Edgar+Allan+Poe+Webquest

=Cause of Death Unknown WebQuest - The Life and Death of Edgar Allan Poe= toc

Introduction
How did Edgar Allan Poe die? You decide! In this WebQuest you will research the life and death of Edgar Allan Poe, the creepy yet famous poet and author. As you complete the quest, you will get into the mind of Poe and better understand why he wrote the stories and poems he did. Why did he write about death, darkness and hopelessness? You will express your thoughts and findings as you write a diary in the words of Edgar Allan Poe. Your last and final entry will be the night before he was found unconscious, brought to the hospital and died four days later. We will never know Poe's true thoughts and emotions but we can make inferences based on the information we know and that found through this WebQuest.

Task

 * First you will research the life of Edgar Allan Poe and create a timeline featuring the most important events.
 * Next you will choose three (3) events (excluding birth and death) and write journals (Dear Diary...) discussing the events.
 * Last, you will read the article "Cause of Death Unknown" and draw your own conclusion about what caused Edgar Allan Poe's death. Your last journal entry will be the night before Poe was found unconscious and later died.

Process

 * 1) **Research the life of Edgar Allan Poe and create a timeline of important events**
 * Create a page called **Edgar Allan Poe** on your wiki and title it Edgar Allan Poe Webquest with a link back to this WebQuest page. Click here for an example page. (Tip: click on the example page and copy and paste the sample information into your page.)
 * Create a table or copy and paste the table from the example page onto your wiki page. Your table may have more rows depending on how many events you include in your timeline but you should include birth, death and at least eight (8) more events. You should list the events chronologically.
 * You will want to take **//detailed// notes** in this table, as you this information when you begin to write your journals.
 * Your information should come from the following sources:
 * [|Student Research Center]
 * [|Brittanica Online]
 * []
 * []
 * []
 * []
 * Any of the websites listed in the Britannica Online "Web's Best Sites" found during your search
 * 1) **Choose three (3) events from your research (excluding birth and death) and, taking on the persona of Edgar Allan Poe, write journal entries** discussing the events. You should make inferences about how Poe felt, what he might have been thinking and how this event may have shaped his writing. Each entry should be 4-6 complete sentences.
 * 2) **Read the article "[|Cause of Death Unknown]" and draw your own conclusions about his death**
 * Your fourth and final journal entry should be the night before Poe was found unconscious and later died in a hospital. Was it alcohol? Was it rabies? Was he poisened? You decide based on your research and inferences you can make using that information. Your journal entry should tell us what you think Poe was doing that night and the events that led to his being found unconscious.

Evaluation
1 ||~ Developing 2 ||~ Qualified 3 ||~ Exemplary 4 ||~ Score ||
 * ~  ||~ Beginning
 * ~ Event/Importance Notes || Notes are incomplete with little or no detail. Many boxes are not filled in. It is questionable whether websites were visited. || Notes are incomplete and are not very detailed. Most boxes are filled in. It is not evident that all websites were visited for research. || Notes are complete and include some detail. All boxes are filled in. It is evident that most websites were visited for research. || Notes are complete and detailed. All boxes are filled in. It is evident that all websites were visited and research was conducted. ||  ||
 * ~ Character Development || Character of Poe is not developed; no effort is made to show personality or character traits. || Character of Poe is not developed; minimal efforts made to help reader understand Poe. || Character of Poe is somewhat developed; the reader gets some sense of who Poe was. || Character of Poe is clearly developed; personality traits come through the journal entry. ||  ||
 * ~ Historical Accuracy of Events || No events and people referenced are real and accurate; one or no entries revolve around one or more real events in Poe's life. || Few events and people referenced are real and accurate; 2 entries revolve around one or more real events in Poe's life. || Most events and people referenced are real and accurate; 3 entries revolve around one or more real events in Poe's life. || All events and people referenced are real and accurate; all 4 entries revolve around one or more real events in Poe's life. ||  ||
 * ~ Hypothesizing || No journal entries expand upon the known and venture into the unknown; no focus is on hypothesizing how events would have impacted Poe. || Few journal entries expand upon the known and venture into the unknown; little focus is on hypothesizing how events would have impacted Poe. || Some journal entries expand upon the known and venture into the unknown; some focus is on hypothesizing how events would have impacted Poe. || All journal entries expand upon the known and venture into the unknown; focus is on hypothesizing how events would have impacted Poe. ||  ||
 * ~ Creativity and Thoughtfulness || No creativity and thoughtfulness is seen throughout journal entries. || Creativity and thoughtfulness is not very evident throughout journal entries. || Creativity and thoughtfulness are seen in a few places in journal entries. || Creativity and thoughtfulness are clearly evident in journal entries. ||  ||
 * ~ Number of Journal Entries || 1 entry is included in journal.. || 2 entries are included in journal. || 3 entries are included in journal. || 4 entries are included in journal. ||  ||
 * ~ Lenght/Depth of Entries || 0-1 entries are at least one paragraph (4-6 sentences) in length, single spaced. || 1-2 entries are at least one paragraph (4-6 sentences) in length, single spaced. || 2-3 entries are one paragraph (4-6 sentences) in length, single spaced. || Each entry is at least one paragraph (4-6 sentences) in length, single spaced. ||  ||
 * ~ Spelling and Mechanics || 5 or more spelling errors. Grammatical error distract from the content of the journal entries and punctuation is lacking. || 3-4 spelling errors. Grammatical errors are common and punctuation is not used well. || 1-2 spelling errors. Entries are almost free of grammatical errors and punctuation is clear. || No spelling errors. Entries are free of grammatical errors and punctuation is clear. ||

Conclusion
Congratulations! You have finished this WebQuest! Did you learn something about Edgar Allan Poe? Are you ready to read some of his poems and short stories? I hope this WebQuest has sparked an interest in Poe and will help you understand him and the events that shaped his writing. I really hope you understand that we are all affected by the events and experiences in our lives.

Credits
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