GENRE – Biography

This is what we discussed in class when talked about biographies.

Who to choose: –

A figure in history (Ancient, Modern or Recent)

 

Mechanics of writing a biography – keep these in mind

  • Introduction
  • Photo – captions. Side notes
  • Connected information
  • Chronology
  • Quotations – text, excerpt from writing, and their source
  • Dialectical thought section – could be included in your conclusion
  • Conclusion – this could be more than one paragraph long
  • Bibliography – list the books and websites you used to find your information. Make notes of your websites and books as you find the information! You will forget where you found it otherwise.

Things to include: –

  • Childhood (parents, where they were born, nationality, schools they attended etc…) young adult hood
  • Things that has an effect on their life – motivation for things that they did
  • Education, school, interests,
  • Adulthood/Later life (family life, marriage children, etc…)
  • Interesting facts, dates, places
  • Significant contributions/How they are remembered/Why they are remembered?
  • Impact of something they did into our life
  • Death

N.B. (Nota Bene) – Things to think about

Primary source

Secondary source

Cross-reference your information – how good is it? Is it true?

Use one book and two websites at least for your information – synthesize your information

Can you trust the website?

Write in a ‘passive voice’ – express your opinion in the conclusion

  • Passive voice pronouns – he, she, his, her, him, her
  • Opinion sentence starters – I think, I believe, I feel, I know