Algebra 1 Online (Teaching Textbooks)
Second Quarter Seton Test 3
Required Topic List for Research Essay
Mother Teresa of Calcutta,
From some brief initial research, choose three personality traits of the person. You may use traits from the suggested traits list, create your own, or use a mix of suggested traits and your own. If you create your own, make them one-word traits like those in the suggested list. They should be positive traits. Note: The essay needs to be on the person’s actions, not his or her writings.
Suggested Traits List
bravery, humility, piety, fortitude, resourcefulness, kindness, loyalty, ambition, patience, frugality, meticulousness, gentleness, humorousness, introspection, practicality, forcefulness, resilience, strong-mindedness, modesty, asceticism, calmness, patriotism, generosity, self-denial, compassion
Putting the person and three traits together, make a simple working thesis statement. Later, you will write your research essay on this thesis. Later on, you may change some or all of your traits to others from the suggested traits list or ones that you create like them. If you only change traits later on, you do not need to resubmit this exercise.
Example Answer (on a topic not from the topic list for purposes of illustration):
1. Mother Teresa of Calcutta was noteworthy for her humility, fortitude, and charity.
Working Thesis Statement:
2. Initial Plan
Although you have not had time to conduct in-depth research, you should form a working plan. In at least three sentences, give a basic plan on how you will support the thesis, addressing each one of the traits. Ideally you should include a broad example or two from your research so far. (You can use first person for this answer.)
Example Answer (on a topic not from the topic list for purposes of illustration):
2. I plan to show Katharine Drexel’s humility in her continual acts of self-denial. For example, when she traveled by train, she would travel in the less expensive coach section and use the savings to give tips to the porters. She showed fortitude in the face of several difficulties establishing schools. Her charity can be seen in the detailed care she showed for the students of her schools, ensuring they not only had places to learn, but spaces for sports and play.
Initial Plan:
