Local
Biography
Writing
Assignment
Choosing a subject.
1 Choose someone who has lived
on this island.
2 Choose someone who is not in
your immediate family.
3 Choose someone who is at least
in eighth grade.
Warning #1:
Respect Your Subject!
Do not write a biography that is
Insulting
Degrading
Or in any way looks down on your subject.
This sort of biography will not even be graded.
Warning #2:
Finished product will
not be private!
Your finished biography will be placed in the
Local Biography Notebook.
Anyone who wishes will be able to read it.
Here is how your biography will be graded.
1 Focus 2 Organization 3 Details
This will be a short writing
assignment – three to five pages.
Because it will be so brief, it will need
to have a fairly narrow focus.
1 Focus
Two most common errors leading to an
unfocused biography:
1. a cradle-to-grave biography.
She was born on such and such a day.
She lived here and she lived there.
She worked here and she worked there.
She did this and she did that.
Finally, she died.
It is ridiculous to try to write an
1 Focus
entire life in four pages.
Two most common errors leading to an
unfocused biography:
1. a cradle-to-grave biography.
2. A scattered biography
She moved to the Island two years ago.
She likes volleyball.
She worked at this store.
She wants to go to college.
1 Focus
What do any of these things
have to do with each other?
So how does one write a
focused biography?
1 Focus
Three ways to focus a short biography:
1. A Specific Experience or Group of
Experiences that were life-changing
Examples:
War or other Military Experiences
Business or Career Experiences
Attempts to achieve something unique or
significant
Worldwide travels and adventures
1 Focus
Three ways to focus a short biography:
1. A Specific Experience or Group of
Experiences that were life-changing
2. Out of the ordinary characteristics
Examples:
Outrageous sense of Humor
Bad luck
Coming up from behind to win
1 Focus
Bravery
Gift of Gab
Strength
Three ways to focus a short biography:
1. A Specific Experience or Group of
Experiences that were life-changing
2. Out of the ordinary characteristics
3. Another specific focus
Examples:
Christmas in the Old Days
School in the Old Days
1 Focus
To have an organized biography:
Your focus should be clearly stated
in the first paragraph.
This makes an introduction.
2 Organization
To have an organized biography:
In the body of the biography,
detail 3-5 episodes that are examples of
the main idea.
These episodes must demonstrate what
was said about the subject in the
introduction.
2 Organization
Examples of an UNORGANIZED
Biography:
First this happened
Then this happened
Then this happened
Then this happened
Finally, this happened
2 Organized
In the body, the writing should
be as specific as possible.
Don’t write in the body that he was a funny
person.
Use a general statement like that
for your main idea,
in the introduction.
In the body, show how that person did or
said funny things.
3 Details
In the body, the writing should
be as specific as possible.
Don’t write in the body that she went to
college.
Include a general statement like that
in the introduction.
In the body, detail what college was like for
her. Tell a couple of anecdotes that
illustrate how college affected your subject.
3 Details
In the body, the writing should
be as specific as possible.
Remember to answer:
Who
What
Where
Why
When
How
3 Details
You will also be graded on sentence
structure and vocabulary, but leave
those for the revision stage.
This Assignment must have:
• 3-5 Pages
Do you have expectations of receiving at least a “C-”?
I have expectations of receiving at least 3 pages!
If you are looking for an “A” or a “B”,
your aim shouldn’t be the minimum,
but the maximum.
This Assignment must have:
• 3-5 Pages
• a positive outlook on its subject
• a single focus
DON’T try to cover many different things and then
weakly link them together with
“Here’s all the different things that are new for her
this year.”
“Here’s all the different things he is dedicated to.”
This Assignment must have:
• 3-5 Pages
• a positive outlook on its subject
• a single focus
• a distinct beginning, middle & end
bothafocus
organization
•Remember,
a body with
highand
level
of detail.
demand that the intro have a clear thesis
Let the reader see it! Make the reader feel like she was
sentence.
there! Use the techniques we have been studying!