Edgar Allan Poe

American Master of Horror

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What is a WebquestAccording to Reference.com a webquest is “a research activity in which students collect information, where most of the information comes from the World Wide Web.” A webquest is broken into sections. Students are placed in groups, with each member of the team completing a separate task. The members share the information they have gathered to enable the team to complete the final project.

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IntroductionIn language arts you will be studying the works of one of America’s greatest poets and short story writers – Edgar Allan Poe. Through this webquest you investigate his life and mysterious death in Baltimore, MD, at the age of 40.

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The TaskThe Edgar Allan Poe Society of Baltimore is interested in providing information about the life and death of the great author. They are looking for area students to create Power Point presentations to be distributed to local area schools. You will be working in your teams to create presentations for this purpose.

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The Task, cont.The Power Point will include: • biographical information about Poe’s life• a timeline of major events of his life

• an essay about the cause of Poe’s death in Baltimore

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The Process

1. You will be assigned to a team to investigate Poe’s life. Your team must become experts on the life of Edgar Allan Poe.

2. In your team, decide who will gather information about the different parts of Poe’s life: early life (1809 - 1819), young adulthood (1820 – 1835), middle age (1836 – 1849), death in Baltimore (1849).

3. To complete this assignment a variety of resources must be used and cited. Each member of the group must gather information from at least one of each of the following sources: books, encyclopedias, videos, and the internet.

4. As a group, discuss the information about Poe. Come to a decision about the most likely cause of death.

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Presentation Criteria• Each presentation must begin with a black slide.• The first slide will have a picture of Poe and read

“Biography of Edgar Allan Poe”• The next several slides will be of the ABC biography of

Poe.• The following several slides will be the timeline.• The essay on Poe’s death will follow the timeline.• The Reference slide will follow the essay.• The final slide of the presentation must be black.• Click here to see requirements for ABC Biography.• Click here to see requirements for Timeline.• Click here to see requirements for Essay.• Click here to see requirements for Reference.

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The Process, cont.

5. Once all the information has been gathered, the group must decide which members will be creating the ABC biography, the timeline, and the essay.

6. Rough drafting of each piece is required. Each member must present his/her draft to the group for critique before the Power Point presentation is created.

7. Once all the rough drafts have been approved by the group, the Power Point presentation may be created. Click on the link to see the presentation criteria: Criteria.

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ABC Biography

• Each letter of the alphabet must have a biography entry about Edgar Allan Poe.

View the Power Point example of Benjamin Franklin.

Click here to go to Presentation Criteria.Click here to go to Timeline.Click here to go to Essay.Click here to go to Reference.

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ABC Biography of

Benjamin Franklin

Although Ben Franklin was born in Boston, the city of Philadelphia was known as his home.

Benjamin’s father wanted him to go into the clergy.

Clergymen require years of school and Ben’s father could only afford to send him for one year.

During his youth, Ben worked as an apprentice in his brother’s printing and newspaper businesses.

Even though Ben had kept the newspaper going while his brother was in prison, his brother harassed and beat him when he was released.

For his own safety, Ben ran away to Philadelphia.

Getting started in his own business was difficult, but Ben managed to open his own print shop.

He married his childhood sweetheart and together they ran the print shop, a general store, and a book store.

Timeline

Click here to go to Presentation Criteria.

Click here to go to ABC Biography.Click here to go to Essay.Click here to go to Reference.

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Use the following resources to help you create your timeline:

1809 – EAP Born

Important Event

Important Event

Important Event

Essay

Click here to go to Presentation Criteria.Click here to go to ABC Biography.Click here to go to Timeline.Click here to go to Reference.

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In your essay you must state what your team believes to be the cause of death for Edgar Allan Poe. You must present at least three facts which support this cause of death. The essay must be at least eight (8) sentences long.

Reference

Click here to go to Presentation Criteria.Click here to go to ABC Biography.Click here to go to Timeline.Click here to go to Essay.

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You must list references (bibliography) for each material your team uses to create your PowerPoint. These references will be listed on the penultimate slide in your presentation. Your reference page must be done in correct MLA format. You will find a link to help you with this in the Resources page.

Resources

Edgar Allan Poe Society of Baltimore

United Streaming

•Poe Article

Poe Videos•Profile of the Author•Great Books

Court TV

•Crime Library

Maryland Public Television

•Knowing Poe

Literature.com•Edgar Allan Poe

Web English Teacher•Edgar Allan Poe

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ResourcesUse one of the following links to create a timeline:

Read, Write, ThinkOur TimelinesBig TimelineTime Line Maker

Use the following link to create MLA citations:

Citation Machine

GradingGrading of the project will based upon completion of the PowerPoint presentation. Each student will be graded on his/her individual contribution to the final product and accuracy of the information.

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References• Reference.com. Date Accessed: 1/24/07. http://www.reference.com/search?r=13&q=Webquest• Google.com. Date Accessed: 1/24/07.

http://images.google.com/images?sourceid=navclient&aq=poe%20edgar%20allan&ie=UTF-8&rls=SUNA,SUNA:2006-50,SUNA:en&q=poe+edgar+allan&oe=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wi

• Google.com. Date Accessed: 2/09/07. http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.birderblog.com/bird/Species/Corvids/CommonRaven/Photos/CA2005/DSC02881.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.birderblog.com/bird/Species/Corvids/CommonRaven/CORAGallery.html&h=800&w=950&sz=49&hl=en&start=6&tbnid=qYeuHz7EtAiOVM:&tbnh=125&tbnw=148&prev=/images%3Fq%3D%2522raven%2522%2B%252B%2522bird%2522%26svnum%3D10%26hl%3Den%26rls%3DSUNA,SUNA:2006-50,SUNA:en%26sa%3DN

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