local biography writing assignment. choosing a subject. 1 choose someone who has lived on this...
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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
1 Focus
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
1. a cradle-to-grave biography.
Two most common errors leading to an unfocused 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
entire life in four pages.
1 Focus
Two most common errors leading to an unfocused 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. a cradle-to-grave biography.
What do any of these things have to do with each other?
So how does one write a focused biography?
1 Focus
Examples:
1 Focus
1. A Specific Experience or Group of Experiences that were life-changing
War or other Military Experiences
Business or Career Experiences
Attempts to achieve something unique or significant
Worldwide travels and adventures
Three ways to focus a short biography:
1 Focus
1. A Specific Experience or Group of Experiences that were life-changing
Bravery
Gift of Gab
Strength
2. Out of the ordinary characteristics
Outrageous sense of Humor
Bad luck
Coming up from behind to win
Three ways to focus a short biography:
Examples:
1 Focus
1. A Specific Experience or Group of Experiences that were life-changing
2. Out of the ordinary characteristics
Christmas in the Old Days
School in the Old Days
Three ways to focus a short biography:
Examples:
3. Another specific focus
2 Organization
Your focus should be clearly stated in the first paragraph.
This makes an introduction.
To have an organized biography:
2 Organization
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.
To have an organized biography:
Examples of an UNORGANIZED Biography:
2 Organized
Then this happened
Then this happened
Then this happened
Finally, this happened
First this happened
3 Details
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
Remember to answer:WhoWhat
Where Why
WhenHow
In the body, the writing should be as specific as possible.
You will also be graded on sentence structure and vocabulary, but leave
those for the revision stage.
This Assignment must have:
• 3-5 PagesDo 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.
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
Remember, both focus and organization demand that the intro have a clear thesis sentence.
This Assignment must have:
• 3-5 Pages
• a positive outlook on its subject
• a single focus
• a distinct beginning, middle & end
• a body with a high level of detail.Let the reader see it! Make the reader feel like she was there! Use the techniques we have been studying!