An epitaph is a short, memorable message that is written on a person’s headstone. A good epitaph conveys important information about the person’s life, achievements, or personality. They are often written as poems, but do not have to be in that format.
For this assignment, you will be assigned an important historical figure for whom to write an epitaph. The epitaph must be based on historical research and will appear on a gravestone of your own design.
Directions:
1- Research your assigned person. You must provide basic biographical information as well as details about the person’s major contributions to their field or US history. As you research, look for quotes by or about the person as well as other interesting stuff like stories or unique contributions that set them apart from their peers or that make them memorable. Don’t forget to record information about the sources of your information. You must have at least three reliable sources. Wikipedia is not an acceptable source. You can find suggestions for reliable sources below.
Use the MLA format as shown: Author and/or editor names (if available). “Article name” in quotation marks. Title of the website, in italics. URL (without the https://). Date material was accessed (day month year). Ex: Brant, Irving. “James Madison.” Encyclopedia Britannica. www.britannica.com/ biography/James-Madison. 10 October 2017.
2- Summarize the information that you have gathered about the person’s contribution/importance. Use a topic sentence, supporting information, and your best writing to relate why the person is remembered today.
3- Decide on the qualities or accomplishments that you want to focus on and write the epitaph. Keep in mind that most epitaphs as short and memorable. It does not have to rhyme, but should “flow”. The epitaph may include an interesting/powerful quote by or about the person. It must fit on a tombstone! (You may want to conduct research about epitaphs to get ideas about proper length and form.) You will be sharing this epitaph in class on Monday, October 31st.
You will also write a 1 -2 minute eulogy for the individual you researched and read it to the class on 10/31.
4- After the epitaph has been shared, you will be given a paper on which to design a headstone that includes the person’s name, birth and death information (date/place), and epitaph. The headstone must be designed to look like a real headstone. All lettering must be large and legible. Want a good grade? Make sure information is detailed and extra effort is visible!
From school, clicking on any of the database links will get you directly in to any database.
From home, you need login credentials because these are subscription (that is, paid-for) databases. Click on the image below to access the Google Doc containing the passwords. You must be signed in with a Northern Highlands account to view these passwords.
Having trouble? Email the librarian at goldbergj@northernhighlands.org, or stop by the Library.
Unlike those of a free website, database URLs are dynamic. That means that they change, so if you copy and paste a URL from a database into a Google Doc, the link will not work.
Permanent links are found in different places in different families of databases. The table below will show you where to find permanent links to the database pages you want to visit again.
| Company | Look for | Screenshot |
|---|---|---|
| Gale |
Get link |
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1. Log in to your NoodleTools account. (Forgot your login info? Contact the librarian.)
2. Create or open a project.
3. Follow the instructions for exporting a citation from each kind of database. Find the article you want, and then:
| Gale | Click Cite  at the top right of the page, then select "Export to NoodleTools." |
4. Refresh your Sources page, and there you will see a perfectly-formatted MLA citation.
5. To print or export all your sources into a pre-formatted Works Cited page, select the printer icon at the top of your Sources page, then choose what program you want your citations exported to.
