Step 1: Topic Selection
Choose from among the following individuals to research for your project. Each one has been pre-checked to make sure there is good information available. If you wish to choose a topic that is not on the list, you must get approval from Mr. Peyton first.
Athletes
Babe Ruth - Baseball Jack Dempsey - Boxing Jim Thorpe - Football Knute Rockney - Coach Bobby Jones - Golf Artists & Entertainers Charlie Chaplin - Actor Louis Armstrong - Musician "Duke" Ellington - Musician George Gershwin - Composer Rudolph Valentino - Dancer Bessie Smith - Singer Al Jolson - Singer Walt Disney - Animator Clara Bow - Actress/"flapper" Harry Houdini - Illusionist |
Presidents
Warren G. Harding Calvin Coolidge Herbert Hoover Writers F. Scott Fitzgerald Ernest Hemingway Langston Hughes Other Billy Sunday - Evangelist Amelia Earhart - Pilot Charles Lindbergh - Pilot Al Capone - Gangster Frank Lloyd Wright - Architect J. Edgar Hoover - FBI Director Alfred P. Sloan - Businessman Marcus Garvey - Activist Bonnie Parker & Clyde Barrow - Criminals |
Step 2: Just the Facts
After selecting your topic, begin researching your chosen individual using the databases below. Mr. Peyton will give you the username and password needed to access the information in class.
For your beginning research, first gather basic biographical information such as life dates (born, died), simple family background, education/career, and any especially interesting facts about their life before the 1920s.
IMPORTANT!
As you gather information, also record your sources in MLA format. At the bottom of each article in the databases, you will find the MLA citation already put together. You simply need to copy it down. For example:
IMPORTANT!
As you gather information, also record your sources in MLA format. At the bottom of each article in the databases, you will find the MLA citation already put together. You simply need to copy it down. For example:
- O'Brien, Steven G. "Franklin D. Roosevelt." American History. ABC-CLIO, 2013. Web. 9 Dec. 2013.
Step 3: Breaking Down the Info
Now begin to think about your topic in more detail, at a deeper level. Read through the information you are finding about your topic and think about these questions while you read.
- What major achievement(s) were associated with your topic during the 1920s?
- Who or what did your topic change/influence/impact during the 1920s?
- Overall, how significant was your topic in 1920s America? In other words, did he/she matter much at the time?
- What major achievement(s) were associated with your topic beyond/after the 1920s?
- Who or what did your topic change/influence/impact beyond/after the 1920s?
- Overall, how significant was your topic after the 1920s? In other words, did he/she continue to matter much? Does he/she still matter at all today?
Next: Complete the handout, which you can also [DOWNLOAD HERE], to begin to break down the info about your topic.
Step 4: Evaluate your Topic
On the back of your handout, you will find a "survey" to evaluate your topic. To do this, you will first need to understand the "Great Man Theory" outlined below:
GREAT MAN THEORY
Assumptions
Leaders are born and not made. Great leaders will arise when there is a great need. Individual free will is the most important influence on society.
Description
Early research on leadership was based on the study of people who were already great leaders. These people were often from the aristocracy, as few from lower classes had the opportunity to lead. This contributed to the notion that leadership had something to do with breeding. The idea of the Great Man also strayed into mythic domain, with notions that in times of need, a Great Man would arise, almost by magic.
Event-Making Hero
Social change is based more on the individual than society. The individual actually can create change by creating a fork in the road. Hero’s create a fork in the road and create a new path for people to follow society.
Description
This individual creates a fork in the road and blazes a new path, in other words they are doing something that has never been done before. This is someone that has a strong enough influence on people’s lives to create lifestyle changes. This person’s ideas or accomplishments have an influence on cultures all over the world. The event-making hero is similar to the great man, but do not fit the four criteria above as strongly as the “Great Man.”
Eventful Hero
Social influence determines behavior. Society has set up the context for the individual to lead. All the individual does is lead. This individual is a leader by chance and they create change through chance. This individual is not born a leader, in other words, they are not a leader because of their personality. Anyone could have filled this person’s role as a leader.
Description
Someone else created the fork in the road and the path for this person to go down. This individual leads people down a path that has already been created before them. This person is a leader because society was ready for a change and ready for a new leader.
GREAT MAN THEORY
Assumptions
Leaders are born and not made. Great leaders will arise when there is a great need. Individual free will is the most important influence on society.
Description
Early research on leadership was based on the study of people who were already great leaders. These people were often from the aristocracy, as few from lower classes had the opportunity to lead. This contributed to the notion that leadership had something to do with breeding. The idea of the Great Man also strayed into mythic domain, with notions that in times of need, a Great Man would arise, almost by magic.
- The greatest man to ever walk the earth was/is Jesus Christ.
Event-Making Hero
Social change is based more on the individual than society. The individual actually can create change by creating a fork in the road. Hero’s create a fork in the road and create a new path for people to follow society.
Description
This individual creates a fork in the road and blazes a new path, in other words they are doing something that has never been done before. This is someone that has a strong enough influence on people’s lives to create lifestyle changes. This person’s ideas or accomplishments have an influence on cultures all over the world. The event-making hero is similar to the great man, but do not fit the four criteria above as strongly as the “Great Man.”
Eventful Hero
Social influence determines behavior. Society has set up the context for the individual to lead. All the individual does is lead. This individual is a leader by chance and they create change through chance. This individual is not born a leader, in other words, they are not a leader because of their personality. Anyone could have filled this person’s role as a leader.
Description
Someone else created the fork in the road and the path for this person to go down. This individual leads people down a path that has already been created before them. This person is a leader because society was ready for a change and ready for a new leader.
Step 5: Create Your Website
![Picture](/uploads/1/6/6/1/16618718/3064509.png?269)
First, you will need to sign up for a free Weebly account.
- Click the Weebly link to the left to get started.
- Enter your full name (it stays private), your email address, and a password.
- Click "Sign up. It's free!", then select the "Site" option (not Blog or Store).
- Scroll down through the possible themes and choose one. Don't worry - you can easily change this later if you decide you want something else.
- You are now going to Use a Subdomain of Weebly.com. Enter something that you will remember (like your topic name, i.e. AlCaponeMCS.weebly.com), but do not use your name. Click Continue when you are happy with your web address.
Next, you will need to let Mr. Peyton know your new website address. Do this below:
Step 6: Build Your Website
Here is what you will need to include in your website:
- A main page with your topic's name and at least one picture.
- A Biography page with a complete paragraph about your topic (from the first box on your outline paper), and at least one picture.
- A 1920s Impact page with a complete paragraph from the second box on your outline paper, and at least one picture.
- A Later Impact page with a complete paragraph from the third box on your outline paper, and at least one picture.
- A Works Cited page listing your source(s) in MLA format.