Person of the 20th Century

Having selected your candidate for the Person of the 20th Century, it is now your responsibility to research the contributions, accolades, and legacy of your individual. This process must involve both physical and online sources.

For your physical source, we are asking that you utilize the Ashland Middle School or public library to locate a Jr. biography for your person. If one is not provided for you, it is up to you to acquire one. We will do our best to help facilitate this process and ensure that everyone is able to work with their top choice.

In addition to reading the Jr. biography, students are asked to continue their research through online databases (provided through Ashland) or outside sites (ending in .org , .gov , or .edu).

Following our initial research, students will formulate an argument for the following prompt:

The world changed a great deal during the 20th century. What person had the greatest impact on the world for good or evil during that hundred years and impacted society in a lasting and meaningful way.

Students will identify three key reasons that their individual should be regarded as the Person of the 20th Century and utilize the 5 paragraph essay format to construct their ideas.

Students will use their prior knowledge of their candidate to finally present as their person. This presentation will allow for students to verbally and visually take the perspective of their individual and seek to convince their classmates of their credentials. This will take two components:

• A poster - creation of a "Baseball Card" poster. This will include:

  • an image or sketch of the person

  • important life statistics

  • a relevant border

  • 3 reasons from your writing

• The presentation - you will present a three to five minute verbal report about your nominee. You will be asked to:

  • Speak in the first person.

  • Utilize props and/or clothing

  • Give the three reasons "you" should be chosen