Third Quarter Project: Biographical Collage (Due 3/21)

3rd Quarter US History Project
Mr. Novick – D Block

Requirements
Each student will select one 19th Century American historical figure we’ve either discussed or alluded to in class. Possibilities include Jefferson, Lewis & Clark, Andrew Jackson, any of the Civil War figures (North or South) we’ve discussed or watched on film, including Harriet Beecher Stowe, Clara Barton, Belle Boyd, Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglas, Abraham Lincoln, and any of the numerous military or political figures of the Civil War era.

Once you have selected a figure for your project, you should create a list on a single sheet of paper of the important events, decisions, actions, or moments in that figure’s life, focusing on those things which make him/her significant to American and/or world history (their defining moments).

Next, gather together from magazines, the Internet, and any other resources available to you (including your own artistic abilities!) pictures, images, or even small items that clearly represent your figure’s life and character, relating all to his/her historical significance. THE GOAL IS TO SELECT SYMBOLS OR IMAGES THAT REVEAL YOUR UNDERSTANDING OF THE FIGURE’S IMPORTANCE TO AMERICAN HISTORY, RATHER THAN DOZENS OF PHOTOS DEPICTING THE PERSON’S FACE (so that if you’re doing Abraham Lincoln, you should not display photos of Mr. Lincoln and the Civil War: ask why Lincoln matters to our history, and then select symbols to show why he is important. For Lincoln, for example, two people holding hands could symbolize union, the preservation of the nation). A symbol is a tangible, real object that stands for or represents an idea.

Finally, these pictures, images and/or small items should be pasted, neatly, collage-style, onto a poster board no larger than a standard poster board and no smaller than ½ of a standard-size poster board.

You will be graded on the following (100 points possible, and counting as 25 percent of your quarter grade):

• Was the project turned in on time?
• Were both the listing of key events AND the collage turned in?
• Was the project completed in a neat, attractive manner?
• Does the project show evidence of thought and creativity?
• Was the brief presentation to the class serious and meaningful?
• Does the project demonstrate an understanding on the part of the student of the figure’s importance in American history?
  

On the date that this project is due—Monday, March 21st, in history class—you must turn in your finished collage AND the single sheet of paper with the listing of important events in that person’s life.