I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou

Imagine you are trying to help someone decide if they should read this book. You want to give them the main idea of the book in a simplified format. For this assignment, you will be creating an overview of your book.

Create your overview in a word processing program and upload when you are done. Use headings to designate the different parts of the document. Keep in mind, using SparkNotes or any other similar resource to complete this assignment is cheating.

Your assignment will be in the form of an essay and will include the following headers:

Introduction: Under this header you will include the title of the book, the author, biographical information about the author, and information about the book such as publication date, awards received, etc. This should be at least one 6 sentence paragraph.

Summary: Under this header you will provide a two paragraph (6 sentences each) summary of the story. This summary should keep the ideas and facts in a logical order, should not repeat information, should not include unimportant or minor details, and should be a summary in your own words.

Setting: Under this header you will write at least one paragraph (6 sentences each) explaining the setting of the story and one paragraph (6 sentences each) explaining how the setting impacted the plot or theme of the story.

Point of View: Under this heading, you will write at least one paragraph (6 sentences each) evaluating the point of view.

Conflicts: You will write at least one paragraph (6 sentences each) describing the external conflicts in the story and one paragraph (6 sentences each) describing the internal conflicts in the story.

Theme: You will write at least two paragraphs providing a possible theme for the story. Your paragraph should include at least one piece to textual evidence that supports your claim about the theme.

Context: You will write at least three research-based paragraphs (6 sentences each) explaining the influences of cultural mores or an historical event on the plot, character development, or theme of the novel.

Works Cited: You should have at least four sources cited appropriately according to MLA formatting. One source will be your text and at least three will be research you have conducted for the Context section.

See the following rubric:

Indicator/Point Value	Description	Instructor Comments
Indicator: Full and complete analysis present in the essay. Point Value: 70	Introduction header includes the title of the book, the author, biographical information about the author, and information about the book such as publication date, awards received, etc. Introduction is at least one 6 sentence paragraph Summary header includes a summary of the work with ideas and facts in a logical order, summary does not include unimportant or minor details, and summary is in student’s own words. Summary is at least two 6 sentence paragraphs. Setting header includes information about the setting of the story and an explanation of how the setting impacted the plot or theme of the story. Setting is at least two 6 sentence paragraphs. Point of view heading includes information evaluating the point of view. Point of view is at least one 6 sentence paragraph. Conflict heading describes both the internal and external conflicts present in the text. Conflict is at least two 6 sentence paragraphs. Theme heading includes information about a possible theme for the story and textual evidence to support the claim about the theme. Theme is at least two 6 sentence paragraphs. Context heading provides researched-based information explaining the influences of cultural mores or an historical event on the plot, character development, or theme of the novel. Context is at least three 6 sentence paragraphs. Works Cited page included.
Indicator: MLA formatting is met. Point Value: 15	12-point Arial or Times New Roman font Double spaced One inch margins Essay is in MLA format Works Cited page is included in MLA format In-text citations according to MLA format
Indicator: Correct English grammar is met. Point Value: 15	Writing is free of spelling or word use errors. Writing is free of run-on sentences or sentence fragments. All punctuation is used appropriately. All proper nouns and the beginnings of sentences are capitalized appropriately. All other standard English grammar, punctuation, and spelling are followed. Sentences vary in structure between simple, complex, compound, and complex-compound structures. Fully developed paragraphs have a minimum of six sentences each.