BiographyBiography

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BiographyBiography

• Mr. Brumfield
• Lawnton Elementary

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What is a Biography?

• Just what is a biography?
• The story of someone's life?
• A tale of accomplishment?
• A tale of woe?
• Or is it a boring list of facts
• that nobody cares about?
• A good biography brings
• the person to life . . .
• makes us care
• about what she or he did
• with time and opportunity.
• Who wants to read
• another boring biography?
• Who wants to write one?
• Certainly not you!

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Simply Speaking

• A biography is a written record of another
  persons life.
• Usually biographies are written about people who
  are famous or who have accomplished something
  important.

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How can I write a Biography?
Just follow these steps and you will be finished
in no time!
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Step One

• There are billions of interesting people in the
  world.
• You need to select one person to research.

Some Guidelines (or Rules)

• Choose a famous American
• Your subject should be a role model
• Find somebody who contributed to American
  history, not sports or entertainment.

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Step Two

• Find a resource that contains information about
  your subject. You can use the library and the
  internet to help you. Here are a few helpful
  websites.

Internet Resources
http//www.ala.org/ala/alsc/greatwebsites/greatweb
sitesbiographies.htm http//www.biography.com/ htt
p//www.infoplease.com/people.html http//www.ima
hero.com/education.html (Abraham Lincoln, Thomas
Edison, Ben Franklin, Florence Nightingale,
Sacagawea, Ulysses Grant)
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Step Three

• Plan your introduction. You will want an
  interesting beginning to your biography, so you
  should think of an attention-grabbing hook. You
  might ask a question or give a surprising fact
  about your subject.

Some Ideas

• Ask the reader a question about history or your
  subject
• Give an interesting fact or detail about your
  subject
• Build or describe the background about your
  subject or the time when he or she lived.

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Step Four
1st Paragraph

• Plan your first paragraph. You will need to
  introduce your subject and build some background
  for the reader. You will want to provide some
  general information and facts.

Some Questions to Answer

• What date and period of time was your subject
  born?
• Where did your subject live or grow up?
• What was your subjects early life like?
• Did your person overcome any hardships?
• What events shaped your subjects life?

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Step Five
2nd Paragraph

• Your second paragraph will begin to describe
  the accomplishments of your subject. What did he
  or she do that was special of helpful to the
  community?

Some Questions to Consider

• What qualities did your subject demonstrate?
  (courage, strength, leadership, caring,
  creativity)
• What did your subject do that was important?
• Why did your subject do these things?
• How did your subject help other people?

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Step Six
3rd Paragraph

• In your conclusion you need to describe why
  your subject is a role model to other people. How
  has he or she changed the world and what can we
  learn from him or her?

Some Questions to Consider

• Why is your subject considered a role model?
• Why do people still learn about your subject?
• How has he or she changed the world?
• What lesson can we learn from your subject?

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Planning Your Essay

• You may use the 4 Square outline to plan your
  essay.
• Each square will represent a paragraph, so each
  square should include three or four ideas.
• You will turn your planning ideas and facts into
  complete sentences when you write your first
  draft.