | Evaluation | Conclusion
 

Conclusion

       How to locate appropriate, reliable and valid research sources
       How to select appropriate information, ideas, and quotes to suit your research purposes
       How to format bibliographic information in correct MLA format
       How to write clear, specific, and succinct annotations
       Information about the author you chose to research
       Information about authors researched by others in the class
       How to present this information in a role playing situation
       Getting to know your classmates better
       Having a good time at Native American Author celebration day

Introduction | Tasks | Process  | Author Biographical Questions |  Annotated Bibliography |  Resources | Evaluation | Conclusion