Introduction to Biography

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Introduction to Biography A biography is a story
about someone's life. A story, as with a
narrative, uses a the following techniques 1. a
consistent point of view2. a consistent verb
tense3. a logical order chronological, reverse
chronological, or ranking order4.descriptive
details
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Planning the Biography Conduct Preliminary
Research. 1. Type in the writers name
biography into your favorite search engine. 2.
Search Wikipedia for background information.
Conduct Extensive Research1. Use the internet
to find web sites, documentaries, articles,
interviews, and so on.2. Use the library to find
books, documentaries, films and so on. 3. Take
notes. Document your sources.4. Write a
preliminary bibliography.
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Focus Your Ideas Create a preliminary thesis
statement Focus your ideas! You cannot
concentrate on every detail of the persons life.
If you were writing about Edgar Allen Poe, you
could focus on three theories of his death.
Sample Thesis Edgar Allen Poes life is just as
fascinating as his poetry, but I am very
intrigued by three theories surrounding his
death. Decide what information you would like
to include in your paper. Try to group the
information under categories, such as writing
career and educational background, family life
and cultural background, and most popular work.
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Tell Your Story Introduction Open with an
attention grabber and an effective thesis
statement. Why should honor be given to this
writer? The introduction will be 1-3 sentences in
length. Attention Grabber Meena Alexander is a
poet, who sings of countries, foreign and
familiar, places where the heart and spirit live,
and places for which one needs a passport and
visas. Her voice guides us far away and back
home. The reader sees her visions and remembers
and is uplifted." Maxine Hong Kingston.
Thesis Statement Meena Alexander is an
inspiration because her personal and professional
life, like her poetry, has not been limited to
one specific time or place.
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Tell Your Story Other Possible Thesis
Statements In order to appreciate the poetry
of Meena Alexander, a person must know about her
family upbringing, religious background, and
culture. After reading Alexanders poetry, I
found myself wanting to know if her life has some
connection to her poetry. Most people claim that
Meena Alexander is only a notable poet, but she
also has two works of art that show she is also a
notable novelist. Although Meena Alexander is
known for writing heartwarming stories about the
immigrant experience, her life is also a
heartwarming story of the immigrant experience.

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Tell Your Story Body Paragraphs Highlight parts
of the writers life and/or works of literature
that interest you connect to your thesis
statement. Thesis Statement Meena Alexander is
an inspiration because her personal and
professional life, like her poetry, has not been
limited to one specific time or
place. Educational Background and Professional
life Meena Alexanders education was not
limited she was educated in various countries.
At the age of thirteen, Meena Alexander received
an English education in Sudan, and she also
studied English at Khartoum University in Sudan.
Her education did not stop there. At eighteen
years of age, she traveled to England to study
for a Ph.D. and then returned to India to teach.
Not only did she attend college at thirteen, she
also wrote her first poems in English. Her poems
were translated into Arabic and published in a
local newspaper. Her other works have been
translated into Hindi, Arabic, Italian, Spanish,
French, German and Swedish. She is currently a
professor at Hunter College and the graduate
program at CUNY in New York and she continues to
write poetry.
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Tell Your Story Body Paragraphs Highlight parts
of the writers life and/or works of literature
that interest you connect to your thesis
statement. Poetry Meena Alexanders poetry is
not limited because she writes about her culture
and being an outsider in ones culture. She
mainly about exile and identity. Her poem,
Poetry The Question of Home, is a narrative
prose poem in which she describes her love for
poetry despite the resistance from others. The
reader of this poem also learns a lot about the
connection between her personal life, her
identity and poetry. For example, she writes, in
her autobiography that she is a woman cracked by
multiple migrations. Uprooted so many times she
can connect nothing with nothing. Because her
family constantly relocated when she was young,
it made it hard for her to establish an
identity---call a place home.
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Tell Your Story Body Paragraphs Highlight parts
of the writers life and/or works of literature
that interest you connect to your thesis
statement. Personal Life Meena Alexander lived
in various parts of the world. was born in
Allahabad, India on February 17, 1951, to a
family of Syrian Christians. However, at the age
of five, her family moved to Sudan. According
to her autobiography, Fault Lines, her birth name
was Mary Elizabeth Alexander, but she changed her
name to Meena at the age of fifteen. Why? Meena
was a pet name and the name of the sister of her
fathers best friend. Meena changed her name to
identify with another part of herself. She also
wrote poems under the name, Meena, and that was
when she was truly able to identify with herself.
As an adult, she fell in love with an American
and married within three weeks. Presently, she is
married with two children.
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Tell Your Story Conclusion Sum up your body
points and thank the writer for his or her
contributions to literature. On February 17,
1951, the world gained a prominent poet. Thanks
to Meena Alexander for words that sings of
countries, foreign and familiar. Sample Essay