Write a five paragraph paper arguing whether an author’s biography is relevant to his or her work. You should incorporate quotes from at least two sources: the primary source (by the author) and a secondary source (about the author). Write in MLA format. Include a Works Cited Page.

This essay is meant to sharpen your research skills and to explore the relationship of biography to a text (of experience to point of view). For this paper, you must do some research on the author of one of the essays we have read and show how the essay reflects his or her actual life experience. This may mean addressing ways in which an author?s biography should not be taken into consideration when analyzing a text as well. You will need to cite the outside source(s) you find and connect information about the author?s life to statements the author makes in the essay.

This essay should be no less than 5 and no more than 7 paragraphs long. The first paragraph should introduce your overall thesis and briefly touch on what will be covered more fully in the following paragraphs. Each paragraph should be no less than 5 and no more than 7 sentences long. The first sentence should be a topic sentence stating your main idea. All other sentences should support this main idea. The last sentence is the ?clincher? sentence, and restates or summarizes the main idea. Attempt to use a variety of sentences differing in both length and structure.

Formatting:

Include in the upper left corner: Your Name

Dr. Hartnett

Essay #

Course/Section

Type on a computer using 12 point, Times New Roman font, double-spaced. Write in complete sentences and use proper punctuation. You may use a spell-checker.