Body Biography
Alas, Babylon by Pat Frank
Harper Perennial Modern Classics Edition
Context: At the end of chapter seven, there is some powerful foreshadowing about what
may or may not go on in the future for these characters. Randy Bragg has put his
extended family on defensive mode because he fears all of the surviving people after
“The Day” around him and what they may do out of desperation. At thirteen, Ben is a
protector of his family now and carries a gun, and Peyton at nine is forced to be brave
even though she says she feels scared all the time. Dr. Gunn is the only resident doctor in
Fort Repose and is finding his services even more necessary than every before, but it is
proving a danger to him to answer every call and to be around the desperate and the
nuclear fallout areas.
Purpose: We have learned a lot about the characters by this point in the novel, so this is a
good stopping point to check comprehension and do a deeper analysis of one of the main
characters.
Rationale: How the characters have felt throughout the novel so far from the time before
the bomb was dropped, to now after the essential end of their country is very important.
Learning what is most important to the characters and what they value and hold dear will
become valuable to us in the future in helping to map their behavior. This Body
Biography will help students to get to know one of the main characters intimately, and
the sharing of the completed biographies will aid all students in getting to know every
important character.
The ELL students will be able to better understand what is going on because they
can visualize it on the body cutout. Gifted and talented students will feel refreshed at a
new thing in class and can also take the assignment to the next intellectual level by using
more examples like the spine, or the virtues and vices, or symbolic objects to represent
their character.
Materials Needed: A copy of Alas, Babylon, a sheet of butcher paper, and a “Body
Biography” handout
Time: Two 50 minute class periods
Directions:
Step 1- Stop in the reading after chapter seven and go over with students which
characters they feel are the main characters so far. Their list could include Randy Bragg,
Dan Gunn, Elizabeth McGovern, Helen Bragg, and Peyton and Ben Bragg. Explain to
students that they are the main characters not only because they are present a lot, but
because there is something specific to the plot that the author wanted them to contribute,
that he could not leave out. This is his book; he can put in or leave out whatever he
wants, but he wanted some of these main personalities in the novel.
Step 2- In groups of four, students will analyze one of the main characters (if a
group wants to do Peyton or Ben, invite them to do both together as one character if they
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feel they cannot find enough on one character) by doing a body biography on him or her.
Have them begin by drawing an outline of the body and then going back through their
text and their previous assignments to find their biography information. Emphasize that
because there are not a lot of main characters in the text, their group will probably not be
the only one doing a certain character, so their biography should be especially inventive
and unique.
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Body Biography
In your group of four, choose one of the main characters (Randy Bragg, Dan
Gunn, Elizabeth McGovern, Helen Bragg, or Peyton and Ben Bragg). You will draw the
body of your chosen character on the sheet of butcher paper, taking up the whole paper.
Then, using evidence from the book, you will outline, write on, and illustrate several
different aspects of that character’s life.
Include
In your body biography you must use at least EIGHT of the examples below of your
choosing. The choices you make should be based on and supported by the text as you
will be verbally explaining (in a sense, defending) them to other groups. Make sure you
have a visual for each of your points.
Your biography will have TWO most important quotes from the text (either dialogue or
exposition) relating to your character written somewhere on the body.
After completing this portrait, you and your group members will present your completed
masterpiece to the class. In this presentation you will:
• Give a review of your character so far in the novel.
• Communicate to the class the full essence of your character by emphasizing the
traits you discovered about your character.
Suggestions
1. The area where your character’s heart would be might be a good place for
illustrating the important relationships within the character’s life.
2. The hands might refer to actions or accomplishments of the character.
3. The eyes might reflect what they see and how they feel about it or react to it.
4. In their mind you could write what they have been thinking or their rational
behind their actions.
5. Reactions to what is going on around them, solutions to thoughts, or specific
quotes could go on the mouth.
6. Spine- The character’s spine is their objective within the novel. What is their
most important goal? What drives their thoughts and actions? The answers to
these questions are the spine. How can you illustrate these elements?
7. Virtues and Vices- What are your character’s most admirable qualities? Their
worst? How can you make the rest of us visualize them?
8. Color- Colors are often symbolic. What color(s) do you most associate with your
character? Why? How can you effectively weave those colors into you
presentation?
9. Symbols- What objects can you associate with you character that illustrate their
essence? Are their objectives listed within the work itself that your could use? If
not, choose objects that seem to correspond with the character and explain why
you chose them.
10. Changes- How has your character changed within the work? How can you trace
these changes within your art work?
BYU – Elder - 2009