— , a novel by Fyodor Dostoevsky
The linear structure is the standard for most biographies; it starts at a specific point in the protagonist's life and moves forward in chronological order. Nonlinear structure is more complex as this style moves between time periods with time skips and flashbacks. Thematic structure strategically conveys given and new information to frame and insert specific themes.
For your biography essay, your subject will be the person whose life story you will be writing. In order for your biography essay to be effective, you will have to pick a subject who is interesting, important, or otherwise qualified to be the subject of a biography essay. You should ask yourself the question: why choose your subject, and what has your subject done that deserves to be recorded and remembered?
Of course, there's a sense in which every single human life is interesting and important. But for the purposes of your biography essay, you will want to dig deeper and consider why your subject is worthy of being remembered in the collective cultural memory.
An effective biography usually focuses on someone who has affected history, or someone who has achieved a high level of excellence within his/her discipline or field.
Søren Kierkegaard: A very important philosopher
Kierkegaard would be an example a good subject for a biography essay, because his works are generally considered a turning point in modern philosophy.
The subject of your biography essay does not necessarily need to be well-known. In fact, it can be a lot of fun to dig into the life of someone is not well known but should be. The important thing is that your subject must be compelling, and there must be a solid reason why his/her story should be told.
Also, when picking a subject, you may want to make sure that you actually like your subject. That can make writing a biography essay more fun, and your respect for the subject (or lack thereof) will also probably come across in your writing. If you want to convince others that your subject is compelling, then it would help if you find him/her compelling.
A lot can happen in a life, and it would probably be impossible for you to include everything there is to know about your subject within a single biography essay. So, you should choose the high point, or the most important points, and then focus on those.
Events in the life of Kierkegaard
These are key events that could be the focus of a biography essay on Kierkegaard.
Event | Rationale | |
Kierkegaard is born on the 5th of May, 1813. | Logical starting point for the biography essay. | |
Kierkegaard breaks his engagement with a girl named Regine Olsen on the 11th of August, 1841. | This is considered to be a turning point in his life and a major catalyst behind several of his works. | |
affair | Kierkegaard gets into a bitter public dispute with a tabloid called the . | This renewed his creativity in the later part of his life. |
Kierkegaard dies on the 11th of November, 1855. | Logical ending point for the biography essay. |
Garff, Joakim. Søren Kierkegaard: A Biography. Princeton: Princeton U P, 2007.
Now that you know about the elements of a biography essay, you can follow these steps in order to ensure that your biography essay turns out to be a success.
Next, integrate the specific biography related aspects listed below.
Again, your biography essay won't be able to include everything there is to know about your subject. So, you will want to map out the scope of your biography essay before you get started. The birth and death of your subject are the logical starting and ending points for your essay. Then, you will want to select a few events or accomplishments in the life of your subject that are worthy of remembrance.
You can develop a full-fledged outline, or you can use a table like the one developed above. Either way, though, you will have to have a clear idea of where you will begin, where you will end, and the path that you will take from the beginning to the end.
Your biography essay has to be rooted in verifiable facts about the life of your subject. This means that it is important that you identify and document the sources of your information. The essay sources should generally be scholarly in nature, and you should avoid using websites to the greatest extent possible. This is because it is often difficult to tell whether the content on websites have been drawn from credible sources.
Questions to ask when compiling sources
If there are references listed on a website about your subject, then you should trace those references back to the original academic sources. Those are the sources you should use for your biography essay.
Remember: with your biography essay, you are at least partly trying to show your reader why your subject is interesting and why he/she deserves to have an essay written about him/her.
Your interest in your subject should come across in your writing style. After all, if you feel bored with your subject, then why should anyone else pay attention?
The language you use should be scholarly (but still filled with imagery ), but you should also focus on varying sentence structure, using excellent word choice, and other writing techniques that tell the life story of your subject in a compelling way that does justice to the importance of your subject.
See the example biographical essay below for a clear example of how it needs to be written.
As the sample shows, it’s very important to be focused on true details. Please see the list of blog posts below for more examples of biography essays:
If you need more help or would like something written for your own needs, consider buying custom essays from Ultius . Our talented writes can help you get something done in as fast as three hours.
That brings us to the close of this guide on the biography essay. Here is a recapitulation of some of the best practices that have been covered here.
Develop a focused arc
You should use a linear narrative structure, starting with the birth of your subject, ending with their death, and focusing on selected key events and accomplishments in the subject's life.
Write in the scholarly mode
Although a biography essay is a kind of "story," it should still be written in a rational, scholarly way, and referencing in MLA or Chicago style is usually required for this kind of essay.
Love your subject
If you get to choose your subject, then you should pick a subject that you personally admire. This will make the writing process more fun, and your interest will also show in your writing and make the biography essay more enjoyable for the reader.
Find help if you need it
Finally, Ultius has plenty of resources that can help you write a successful biography essay and hone your skills as a writer. Please feel free to lean on us.
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Literary devices, terms, and elements, definition of biography, difference between biography and autobiography, common examples of biography, significance of biography in literature.
The genre of biography developed out of other forms of historical nonfiction, choosing to focus on one specific person’s experience rather than all important players. There are examples of biography all the way back to 44 B.C. when Roman biographer Cornelius Nepos wrote Excellentium Imperatorum Vitae (“Lives of those capable of commanding”). The Greek historian Plutarch was also famous for his biographies, creating a series of biographies of famous Greeks and Romans in his book Parallel Lives . After the printing press was created, one of the first “bestsellers” was the 1550 famous biography Lives of the Artists by Giorgio Vasari. Biography then got very popular in the 18th century with James Boswell’s 1791 publication of The Life of Samuel Johnson . Biography continues to be one of the best selling genres in literature, and has led to a number of literary prizes specifically for this form.
And I can imagine Farmer saying he doesn’t care if no one else is willing to follow their example. He’s still going to make these hikes, he’d insist, because if you say that seven hours is too long to walk for two families of patients, you’re saying that their lives matter less than some others’, and the idea that some lives matter less is the root of all that’s wrong with the world.
Tracy Kidder’s wonderful example of biography, Mountains Beyond Mountains , brought the work of Dr. Paul Farmer to a wider audience. Dr. Farmer cofounded the organization Partners in Health (PIH) in 1987 to provide free treatment to patients in Haiti; the organization later created similar projects in countries such as Russia, Peru, and Rwanda. Dr. Farmer was not necessarily a famous man before Tracy Kidder’s biography was published, though he was well-regarded in his own field. The biography describes Farmer’s work as well as some of his personal life.
On July 2, McCandless finished reading Tolstoy’s “Family Happiness”, having marked several passages that moved him: “He was right in saying that the only certain happiness in life is to live for others…” Then, on July 3, he shouldered his backpack and began the twenty-mile hike to the improved road. Two days later, halfway there, he arrived in heavy rain at the beaver ponds that blocked access to the west bank of the Teklanika River. In April they’d been frozen over and hadn’t presented an obstacle. Now he must have been alarmed to find a three-acre lake covering the trail.
A commanding woman versed in politics, diplomacy, and governance; fluent in nine languages; silver-tongued and charismatic, Cleopatra nonetheless seems the joint creation of Roman propagandists and Hollywood directors.
Stacy Schiff wrote a new biography of Cleopatra in 2010 in order to divide fact from fiction, and go back to the amazing and intriguing personality of the woman herself. The biography was very well received for being both scrupulously referenced as well as highly literary and imaginative.
Confident that he was clever, resourceful, and bold enough to escape any predicament, [Louie] was almost incapable of discouragement. When history carried him into war, this resilient optimism would define him.
( Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand)
I remember sitting in his backyard in his garden, one day, and he started talking about God. He [Jobs] said, “ Sometimes I believe in God, sometimes I don’t. I think it’s 50/50, maybe. But ever since I’ve had cancer, I’ve been thinking about it more, and I find myself believing a bit more, maybe it’s because I want to believe in an afterlife, that when you die, it doesn’t just all disappear. The wisdom you’ve accumulated, somehow it lives on.”
2. Which of the following scenarios qualifies as a biography? A. A famous person contracts a ghostwriter to create an autobiography. B. A famous author writes the true and incredible life story of a little known person. C. A writer creates a book detailing the most important moments in her own life. [spoiler title=”Answer to Question #2″] Answer: B is the correct answer.[/spoiler]
3. Which of the following statements is true? A. Biographies are one of the best selling genres in contemporary literature. B. Biographies are always written about famous people. C. Biographies were first written in the 18th century. [spoiler title=”Answer to Question #3″] Answer: A is the correct answer.[/spoiler]
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Posted by Lisa Dale Norton | Feb 1, 2019 | Writing Insights | 0 |
Here we are in February, the time of year when we throw ourselves back into writing the story of our life. The end of the year, with its deepening dark and circle of celebrations, distracts. But now, we begin again, clawing our way through the relentlessness of the information cycle to a quiet rhythm of shaping words, and asking fundamental questions: What is a memoir? How is it different from biography, and how are both related to that thing called narrative nonfiction?
Here’s my take on it:
Memoir is a story based on your life experience and what you have learned from it.
It is a winnowing of all that has happened into a tight view of a slim section of experience: the coming of age years; the head-spinning start of a career; early motherhood. But always, it is a winnowing of the vast, complicated arc of events that has constituted your life. Narrow, narrow, narrow. Find one series of events that linked together explores some vulnerable and pressing universality of life.
Biography is all about you, too—and all is the correct word. This is where you get to write about where you were born, and what went on during your young years, leaving home, setting out to make your way in the world, love, relationship, work, loss—the whole canvas.
See how biography is different from memoir?
Of course, we hope a biography will show us mistakes made and lessons learned—the vicissitudes that brought a woman to be who she is, pimples and all. We hope for some readers’ transformation as we witness the arc of that person’s life, but this is different from the expectations of the reader of memoir.
The reader of memoir dives in for the short version, the lens of the camera zooming in to show the close up of just the years from 6 to 18, or just that summer your husband died, or just the college years that led to a Rhodes Scholarship, or just the years when you, through sheer fortitude, worked your way out of poverty, of just those events that came together to make you the vocal activist you are today. Slim focus. And from that slim focus a nugget of wisdom.
Narrative nonfiction is a similar but slightly different beast.
This is a form where you might write about yourself and your experience a good deal, but you will also be teaching us something about the world. Maybe it’s the world of a dwindling tribe of the last subsistence whalers in the world (“The Last Whalers: Three Years in the Far Pacific with a Courageous Tribe and a Vanishing Way of Life” by Doug Bock Clark, recently published by Little, Brown and Company), so that the story ends up being about the writer’s experience getting the story, and about the nonfiction information itself.
We could say narrative nonfiction is the wedding of journalism and memoir, and while you may not be a journalist, you can do the same thing with your story by finding a topic that is central to your manuscript and making it an equal and parallel part of the story you write about yourself. Here’s a book where a writer did just that: “Don’t Make Me Pull Over: An Informal History of the Family Road Trip” (Simon & Schuster, 2018), which combined author Richard Ratay’s personal experiences with road trips, and the history of the American road trip from post-WWII to the 1970s.
See what I mean?
If you take the time to peruse the shelves of current nonfiction in your local book shop, you will see a lot of nonfiction with the author as player in the story. Why? Because we are a culture obsessed with the personal, the “I” of everything. Neither good nor bad, just ‘tis. And so, many contemporary nonfiction books give us the writer as a character and that character’s experience. But, they also give us information: the biologist who writes about his early days in the Galapagos, and Charles Darwin; the violinist who writes about becoming first chair of an orchestra, and the violin; the dog lover who writes about her dogs, and the industry of dog shows—two parallel stories that dip into and weave around each other giving us something fresh.
The name narrative nonfiction tells you everything you need to know: narrative, which means a story, and nonfiction, which refers to a topic from our world.
Can you find your project in this spectrum? Doing so now in February will make your writing year more productive, and make you more savvy about the marketplace.
Lisa Dale Norton is an author, developmental book editor, and a dynamic public speaker. She is passionate about layered writing structures in narrative nonfiction that reflect the complexity of life experience, and about the transformative power of writing a memoir. She is a gifted teacher, clear communicator, and a pro at creating an environment were learning can happen. Lisa wrote America’s go-to memoir writing guide, Shimmering Images: A Handy Little Guide to Writing Memoir (Macmillan), and the literary nonfiction story Hawk Flies Above: Journey to the Heart of the Sandhills (Picador USA), which won comparisons to the writing of Annie Dillard. https://lisadalenorton.com/
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Biography – literally ‘life writing’ – poses a variety of challenges. Balancing historical narration and day-to-day incident, for example. Or choosing what to include and what to leave out. Read 7 ideas on how to write a biography, with examples from biographical writing:
There are many different types of biography, both in fiction and non-fiction.
If you want to write non-fiction, you may be working on either an autobiography (a book about your life) or memoir , or a biography of a public figure.
Biographies can straddle both fiction and non-fiction, too. Many authors have written semi-fictionalized biographical stories (such as Now Novel writing coach Hedi Lampert’s novel , The Trouble with My Aunt ) with the author themselves as a main or supporting character.
For example, in Ivan Vladislavic’s Portrait with Keys , the author invents a brother. This fictional addition allows for lively debates between him and this imaginary relative about urban spaces and race politics in the city of Johannesburg.
Novelized biographies (such as Charles Dickens’ David Copperfield or Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre ) often follow a central character’s life arc in a linear way , from early life to later years or even death.
Other types of fictional biography include fictional letters and diaries. These allow you to play with other modes of representation.
For example, Sue Townsend’s popular Adrian Mole series (the first book being The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, Aged 13¾ ), presented as a British teenage boy’s diary.
Let’s examine 7 ideas about how to write a biography:
You could say that voice is a crucial ingredient of any story , especially in first person (where the narrator is the character).
In autobiography, in particular, you want your reader to form a clear sense of who is telling the story. Are they funny? Serious? Angry? Inventive? Philosophical? Just a little bit insane?
Consider the comical, self-aware voice that comes through from page 1 of Townsend’s novel. The first chapter, under the heading ‘THURSDAY JANUARY 1ST’, begins:
These are my New Year’s resolutions: 1. I will help the blind across the road. 2. I will hang my trousers up. 3. I will put the sleeves back on my records. 4. I will not start smoking. 5. I will stop squeezing my spots. 6. I will be kind to the dog. 7. I will help the poor and ignorant. 8. After hearing the disgusting noises from downstairs last night, I have also vowed never to drink alcohol. Sue Townsend, The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, Aged 13¾ (1982), p. 5.
Adrian Mole’s resolutions range from the virtuous to the droll (e.g. helping the ‘poor and ignorant’; scathing remarks on his parents’ drunken ‘disgusting noises’).
From the opening page there’s a clear sense of the voice of the subject of this diary-format biography. We form a sense of Mole’s desires, faults, attitudes and beliefs straight away.
Whether you’re writing fictional or non-fictional biography, how you represent events or tell the story is a creative decision.
Besides curating content (choosing what formative experiences, dramatic incidents, background details you include), there are different ways to approach representation , the way you tell the story.
As respected literary biographer Hermione Lee says, in an interview with James Rivington , there’s a difference between ‘autopsy’ and ‘portraiture’:
Autopsy, yes. There is a kind of biographical process that is, necessarily, cutting into the dead corpse, however ghoulish that can seem. You are as ruthlessly as possible trying to dissect and analyse the nature of the life. The other approach is more akin to portraiture: to see how the person looked from the outside, how they affected and influenced people, what their friendships were like, how they were one thing to one person and another thing to another person. I think you have get at both inside and outside if you can. Hermione Lee, interviewed by James Rivington for The British Academy
What Lee touches on is the issue of representation .
How will you mix biographical and historical facts (e.g. born here, raised there, had this key experience) with more painterly ways of revealing character ?
Deciding how to write a biography means choosing between many available narrative modes or styles.
Will your story run from A to B to C, documenting each decade in a person’s life? Or will it be a crisscross portrait cutting back and forth in time?
A fragmentary style of narration may suit certain subjects and contexts better than a linear story. Says Lee:
I think that biography has to be watchful of making life seem too predictable, or determinist, or shaped, or ordered. Biographies go through fashions. There used to be a fashion for making the study run smoothly and look definitive – ‘this leads to this leads to this.’ I think life-stories are more bitty and piecemeal. Hermione Lee, interview for The British Academy
As an example, Roland Barthes, a pioneer in semiotics (the study of signs and symbols and their interpretation), famously wrote an autobiography in fragments called Roland Barthes by Roland Barthes .
In this book, Barthes includes the preface ‘it must all be considered as if spoken by a character in a novel’.
What follows are captioned images from Barthes’ life, and then titled fragments where Barthes reflects on incidents, places, experiences and the development of his body of work.
For example, in a short section about the discomfort of writing called ‘Truth and Assertion’, Barthes refers to himself in third person , expressing discomfort in how words committed to paper express more than our original aims:
His (sometimes acute) discomfort—mounting some evenings, after writing the whole day, to a kind of fear—was generated by his sense of producing a double discourse, whose mode overreached its aim, somehow: for the aim of his discourse is not truth, and yet this discourse is assertive. (This kind of embarrassment started, for him, very early; he strives to master it — for otherwise he would have to stop writing — by reminding himself that it is language which is assertive, not he). Roland Barthes, Roland Barthes by Roland Barthes , p. 48, available here.
Fragments provide a fitting choice of narrative style for an unconventional autobiography that is as much a self-portrait of Barthes as a questioner of seemingly self-evident truths, as it is the representation of his life.
Barthes’ use of third-person and questioning reflections on the act of writing creates the ‘looking from the outside’ effect Hermione Lee describes as ‘portraiture’ in biography. Even as Barthes creates a self-portrait, he resists the idea of the ‘assertive’ author, the ‘completeness’ of the ‘final report’.
An English professor once asked his third year class ‘What is an anecdote?’
A girl put up her hand and answered, ‘It’s what you give someone when they’ve been bitten by a snake’, to which he replied ‘Please don’t ask someone for an anecdote if you’re ever bitten by a snake, for they will talk and talk and you will die.’
This is an anecdote. These usually short, often humorous stories about events involving a particular person are great fodder for biographies. They may illustrate a person’s quick wit or surly, non-communicative demeanor .
In biography, a brief anecdote may be all the reader needs to develop a sense of a key figure – a parent, friend, lover, rival or other.
The writer, poet and satirist Dorothy Parker is known for her witty comebacks and phrases.
One anecdote illustrating this character gives an alleged exchange between Parker and a snooty woman at an event, where both were trying to enter through a door at the same time:
It is recorded that Mrs. Parker and a snooty debutante were both going in to supper at a party: the debutante made elaborate way, saying sweetly “Age before beauty, Mrs. Parker.” “And pearls before swine,” said Mrs. Parker, sweeping in. Dorothy Parker, attributed. More on this anecdote at Quote Investigator.
Parker’s clever comeback to the woman’s quip about her being the older (and the implication she is less beautiful) evokes Jesus’s sermon on the Mount in which he said ‘Do not give what is holy to the dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine…’
The anecdote is a brilliant illustration of Parker as a quick-witted person with a sharp tongue and an ear for comedy. An anecdotal exchange here conveys a good sense of personality.
When we think about how a biography is written, we might think in terms of grand, important or scandalous events. Yet a biography is not a gossip column.
Lee makes this important point in her interview, regarding Virginia Woolf’s eventual suicide.
In writing the author’s biography, Lee describes the pitfalls of writing it as though Woolf was thinking about suicide every day.
It would possibly be sensationalizing (rather than allowing multiple ‘Woolfs’ to come through) to assume this linearity:
When, as in the case of Virginia Woolf, you have a very important, much-read woman writer who kills herself, there is a powerful desire to make the story move towards that point. You see that also in the life of Sylvia Plath – perhaps even more, because she was so much younger. It becomes all about the suicide. […] So one of my motives in writing about Virginia Woolf was to get away from the determinist sense of a story that had to end that way. Lee, interview for The British Academy
How do we make the repetitive, ‘boring’ parts of life interesting in life-writing?
Hagiography, the term for the writing of the lives of saints, also means ‘to display a subject undue reverence’ in writing.
The British statesman Arhtur Balfour is alleged to have said ‘Biography should be written by an acute enemy.’
There’s truth in this, since an enemy would dissect their rival’s life without mercy. Perform a thorough autopsy, and paint a colourful (even if unflattering) portrait.
In deciding how to write a biography, make sure you choose incidents that reflect multiple dimensions of the subject’s life. Their glorious and inglorious moments.
For example, to write the story of a now-revered author as the story of success after success may ring false for readers who know about the 12 rejections their first manuscript received.
Plan the scenes and incidents of a biography the way you would build a character profile. Ask, ‘What are the subject’s…’
Author and essayist Geoff Dyer has written books in many forms, from travelogues blending fiction and non-fiction to books about writing biography ( Out of Sheer Rage: Wrestling with DH Lawrence ).
Dyer’s book But Beautiful: A Book about Jazz is an example of his genre-defying approach.
Part biography of renowned jazz musicians (including Duke Ellington and Thelonious Monk), part homage to the improvisational and playful language of jazz, it combines historical details, photography and discussion of music. Rather than tell a linear story of each musician’s life, Dyer captures fleeting moments and experiences in a manner evocative of jazz music’s ephemeral nature.
This approach naturally involves plenty of fictionalizing, filling in and describing unknown details.
For example, here Dyer imagines a road trip where Duke Ellington’s driver muses on their road-tripping and the impossibility of recording every detail:
He’d bought the car in ’49, intending just to hop around New York, but soon he was driving Duke all over the country. Several times he’d had an impulse to keep a notebook record of how far they’d traveled but always he came to thinking how he wished he’d done it right from the start and so, each time he thought of it, he gave up the idea and fell to calculating vaguely cumulative distances, remembering the countries and towns they had passed through. Geoff Dyer, But Beautiful: A Book about Jazz (1991), p. 4.
Adding fictionalized events, such as particular exchanges between Duke Ellington and a driver that may not have happened ‘exactly that way’, is a useful part of biography. Like the driver’s thought process, there are ‘vaguely cumulative distances’ you, the biographer, must calculate and recreate for your reader.
Writing a fiction or non-fiction (or semi-fictional) biographical novel? Get constructive, considere d feedback from a writing coach.
Jordan is a writer, editor, community manager and product developer. He received his BA Honours in English Literature and his undergraduate in English Literature and Music from the University of Cape Town.
This article is brilliant, useful and educational which I admired the most and I can’t wait to read more. Thanks for the topic you’ve shared!
Thank you, Rosella. Thanks for reading our blog and sharing your feedback.
I would like to write a biography of someone who is a brother to me. Inorder to be remembered forever.
That sounds wonderful. Have you started writing or planning it?
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A biography is a story of a person's life, written by another author. The writer of a biography is called a biographer while the person written about is known as the subject or biographee.
Biographies usually take the form of a narrative , proceeding chronologically through the stages of a person's life. American author Cynthia Ozick notes in her essay "Justice (Again) to Edith Wharton" that a good biography is like a novel, wherein it believes in the idea of a life as "a triumphal or tragic story with a shape, a story that begins at birth, moves on to a middle part, and ends with the death of the protagonist."
A biographical essay is a comparatively short work of nonfiction about certain aspects of a person's life. By necessity, this sort of essay is much more selective than a full-length biography, usually focusing only on key experiences and events in the subject's life.
Perhaps because of this novel-like form, biographies fit squarely between written history and fiction, wherein the author often uses personal flairs and must invent details "filling in the gaps" of the story of a person's life that can't be gleaned from first-hand or available documentation like home movies, photographs, and written accounts.
Some critics of the form argue it does a disservice to both history and fiction, going so far as to call them "unwanted offspring, which has brought a great embarrassment to them both," as Michael Holroyd puts it in his book "Works on Paper: The Craft of Biography and Autobiography." Nabokov even called biographers "psycho-plagiarists," meaning that they steal the psychology of a person and transcribe it to the written form.
Biographies are distinct from creative non-fiction such as memoir in that biographies are specifically about one person's full life story -- from birth to death -- while creative non-fiction is allowed to focus on a variety of subjects, or in the case of memoirs certain aspects of an individual's life.
For writers who want to pen another person's life story, there are a few ways to spot potential weaknesses, starting with making sure proper and ample research has been conducted -- pulling resources such as newspaper clippings, other academic publications, and recovered documents and found footage.
First and foremost, it is the duty of biographers to avoid misrepresenting the subject as well as acknowledging the research sources they used. Writers should, therefore, avoid presenting a personal bias for or against the subject as being objective is key to conveying the person's life story in full detail.
Perhaps because of this, John F. Parker observes in his essay "Writing: Process to Product" that some people find writing a biographical essay "easier than writing an autobiographical essay. Often it takes less effort to write about others than to reveal ourselves." In other words, in order to tell the full story, even the bad decisions and scandals have to make the page in order to truly be authentic.
Compelling biographies help us better connect with others while fostering empathy and understanding. Discover the steps to write one that captivates your audience!
Have you ever been captivated by someone’s life story? From the ancient tales of great conquerors to the modern accounts of influential figures, biographies have enchanted readers and viewers for centuries.
The stories of real people’s lives not only entertain and educate but also provide a unique window into the human experience. In fact, according to research 1 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8796048/ , human stories like biographies can help us better connect with others while fostering empathy and understanding.
In this article, let’s dive into how to write a compelling biography, from the research phase to delivery.
The key elements of a well-written biography bring characters to life. They include thorough research, relevant interviews, clear structure, captivating prose, compelling themes, and a balance between objectivity and empathy.
As you develop your biography, remember that these stories hold an enduring appeal because they offer people an opportunity to explore the depths of the human psyche, unravel extraordinary accomplishments, and discover the vulnerabilities and triumphs of individuals who have left their mark on the world.
Here are the topics a biography typically covers:
Ready to start crafting your biography? Find greater success with this helpful goal-setting resource!
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Let’s look at the six key elements of a well-written biography more closely and the steps you can follow to develop your own.
Choose your presentation format.
Presenting your biography can take on various forms, the most traditional being written form. The basis for this article assumes you’re writing a conventional biography; however, this foundation can also help you create a multimedia presentation or website as well.
Consider these various formats to present your biography:
To create a vivid and accurate portrayal of a person’s life, conduct extensive research. Dive into archives, read letters, examine diaries, explore photographs, and immerse yourself in the historical and cultural context surrounding your subject. This will help you unearth the small details that breathe life into your biography.
Whether you’re writing a biography about a historical figure, contemporary icon, or everyday individual, you’ll want to consider the different factors to focus on. Here are some examples of three types of individuals and the kind of research that will be most helpful.
Pro Tip: Compile your research digitally using helpful cloud filings systems like Google Drive , OneDrive , or Dropbox . Organize your files by category, including information about their youth, family, achievements, and life lessons. You may also choose to write down research references or collect paper clippings on note cards, categorizing your physical files of research along the way.
Identify overarching themes or motifs that emerge from the subject’s life. These could be resilience, ambition, love, or societal change. Weave these elements into the narrative, highlighting their significance and impact on the person’s journey. Here are some examples:
Whenever possible, seek firsthand accounts from those who knew or interacted with the subject. Conduct interviews with family members, friends, colleagues, or experts in the field. Their insights and anecdotes can provide a deeper understanding of the person’s character and experiences.
When conducting interviews for a biography, consider the following tips to ensure a productive and insightful conversation:
Remember, the goal of the interview is to gather valuable information and personal perspectives that will contribute to the authenticity and depth of your biography. Approach the interview process with sensitivity, respect, and genuine curiosity about the interviewee’s life and experiences.
Outline your biography, ensuring a logical and engaging narrative flow. Consider the chronological order, significant milestones, and turning points in the subject’s life. Organize your gathered information to capture the essence of their journey while maintaining a compelling rhythm throughout.
A good outline for a biography can vary depending on the specific subject and the desired structure of the narrative. However, here’s a general outline that can serve as a starting point:
A. Introduction
a) Hook or engaging opening to capture the reader’s attention
b) Background information (birthplace, date, family, etc.)
c) A brief overview of the subject’s significance or why they are worth exploring
B. Early Life and Background
a) Childhood and upbringing
b) Influences, such as family, education, or cultural factors
c) Formative experiences or events that shaped the subject’s character or interests
C. Major Achievements and Milestones
a) A chronological exploration of the subject’s notable accomplishments, contributions, or milestones
b) Focus on key moments or achievements that highlight their impact or significance.
c) Provide context and details to paint a vivid picture of their achievements
D. Challenges and Obstacles
a) Discussion of the challenges, setbacks, or adversities the subject encountered
b) How they overcame obstacles or grew through difficult experiences
c) Insights into their resilience, determination, or problem-solving abilities
E. Personal Life and Relationships
a) Exploration of the subject’s relationships, such as family, friends, or romantic partners
b) Insights into their personal joys, struggles, or transformative experiences
c) How their personal life intersected with their professional or public achievements
F. Legacy and Impact
a) Examination of the subject’s lasting influence, contributions, or impact on society
b) Discuss how their work or actions continue to resonate or shape the world today
c) Reflection on their legacy and the lessons we can learn from their life story
G. Conclusion
a) Summarize the key aspects of the subject’s life and their significance
b) Provide a final reflection or insight on their overall journey or impact
c) Leave the reader with a lasting impression or call to action
Pro Tip: Looking for help drafting an outline to get you started? Use free tools like ChatGPT to jumpstart your outline by putting in a prompt request like, “Write an outline for a biography about X, including any relevant details on the subject that should be included.”
Employ descriptive language to transport readers into the subject’s world. Paint vivid portraits of their physical appearance, mannerisms, and surroundings. Use sensory details to evoke emotions and create a strong connection between the reader and the subject.
Here are some examples:
Action Step: While writing descriptive prose takes some practice, it’s an art you can master with little creative writing skills. To help you write descriptive prose, practice closing your eyes and imagining your subject.
With questions like these, you’ll start to use descriptive language to bring your subject to life.
Strive for an objective portrayal while infusing empathy and understanding into your writing. Remain aware of biases and preconceived notions, giving your subject the space to shine in their unique light.
To check yourself, filter your writing and interviewing with these tips:
Remember, writing biographies carries ethical responsibilities. It’s important to maintain accuracy through credible research and gain consent while being sensitive to controversial or difficult topics. Here are some considerations:
The length of a biography can vary greatly, depending on the subject and the depth of exploration. Some biographies span a few hundred pages, while others extend to multiple volumes. Focus on capturing the subject’s life’s essence rather than strictly adhering to a predetermined length.
Some common mistakes to avoid when writing a biography include the following: Lack of thorough research or reliance on a single source. Inaccurate or misleading information. Excessive personal bias or projection onto the subject. Neglecting to verify facts or failing to cite sources. Poor organization or a disjointed narrative flow. Neglecting to balance objectivity with empathy. Overloading the biography with irrelevant details or digressions. Failing to respect privacy or ethical considerations.
While chronological order is commonly used in biographies, it is not required. Some biographers employ a thematic approach or explore specific periods or events in the subject’s life. Experiment with different structures to find the most engaging way to tell your subject’s story.
The purpose of writing a biography is to capture and share an individual’s life story. Biographies provide insights into a person’s experiences, achievements, and challenges, offering readers inspiration, knowledge, and understanding. They preserve the legacy of individuals, contribute to historical records, and celebrate the diversity of human lives.
When choosing a subject for your biography, consider someone who inspires you, interests you, or has significantly impacted society. It could be a historical figure, a contemporary icon, or even an everyday individual with a remarkable story. Choose a subject with sufficient available information, access to primary sources or interviews, and a narrative that resonates with you and potential readers.
Key elements to include in a biography are: Early life and background: Provide context about the subject’s upbringing, family, and cultural influences. Achievements and milestones: Highlight notable accomplishments, contributions, and significant events throughout their life. Challenges and struggles: Explore the obstacles they faced, the lessons learned, and how they overcame adversity. Personal characteristics: Describe their personality traits, values, beliefs, and motivations that shaped their actions and decisions. Impact and legacy: Discuss the lasting influence and contributions of the subject, both during their lifetime and beyond.
Including personal anecdotes can add depth and humanize the subject of your biography. However, be selective and ensure that the stories are relevant, contribute to understanding the person’s character or experiences, and align with the overall narrative. Balancing personal anecdotes with factual information is critical to maintaining accuracy and credibility.
Conducting research for a biography involves exploring a variety of sources. Start with primary sources such as personal papers, letters, journals, and interviews with the subject or people who knew them. Secondary sources such as books, articles, and academic papers provide additional context and perspectives. Online databases, archives, libraries, and museums are valuable resources for finding relevant information.
Consult a wide range of sources to ensure a comprehensive and accurate biography. Primary sources, such as personal documents, letters, diaries, and interviews, offer firsthand accounts and unique insights. Secondary sources provide broader context and analysis, including books, articles, scholarly works, and historical records. Remember to evaluate the credibility and reliability of your sources critically.
Organize the information in your biography logically and engagingly. Consider using a chronological structure, starting with the subject’s early life and progressing through significant events and milestones. Alternatively, adopt a thematic approach, grouping related information based on themes or significant aspects of their life. Use clear headings, subheadings, and transitions to guide readers through the narrative flow.
In summary, take note of these ideas and tips before you start writing your biography:
Writing a biography book? Check out this helpful article, How to Write a Book: 10 Questions to Ask Before You Start Writing !
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Jon zamboni.
A narrative essay provides a narrative, or story, to its reader, while a biographical essay describes the life of another person. When you write a biographical narrative essay, you are telling the story of another person's life. Before you begin writing, decide what aspects of a person's life you want to explore, and what examples you will use to explore them.
The first and most important decision you must make when writing your essay is who you will focus on. Your subject could be a member of your family, a friend, or even a historical figure. Keep in mind, however, that the less you know about this person, the less you will know about their feelings and motivations. If you're writing about someone you know well, ask them questions. Pick an aspect of that person's life to focus on. To make your essay as interesting as possible, chose a time in that person's life that shows change or growth. For example, if you were writing about your older sister, you could focus on a time when she was fighting with your parents, and how they eventually started to get along again.
Once you've picked the person on whom you want to focus and the story you want to explore, choose events that you will use to tell your story . Find three or four times in your subject's life that illustrate the struggle or growth that you're writing about. These could be as simple as small conversations you've had with that person, or as dramatic as a mental breakdown. When you pick an event, think about how you will use it to show change in your subject. This is especially important if you are writing about a historical figure, since you will only have events, and not your personal impressions, to analyze. On the other hand, say you are writing about your sister's contentious relationship with your parents. Perhaps you noticed that for a long time she simply avoided talking to them, but when she turned 16 they started having loud, drawn-out fights. Even if you don't think this is a positive change, you could use it to show how your sister had changed, and was now able to confront your parents.
Now that you know the major events you want to concentrate on, use them to figure out your essay's structure. Your essay should begin with a paragraph or two providing background for your story. Describe the person you are writing about, and the setting of your story. Where did they live? What sort of things did they enjoy? What kind of relationship do you have with them, if any? The bulk of your paper will be the three or four events that you have chosen. Place these in chronological order -- that is, in the order in which they happened. This will give your reader a sense of progression over time. Finally, include a couple paragraphs at the end of your essay to provide conclusion to your story. Tie up any unaddressed details in these paragraphs, and provide a description of your subject, showing how he has changed.
With your structure, you can put pen to paper and write your essay. A narrative essay should include descriptive, concrete details . For example, if you are writing a scene in a park, you could describe whether it was sunny or rainy, what color the trees were, whether birds were chirping. These details will make your story feel more grounded, and allow your reader to feel closer to the physical events you're describing. Use longer descriptions in place of vague statements. For example, instead of writing "It was dark outside," you might use "She couldn't see 2 feet in front of her."
Once you've written a draft of your essay, go back and edit it. Check for spelling, grammar and run-on sentences. Replace vague descriptions with details. Remove repetitive sentences, and expand any sections that feel too short. Finally, check whether your concluding paragraphs address the central point of your story, and tie up any loose ends.
Jon Zamboni began writing professionally in 2010. He has previously written for The Spiritual Herald, an urban health care and religious issues newspaper based in New York City, and online music magazine eBurban. Zamboni has a Bachelor of Arts in religious studies from Wesleyan University.
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© 2020 Leaf Group Ltd. / Leaf Group Media, All Rights Reserved. Based on the Word Net lexical database for the English Language. See disclaimer .
Have you ever wondered what lies beneath the surface of history’s most influential figures?
Imagine a chance to delve into the intricate tapestry of their lives, unraveling the threads that have woven together the very essence of their character, and unearthing the pivotal moments that shaped their destinies.
Welcome to the enthralling world of biographies, where you are invited to embark on a captivating journey into the lives of the extraordinary. Prepare to be captivated by the compelling tales of human resilience, ingenuity, and ambition that lie at the heart of each biography.
Table of Contents
A biography is a detailed account of a person’s life, written by someone other than the subject. The term “biography” is derived from two Greek words: “bio,” which means life, and “graphy,” which signifies writing. Thus, a biography is the written history of someone’s life, offering an in-depth look at their experiences, achievements, and challenges.
Biographies typically focus on the life of notable individuals, such as historical figures or celebrities, and provide a comprehensive view of their personal and professional journey.
Biographers, the authors of these works, aim to offer an accurate, well-researched portrayal of their subjects by studying various sources and conducting interviews if possible. This thorough research and attention to detail ensure that the resulting narrative is both informative and engaging.
Biographies are a subgenre of non-fiction literature, as they chronicle the lives of real people. However, not all life stories fall under the category of biography.
Autobiographies and memoirs, for instance, focus on the author’s own experiences and are written from a first-person perspective. While autobiographies aim to present an overarching narrative of the author’s life, memoirs tend to focus on specific incidents or periods.
When crafting a biography, it is essential for the biographer to maintain a neutral tone, avoiding any judgment or personal bias. This objectivity allows readers to form their opinions based on the presented facts, gaining a broader understanding of the subject.
A well-crafted biography contains several key elements that provide a comprehensive picture of the subject’s life. These elements help readers gain a deeper understanding of the subject while fostering an emotional connection. Below are some essential aspects of a biography:
The personal and family background section of a biography provides an essential foundation for understanding the subject’s journey and the factors that shaped their life. By exploring the subject’s early years, readers gain insight into the environment and experiences that influenced their character, values, and aspirations.
This section typically begins with an overview of the subject’s birthplace, family origins, and cultural heritage. It delves into the family dynamics, including descriptions of the subject’s parents, siblings, and extended family, shedding light on the relationships that played a crucial role in their development.
The personal and family background section also addresses significant life events, challenges, and milestones that occurred during the subject’s upbringing. These formative experiences may include pivotal moments, such as moving to a new city, attending a particular school, or encountering a mentor who had a lasting impact on their life.
The education and career section of a biography is crucial for understanding the intellectual and professional development of the subject. By tracing the subject’s academic journey and career progression, readers gain a clearer picture of the knowledge, skills, and experiences that shaped their path and contributed to their success.
This section begins by outlining the subject’s educational background, including the schools they attended, the degrees or qualifications they obtained, and any specialized training they received. It also highlights the subject’s academic achievements, such as scholarships, awards, or distinctions, and any influential mentors or teachers who played a significant role in their intellectual growth.
The education and career section also delves into the subject’s professional life, chronicling their work history, job titles, and key responsibilities. It explores the subject’s career trajectory, examining how they transitioned between roles or industries and the factors that influenced their choices.
The major events and turning points section of a biography delves into the pivotal moments and experiences that significantly influenced the subject’s life, shaping their character, values, and destiny.
By exploring these transformative events, readers gain a deeper understanding of the forces and circumstances that drove the subject’s actions and choices, as well as the challenges and triumphs they faced along the way.
This section encompasses a wide range of events, which could include personal milestones, such as marriage, the birth of children, or the loss of a loved one.
These personal events often provide insights into the subject’s emotional landscape and reveal the support systems, relationships, and personal values that sustained them through difficult times or propelled them to greater heights.
The influences and inspirations section of a biography delves into the individuals, ideas, and events that had a profound impact on the subject’s beliefs, values, and aspirations.
By understanding the forces that shaped the subject’s worldview, readers gain a deeper appreciation for the motivations driving their actions and decisions, as well as the creative and intellectual foundations upon which their accomplishments were built.
This section often begins by identifying the key figures who played a significant role in the subject’s life, such as family members, mentors, peers, or historical figures they admired.
It explores the nature of these relationships and how they shaped the subject’s perspectives, values, and ambitions. These influential individuals can provide valuable insights into the subject’s personal growth and development, revealing the sources of inspiration and guidance that fueled their journey.
The influences and inspirations section also delves into the ideas and philosophies that resonated with the subject and shaped their worldview. This could include an exploration of the subject’s religious, political, or philosophical beliefs, as well as the books, theories, or artistic movements that inspired them.
This section examines the events, both personal and historical, that impacted the subject’s life and inspired their actions. These could include moments of personal transformation, such as a life-altering experience or an epiphany, or broader societal events, such as wars, social movements, or technological innovations.
The contributions and impact section of a biography is pivotal in conveying the subject’s lasting significance, both in their chosen profession and beyond. By detailing their achievements, innovations, and legacies, this section helps readers grasp the extent of the subject’s influence and the ways in which their work has shaped the world around them.
This section begins by highlighting the subject’s key accomplishments within their profession, such as breakthroughs, discoveries, or innovative techniques they developed. It delves into the processes and challenges they faced along the way, providing valuable insights into their creativity, determination, and problem-solving abilities.
The contributions and impact section also explores the subject’s broader influence on society, culture, or the world at large. This could include their involvement in social or political movements, their philanthropic endeavors, or their role as a cultural icon.
In addition to discussing the subject’s immediate impact, this section also considers their lasting legacy, exploring how their work has continued to inspire and shape subsequent generations.
This could involve examining the subject’s influence on their successors, the institutions or organizations they helped establish, or the enduring relevance of their ideas and achievements in contemporary society.
The personal traits and characteristics section of a biography brings the subject to life, offering readers an intimate glimpse into their personality, qualities, and views.
This section often begins by outlining the subject’s defining personality traits, such as their temperament, values, and passions. By exploring these attributes, readers gain insight into the subject’s character and the motivations driving their actions and decisions.
These qualities could include their perseverance, curiosity, empathy, or sense of humor, which may help explain their achievements, relationships, and outlook on life.
The personal traits and characteristics section also delves into the subject’s views and beliefs, offering a window into their thoughts and opinions on various topics. This could include their perspectives on politics, religion, culture, or social issues, providing readers with a clearer understanding of the context in which they operated and the factors that shaped their worldview.
Anecdotes and personal stories play a crucial role in illustrating the subject’s personality and characteristics, as they offer concrete examples of their behavior, actions, or interactions with others.
Quotes and first-hand accounts from the subject or those who knew them well can also be invaluable in portraying their personal traits and characteristics. These accounts offer unique insights into the subject’s thoughts, feelings, and experiences, allowing readers to see the world through their eyes and better understand their character.
Biographies come in various forms and styles, each presenting unique perspectives on the lives of individuals. Some of the most common types of biographies are discussed in the following sub-sections.
Historical fiction biographies artfully weave together factual information with imaginative elements, creating a vibrant tapestry of the past. By staying true to the core of a historical figure’s life and accomplishments, these works offer a unique window into their world while granting authors the creative freedom to delve deeper into their emotions, relationships, and personal struggles.
Such biographies strike a delicate balance, ensuring that the essence of the individual remains intact while allowing for fictional embellishments to bring their story to life. This captivating blend of fact and fiction serves to humanize these iconic figures, making their experiences more relatable and engaging for readers who embark on a journey through the pages of history.
Here are several examples of notable historical fiction biographies:
Academic biographies stand as meticulously researched and carefully crafted scholarly works, dedicated to presenting an accurate and comprehensive account of a subject’s life.
Authored by experts or researchers well-versed in their field, these biographies adhere to rigorous standards of accuracy, sourcing, and objectivity. They delve into the intricacies of a person’s life, achievements, and impact, scrutinizing every aspect with scholarly precision.
Intended for an educated audience, academic biographies serve as valuable resources for those seeking a deeper understanding of the subject’s contributions and influence. By placing the individual within the broader context of their time, these works illuminate the complex web of factors that shaped their lives and legacies.
While academic biographies may not always carry the same narrative flair as their fictional counterparts, their commitment to factual integrity and thorough analysis make them indispensable resources for scholars, students, and enthusiasts alike
Here are several examples of notable academic biographies:
Authorized biographies offer a unique perspective on the lives of their subjects, as they are written with the explicit consent and, often, active participation of the individual in question.
This collaboration between the biographer and the subject can lead to a more accurate, detailed, and intimate portrayal of the person’s life, as the author is granted access to a wealth of personal information, documents, and anecdotes that might otherwise be inaccessible.
When working on an authorized biography, the biographer is typically given permission to access personal documents, such as letters, diaries, and photographs, which can provide invaluable insights into the subject’s thoughts, emotions, and experiences.
This primary source material allows the biographer to construct a narrative that is grounded in fact and captures the essence of the individual’s life and personality.
Here are several examples of notable authorized biographies:
Fictionalized academic biographies merge the best of both worlds, combining the rigorous research and scholarly integrity of academic biographies with the engaging storytelling of historical fiction.
Authors of these works expertly navigate the delicate balance between maintaining factual accuracy and venturing into the realm of imagination.
This approach allows them to explore the subject’s personal life, relationships, and the broader historical context in a compelling manner, while ensuring the narrative remains firmly rooted in well-researched facts.
Here are several examples of notable fictionalized academic biographies:
Prophetic biographies delve into the rich and profound narratives of religious figures or prophets, meticulously weaving together insights from sacred texts, religious traditions, and historical accounts.
By providing a comprehensive portrayal of the individual’s life, teachings, and impact on society, these biographies serve as an invaluable resource for understanding the pivotal role these figures played in shaping the course of religious history and the lives of the faithful.
Here are several examples of notable prophetic biographies:
A biography is a comprehensive written account of an individual’s life, and the development process involves several essential components to ensure the biography’s accuracy and readability.
A biographer’s primary responsibility is to conduct extensive research in order to gather a comprehensive array of facts about the subject. This meticulous process involves reviewing various documents and sources that shed light on the individual’s life and experiences, as well as the historical context in which they lived.
Key documents, such as birth and death certificates, provide essential information about the subject’s origins and family background. Personal correspondence, letters, and diaries offer invaluable insights into the subject’s thoughts, emotions, relationships, and experiences. News articles, on the other hand, can reveal public perceptions of the subject, as well as their impact on society and culture.
Archives often serve as treasure troves of information for biographers, as they contain a wealth of primary sources that can help illuminate the subject’s life and times. These archives may include collections of personal papers, photographs, audio recordings, and other materials that offer first-hand accounts of the individual’s experiences or shed light on their accomplishments and impact.
Consulting relevant books and articles is another crucial aspect of a biographer’s research process, as these secondary sources provide context, analysis, and interpretation of the subject’s life and work.
By delving into the existing scholarship and engaging with the works of other researchers, biographers can solidify their understanding of the individual and the historical circumstances in which they lived.
Interviewing people who knew the subject personally is a vital component of a biographer’s research process, as it allows them to access unique insights, personal stories, and firsthand accounts of the individual’s life.
Friends, family members, co-workers, and colleagues can all offer valuable perspectives on the subject’s character, relationships, achievements, and challenges, thereby enriching the biographer’s understanding of their life and experiences.
While subjective anecdotes offer a more intimate glimpse into the subject’s personality and personal life, it is essential for biographers to balance these accounts with factual research.
By corroborating and contextualizing personal stories with objective information gleaned from primary and secondary sources, biographers can ensure that their portrayal of the individual’s life remains accurate and well-rounded.
This process of balancing subjective anecdotes with factual research also allows biographers to present a more nuanced and comprehensive view of their subject. By weaving together personal stories with historical context, biographers can create a richer and more engaging narrative that captures the complexity and multifaceted nature of the individual’s life.
In addition, by considering various perspectives and sources of information, biographers can address potential biases or discrepancies in their account, resulting in a more reliable and credible portrayal of the subject.
This careful attention to detail and commitment to accuracy not only enhances the quality of the biography but also helps establish trust between the biographer and their readers.
Organizing a biography in a chronological manner is a highly effective approach, as it allows readers to follow the subject’s life events in a logical and coherent sequence.
By presenting the information in a linear fashion, the biographer enables readers to trace the subject’s journey from their early years to their later accomplishments, making it easier to understand the context and progression of their life.
To effectively arrange a chronological narrative, the biographer should begin by highlighting significant milestones and accomplishments in the subject’s life. These key events serve as anchor points in the story, helping to structure the narrative and maintain the reader’s interest.
By focusing on these pivotal moments, the biographer can illustrate the subject’s growth, development, and achievements over time, providing a clear and engaging overview of their life’s trajectory.
Contextualizing the subject within their historical and cultural framework is a crucial aspect of biographical writing, as it enables readers to gain a deeper understanding of the individual’s life, choices, and significance.
Embedding the subject within their historical context involves examining the political, social, and economic landscape of the time. This includes exploring major events, trends, and issues that affected the subject’s life and decisions, such as wars, social movements, technological advancements, or cultural shifts.
Additionally, considering the subject’s cultural context is essential for understanding their beliefs, values, and creative expression. This involves examining the artistic, intellectual, and philosophical currents of the time, which may have influenced the subject’s work, ideas, or relationships.
Moreover, contextualizing the subject within their historical and cultural framework can help to humanize them, revealing the complexities, contradictions, and struggles that are often inherent in the human experience.
This approach offers readers a more nuanced and empathetic understanding of the subject, allowing them to see the person as a product of their time and circumstances, rather than as an isolated figure.
The life of samuel johnson, ll.d. by james boswell (1791).
“The Life of Samuel Johnson, LL.D.” is a biography of the English writer and literary critic Samuel Johnson, written by his friend and contemporary James Boswell. Published in 1791, it is often considered one of the greatest biographies in the English language and a pioneering work in the development of modern biography as a literary genre.
Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) was a prominent figure in 18th-century English literature, known for his wide-ranging knowledge, wit, and moral authority. He is best remembered for his dictionary, “A Dictionary of the English Language,” published in 1755, which became the standard English dictionary for over a century. He was also a prolific essayist, poet, and critic.
James Boswell (1740-1795) was a Scottish lawyer, diarist, and author who became friends with Johnson in 1763. Over the course of their friendship, Boswell made detailed notes of their conversations and observations, which he later used as the basis for his biography.
“The Life of Samuel Johnson, LL.D.” is a comprehensive and vivid portrait of Johnson’s life, character, and work. Boswell covers Johnson’s early years, education, and struggles with poverty and illness, as well as his rise to prominence as a writer and his involvement in the vibrant literary circles of 18th-century London.
The biography also delves into Johnson’s friendships and relationships, including his long association with Hester Thrale, a prominent society hostess, and writer.
What sets Boswell’s biography apart is his skill in capturing Johnson’s personality, wit, and conversation. By presenting Johnson’s thoughts and opinions on a wide range of topics, as well as anecdotes and reminiscences from those who knew him, Boswell creates a vivid and engaging portrait of his subject.
“The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks” is a non-fiction book written by Rebecca Skloot, published in 2010. The book tells the story of Henrietta Lacks, an African American woman whose cancer cells were taken without her knowledge or consent during a biopsy in 1951. These cells, known as HeLa cells, became the first immortal human cell line, reproducing indefinitely under laboratory conditions.
HeLa cells have been used extensively in medical research, contributing to significant scientific breakthroughs, such as the development of the polio vaccine, gene mapping, and cancer research.
Henrietta Lacks was a young mother of five when she was diagnosed with an aggressive form of cervical cancer at the age of 31. She received treatment at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, where a sample of her cancerous tissue was taken without her knowledge. Henrietta passed away in 1951, but her cells continued to live on, revolutionizing medical research.
Rebecca Skloot spent more than a decade researching Henrietta Lacks’ life and the scientific history of HeLa cells. Skloot also interviewed Lacks’ surviving family members, who were unaware of Henrietta’s contribution to science until the 1970s.
The book explores the ethical issues surrounding the use of human tissue in research, the question of consent, and the lack of compensation for the Lacks family.
“Alexander Hamilton” is a comprehensive biography of the American Founding Father Alexander Hamilton, written by historian and biographer Ron Chernow. Published in 2004, the book provides an in-depth look into Hamilton’s life, from his humble beginnings in the West Indies to his significant contributions as a statesman, economist, and influential figure in early American history.
Chernow’s biography delves into Hamilton’s early life as an orphan in the Caribbean, his immigration to the American colonies, and his education. It also explores his involvement in the American Revolutionary War, where he served as an aide to General George Washington and later as an artillery officer.
The book details Hamilton’s role in the development of the United States Constitution and his work as the first Secretary of the Treasury under President Washington, where he was instrumental in establishing the nation’s financial system.
“Alexander Hamilton” also examines Hamilton’s personal life, including his relationships, marriage, and infamous extramarital affair, as well as his longstanding political rivalries with figures such as Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and Aaron Burr. The biography concludes with the story of Hamilton’s tragic death in a duel with Burr in 1804.
It received critical acclaim and won several awards, including the George Washington Book Prize. The biography also inspired Lin-Manuel Miranda to create the hit Broadway musical “Hamilton,” which premiered in 2015 and went on to achieve widespread popularity and numerous accolades, further solidifying Alexander Hamilton’s place in popular culture and history.
Science and technology.
Biographies in the field of science and technology offer fascinating insights into the lives and minds of extraordinary individuals who have made significant advancements in their respective fields.
These biographies often provide an in-depth look at the personal and professional lives of scientists, inventors, engineers, and other innovators, highlighting their discoveries, inventions, and contributions to human knowledge and progress.
Biographies of artists, actors, and writers often provide captivating and inspiring accounts of the lives of these creative individuals. By examining their personal and professional journeys, these biographies allow readers to gain a deeper understanding of the inspirations, motivations, and challenges that have shaped their subjects’ artistic achievements.
These biographies often delve into the early lives of their subjects, exploring formative experiences that may have influenced their creative paths. They also examine the artistic processes and the development of the subjects’ distinctive styles, providing valuable insights into their creative methodologies, influences, and inspirations.
Biographies of athletes provide riveting accounts of the lives and careers of remarkable individuals who have achieved greatness in the world of sports. These stories often serve as powerful sources of inspiration, showcasing the dedication, perseverance, and triumphs of athletes who have overcome obstacles and pushed the boundaries of human potential.
These biographies delve into the formative experiences of their subjects, exploring how early influences, innate talent, and personal motivations led them to pursue athletic excellence. They also provide insights into the rigorous training regimens, discipline, and sacrifices that athletes make to achieve their goals, highlighting the incredible determination and work ethic that underpin their success.
Additionally, biographies of athletes often touch on the personal challenges and setbacks these individuals have faced, such as injuries, controversies, or personal struggles.
Biographies of historical figures offer a unique window into the lives, personalities, and experiences of individuals who have left lasting impacts on the world. By delving into the stories of these influential people, readers can gain a deeper understanding of the political, social, and cultural contexts that shaped their actions and decisions, as well as the lasting legacies they left behind.
These biographies often provide richly detailed accounts of their subjects’ lives, including their upbringing, education, relationships, and personal struggles. By exploring the complex facets of these individuals, biographies help to humanize historical figures, providing a more comprehensive and nuanced understanding of their motivations, beliefs, and actions.
In addition to personal narratives, biographies of historical figures often weave together broader historical contexts and events. This allows readers to gain valuable insights into the social, political, and cultural forces that influenced their subjects’ lives and decisions.
A captivating biography requires more than just a simple retelling of a person’s life events. It delves into their personal experiences, relationships, and accomplishments, while maintaining an objective and authentic approach.
An essential aspect of a well-written biography is its objectivity. The narrative should portray the real person, depicting their experiences and beliefs accurately.
While it can be tempting to embellish facts or minimize flaws, striving for authenticity is crucial in presenting a credible account. This involves thorough research and verification of facts, even when they contradict the author’s initial assumptions.
Authenticity also extends to the respectful portrayal of a subject’s relationships and exploration of their inner world, while avoiding speculation or gossip.
When writing a biography, one must strike a balance between the subject’s personal and public life. This includes weaving together stories from their childhood, personal relationships, and major life events that may have shaped their character. The integration of both personal and public aspects contributes to a more comprehensive understanding of their vita.
However, careful consideration must be given to privacy concerns, and it is important to determine which aspects of the individual’s life are appropriate to disclose. Ultimately, the reader should gain insight into the person’s journey without feeling intrusive.
Just as in a novel, a great biography should feature engaging storylines that keep readers interested. This can be achieved by organizing the narrative around important events, challenges, and accomplishments that are relevant and compelling. To maintain a smooth flow, strategically transitioning between these key moments helps maintain reader interest.
The use of different perspectives, anecdotes, and historical context can also enhance the storyline. Paint vivid pictures of the settings, allowing readers to immerse themselves in the subject’s world. Furthermore, showcasing the subject’s resilience, growth, and impact, can contribute to a powerful and memorable biography.
Can biographies be fictional or purely factual.
Biographies usually aim to present an accurate and factual representation of someone’s life. However, some authors might take creative liberties and incorporate fictionalized elements for dramatic or storytelling purposes.
It is crucial for readers to be aware of the author’s intentions and approach when reading such biographical works.
Biographies, like any form of writing, can be subject to biases depending on the author’s perspective, beliefs, or intentions.
It is essential for readers to critically evaluate biographies by considering factors such as the author’s credentials, potential biases, and the sources used in the research process.
By comparing multiple biographies on the same subject or cross-referencing with other sources, readers can develop a more comprehensive and balanced understanding of the individual’s life and achievements.
While biographies often focus on famous or historical figures, they can also be written about lesser-known individuals with compelling stories or unique experiences.
These “everyday” biographies can provide valuable insights into the lives of ordinary people and the challenges they face, offering a broader understanding of the human experience and fostering empathy and connection among readers.
Yes, ethical considerations play a significant role in writing biographies.
Biographers must respect the privacy and dignity of their subjects, particularly when dealing with sensitive or personal information. They should also strive for accuracy and fairness, avoiding sensationalism or misrepresentation of facts.
Additionally, biographers should acknowledge and address any potential biases or conflicts of interest that may affect their portrayal of the subject.
Biographies offer us unparalleled access to the lives and legacies of remarkable individuals, spanning diverse genres and approaches.
From historical fiction to academic rigor, prophetic accounts to fictionalized narratives, biographies captivate our imagination and enrich our understanding of the human experience. These literary gems remind us that behind every great achievement lies a story of struggle, triumph, and unwavering determination.
So, let us continue to explore these remarkable journeys, as we delve deeper into the pages of history and the hearts of those who have shaped our world.
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Who was the real Zhou Enlai? What were his visions and aspirations? What role did he play in shaping China into the nation it is today? These are some of the themes explored in Distinguished Global Network Professor of History Chen Jian ’s new book, Zhou Enlai: A Life , published in May. On September 9th, Chen presented an in-depth analysis and behind-the-scenes story of the book to the NYU Shanghai community. The event, co-chaired by Vice Chancellor Jeffrey Lehman and Provost Joanna Waley-Cohen , attracted a standing room only audience of over 120 people and was broadcast to a global audience via Zoom.
A 20-Year Endeavor
The initial spark of inspiration for Zhou Enlai was ignited way back in 2004, Chen recalled, when Melvyn Leffler, an eminent diplomatic historian and a colleague at UVA invited him to write a short biography of the former Chinese premier to be included in a series on influential 20th-century statesmen. “However, only after I started working on it did I realize it was far more complicated and challenging,” he said. “Zhou is certainly not a simple person. The more I studied Zhou and prepared to write, the more I began to question myself: Do I really know Zhou?”
As a historian, the 2000s was a golden period for Chen, with the opening of many valuable archives in China. From the municipal and provincial level up to the foreign ministry, vast amounts of documents were declassified. For the first time, many historical moments that had previously been unknown or only existed in oral accounts now had written records. “I felt like a greedy child in a candy store, trying to absorb as much as I could,” Chen said. When he realized no comprehensive biography of Zhou existed in English literature, “I decided that instead of writing a short book, I would take full advantage of these archival resources and compose a full-dress biography of Zhou Enlai,” he said.
He began writing in mid-2014, around the time he joined NYU Shanghai. He expressed gratitude for “the university’s support and for the stimulating questions our students raised in my courses and seminars over the years,” he said. While it took him over two decades of research and writing, Chen held firm to his commitment and pushed himself to finish the book draft by the end of 2022.
Who Was Zhou?
Zhou served as premier for 27 years, from the founding of the People’s Republic of China until his death in 1976. However, Zhou’s contributions far exceeded his administrative and executive capacities as premier. Supported by multi-lingual, multi-archival, and multi-source research, Chen presents a well-rounded portrait of Zhou as a devoted Communist revolutionary, an influential politician and statesman, an accomplished diplomat, and, ultimately, a human being.
From a young age, Zhou took on the mission of “making China rise again in the world.” From exploring the best ways to revitalize China, to embracing communism and leading the Chinese Communist revolution, to meticulously navigating China through post-revolutionary chaos, Zhou played an important part throughout modern Chinese history and the revolutionary era. “To understand Zhou,” Chen said, “one must understand his time. Zhou lived in an era of revolution, which was extremely complicated and full of paradoxes and dilemmas. In his talk, Chen emphasized Zhou was a giant, “a 20th-century giant.”
“A Must-Read”
After Chen’s talk, Kenneth Jarrett, former president of the American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai, who was invited to speak as a commentator, shared his insights on the book.
Jarrett’s curiosity about China dates back to his college days at Cornell University. Reflecting on his own experiences studying China, he called the book “quite valuable as it takes us through China’s modern history, from Zhou’s time to the present, offering a unique perspective on what was happening in China,” he said. “In that sense, we owe Professor Chen our thanks for filling an important gap in academic scholarship on Zhou Enlai’s life.”
During the Q&A session, audience members asked questions about Zhou Enlai’s various roles during the Chinese Communist revolution, his major political decisions, and the differences between Zhou and other Chinese leaders, sparking spirited discussions with Chen.
Bringing the event to a close, Chen referred to Zhou Enlai as “a firm believer in socialism with a human face.” Chen closed the event by reminding the audience that though Zhou’s era has long passed, his legacy and his views on pursuing genuine modernity for China still carry an influence on contemporary China. “There are still questions from Zhou’s time that are worth contemplating today,” said Chen.
8 gilmore girls: a year in the life moments that were set up years earlier.
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8 mistakes gilmore girls season 9 needs to fix, if it ever happens, 7 godzilla x kong twists the monsterverse already set up.
While some character arcs in the Gilmore Girls revival took viewers by surprise, many A Year in the Life storylines were either foreshadowed or directly set up in the original series. Though the CW drama ended 17 years ago, Gilmore Girls has remained one of the most beloved TV shows of the early 2000s. Nine years after the series finale, Netflix released a limited series that follows the main characters’ lives over a one-year period.
Despite being produced by the creator, Amy Sherman Paladino, Gilmore Girls: A Year In The Life failed to meet expectations and resulted in many divisive storylines that fans still hate years later. Some character arcs, like Paris and Doyle’s divorce, are downright shocking based on Gilmore Girls' ending. However, other stories from the revival were actually set up in the original show, making them logical upon later reflection.
Rory and lorelai repeatedly joke about the daughter writing a tell-all memoir about lorelai.
Many viewers were shocked by Rory’s decision to write a memoir in A Year in the Life , but the character may have secretly teased this life plan in Gilmore Girls season 1 , episode 8, “Love and War and Snow.” When Lorelai repeatedly listens to a voicemail from Max, she accidentally wakes up her daughter. She apologizes, and Rory responds, “ It’s all fodder for the tell-all. ” Considering Rory dreams of being a foreign correspondent, her statement seems more like a comedic bit than an actual plan. The young Gilmore never expressed a genuine interest in writing a book.
The joke about Rory writing a book about her and her mother continues throughout the first few seasons. The pair also reference the book Mommie Dearest , which is a tell-all memoir about Christina Crawford and her mother. Considering how often they joked about Rory writing a memoir, it’s possible that the jokes could have made her more receptive to Jess’ suggestion in Netflix’s limited series A Year in the Life .
Paris and mitchum warn rory about her future as a journalist.
One of the major discrepancies between Gilmore Girls and Netflix’s revival is Rory’s drive to pursue her dreams of a journalism career. Rory is deeply unprepared when going to a job interview and has no pitches prepped, showing her irresponsibility. She is also living off the fame of a single article in The New Yorker and brushing off job opportunities with less prestigious publications. While this A Year in the Life storyline doesn’t fit with Rory’s original characterization, it was set up on two different occasions.
Gilmore Girls is filled with iconic characters and Rory Gilmore is one of them, but there are some sides to her character that can't be overlooked.
Firstly, Paris tells Rory that she’s not upset about the latter being top of the class, spouting off facts about Valedictorians having unstable relationships and failed careers in adulthood – both of which came true in the revival. Secondly, Mitchum Huntsburger informs Rory in Gilmore Girls season 5 that she doesn’t have what it takes to be a journalist after her internship at the Stamford Eagle Gazette . Unfortunately, despite his being a terrible person and bluntly delivering his opinion, Mitchum wasn’t wrong about Rory. Based on her A Year in the Life behavior, she only had some of the traits necessary to be a journalist.
Mrs. kim has a musical background established in gilmore girls.
One of the most entertaining character arcs from A Year in the Life is Mrs. Kim managing a Korean choir group. The outcome may seem out of left field considering her strictness, but Gilmore Girls actually dropped hints at this storyline starting at the end of season 5. Firstly, Mrs. Kim knows enough about music to say that the “E” string is flat when going over to Lane’s apartment. Noticing a flat string and being able to identify the specific one when four musicians are playing requires solid music theory knowledge and ear training.
Secondly, Mrs. Kim is the only reason that Hep Alien goes on tour in Gilmore Girls , booking all the venues, arranging host families, and getting the van in shape for the tour. On top of that, she reveals she was in an all-girls tambourine band. Then, when Zach wants to propose to Lane, Mrs. Kim listens to his songs, evaluating all of them. She proceeds to help him write a hit song with her musical knowledge. With so many hints about Mrs. Kim’s musical background, it’s no wonder she becomes a musical group manager in A Year in the Life .
Lorelai mentioned therapy many times in the original show.
The Gilmores’ degradation of therapy throughout the series is one of the Gilmore Girls storylines audiences want to forget because it’s so problematic and terrible. The depiction of therapy in A Year in the Life isn’t much better in terms of accuracy, but it’s positive to know that Lorelai found individual talk therapy sessions helpful enough that she continues going for quite a while. Surprisingly, Lorelai attending and enjoying one-on-one therapy is set up subtly throughout the original show and distinctly at the end of Gilmore Girls season 6.
Many therapists, therapists-in-training, and therapy attendees have taken to Reddit to criticize the depictions of therapy in both the original show and the Gilmore Girls revival.
Throughout the show, Lorelai recommends therapy and psychiatry for Richard and Emily at different points in time . This indicates she has a more positive attitude about it than the others, opening up the possibility of her attending therapy at some point. Additionally, in Gilmore Girls season 6, episode 22, “Partings,” Lorelai has an impromptu therapy session with Christopher’s date, Lynnie, in the back of her car. She seems to gain a lot of clarity through this session. These two elements foreshadow Lorelai's attending therapy and enjoying it (at least when she isn’t with her mother) in A Year in the Life .
Jess publishes his first book in gilmore girls season 6.
While many of the storylines in A Year in the Life are only teased subtly, Jess’ career in the revival is very overtly set up in Gilmore Girls . After Jess leaves Stars Hollow for California, he only returns to the show a handful of times. During his Gilmore Girls season 6 return, he comes to Emily and Richard’s house to give Rory his first published book, The Subsect . After getting his novella accepted by the small Philadelphia publishing house, Truncheon Books, they hired him to work there. Realistically, one published book doesn’t mean anything about future publications.
Gilmore Girls is a feel-good show, but some storylines have made viewers feel quite the opposite, and a potential revival show needs to fix them.
However, Gilmore Girls rarely follows the rules of reality. As such, The Subsect getting published essentially set him up to be a successful author who makes a living writing books in A Year in the Life – a fact that’s confirmed in his conversation with Rory in the office of the Stars Hallow Gazette. It’s unclear whether he’s still working at Truncheon Books, though.
Luke tells lorelai directly that he wants kids.
The fact that Lorelai doesn’t know that Luke wants to have a child with her in A Year in the Life is baffling because Gilmore Girls set this storyline up all the way back in season 3 and reaffirmed it in the season 5 finale. The first reference occurs at the 24-hour dance marathon. After Lorelai tells Luke he doesn’t have to want kids, he says this:
I know, but – although I’m quite happy going an entire day without having to deal with somebody else’s bodily functions, if I ever happen to meet the right person, well, it would be a discussion… What about you? You ever think about having another kid?
Because of his feelings for Lorelai, his conversation implies that he wants kids with her. While this reference is subtle, he directly addresses the subject in the Gilmore Girls season 5 finale. After learning that Lorelai is considering selling The Dragonfly and traveling for work, Luke asks her, “ What about the kids? ” The two then have a conversation about it while laying in bed together. Once again, Luke tells her he wants kids with her, but he ensures she knows there’s no pressure . With this in mind, Luke wanting to have a kid in A Year in the Life makes perfect sense.
Gilmore girls season 2 hints at michel's sexuality.
Michel’s sexuality in Gilmore Girls has long been a subject of debate, as he displays traditionally feminine interests and is a super fan of honorary LGBTQ+ icon Celine Dion. While the series explores the romantic lives of almost every other side character, Michel's relationships are almost never touched on until A Year in the Life , when he’s married to a man named Fredrick. The only direct references before this are him mentioning that the ladies already know how great he is and, a few times, stating he has a date without providing a name or any defining information.
However, one scene early in Gilmore Girls suggests that he could be part of the LGBTQ+ community or exploring his sexuality. When everyone goes to a drag club to celebrate Lorelai’s bachelorette party, Michel dances with drag queens and later tells Lorelai that he spent the rest of the night with them. Considering the network wouldn’t approve of Sookie being a lesbian (via HuffPost ), this is likely as overt as they could be about Michel's sexuality in the original series.
Paris goes to medical school at the end of the original series.
The most overt storyline set-up for A Year in the Life occurs at the end of Gilmore Girls season 7. When Paris gets ready to graduate from Yale, she applies to various medical and law schools, unsure of which direction she will go in her future. Shockingly, she gets accepted into every school, forcing her to make a decision. Ultimately, she decides to attend Harvard Medical School, setting her up to work as some sort of doctor in the future.
The series doesn’t explicitly set up her fertility specialty, but there is one hint that she could pursue that path. When Doyle gets sick and shows up in her dorm in Gilmore Girls , she gets Nanny to take care of him because sick people freak her out. As such, her job as a fertility specialist running a surrogacy clinic in A Year in the Life makes perfect sense. With this job, Paris doesn’t have to work hands-on with sick people.
Sources: Reddit and HuffPost
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In the fictional town of Star's Hollow, single mother Lorelai Gilmore raises her high-achieving teenage daughter Rory. Mother and daughter rely on each other throughout their own life changes, romantic entanglements, and friendships.
Acting as a follow-up to the original series, Gilmore Girls, A Year In The Life is a comedy-drama series. Having completed her stint on the Obama campaign trail, Rory now finds herself as a freelance journalist with an inconsistent life. Meanwhile, Lorelei finds herself lost in life before her upcoming marriage to Luke. This four-part mini-series follows the titular mother-daughter duo as they continue to navigate their mother-daughter relationship in Star's Hollow.
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Writing a biography can be a rewarding endeavor, but it can also feel a bit daunting if you've never written one before. ... Tip 2: Balance Facts and Narrative. A good biography should read like a story, not a list of facts. Use narrative techniques like imagery, character development, and dialogue to create a compelling and coherent story. ...
autobiography. hagiography. memoir. Costa Book Awards. character writer. biography, form of literature, commonly considered nonfictional, the subject of which is the life of an individual. One of the oldest forms of literary expression, it seeks to re-create in words the life of a human being—as understood from the historical or personal ...
Biography, autobiography, and memoir are the three main forms used to tell the story of a person's life. Though there are similarities between these forms, they have distinct differences in terms of the writing, style, and purpose. A biography is an informational narrative and account of the life history of an individual person, written by someone who is not the subject of the biography.
7. Get feedback and polish the text. If you're going to publish your own biography, you'll have to polish it to professional standards. After leaving your work to rest for a while, look at it with fresh eyes and edit your own manuscript eliminating passive voice, filler words, and redundant adverbs.
3. Draft a Short Timeline Before You Write. To make your biography narrative essay a success, draft a short timeline before you write. This timeline could be about the events of the life of the person you are going to be writing or your own if you plan to write an autobiography. Also, drafting your work before finalizing it would make it easier ...
A biography (BYE-og-ruh-fee) is a written account of one person's life authored by another person. A biography includes all pertinent details from the subject's life, typically arranged in a chronological order. The word biography stems from the Latin biographia, which succinctly explains the word's definition: bios = "life" + graphia = "write."
A biography should be written in a narrative style, capturing the essence of the person's life through vivid descriptions, anecdotes, and quotes. Avoid dry, factual writing and focus on creating a compelling narrative that engages the reader.
Learn the art of writing a captivating biography or autobiography with our comprehensive guide. Explore biography formats, tips, and techniques for crafting compelling life stories. ... The biographer's role is to curate these fragments of information into a coherent narrative, painting a vivid portrait of the subject. This comprehensive ...
A biography is a detailed account of a person's life written by someone else, providing insights into their experiences, achievements, and the context in which they lived. This form of narrative writing allows readers to connect with the subject on a personal level while exploring broader themes such as identity, culture, and historical significance. Biographies can take many forms, including ...
These are some of the possible types of narrative structure. When writing a biography essay, you are strongly advised to stick to the linear structure. Types of narrative structures in biography essays . Understanding and using time is an important concept in biography essays. Choose from a linear, non-linear or thematic structure based on the ...
Definition of Biography. A biography is a description of a real person's life, including factual details as well as stories from the person's life. Biographies usually include information about the subject's personality and motivations, and other kinds of intimate details excluded in a general overview or profile of a person's life.
6 Tips for Writing a Book When Your Life Is Full to Bursting. In a vacuum, writing a book is difficult, but throw in a full life, and it can feel nearly impossible. However, writer/podcaster/stand-up comedian Sally Chaffin Brooks has six incredible tips for writing a book, even when your life is full to bursting.
Memoir is a story based on your life experience and what you have learned from it. It is a winnowing of all that has happened into a tight view of a slim section of experience: the coming of age years; the head-spinning start of a career; early motherhood. But always, it is a winnowing of the vast, complicated arc of events that has constituted ...
A literary biography is the biographical exploration of individuals' lives merging historical facts with the conventions of narrative. [1] Biographies about artists and writers are sometimes some of the most complicated forms of biography. [2] Not only does the author of the biography have to write about the subject of the biography but also ...
See why leading organizations rely on MasterClass for learning & development. Biographies are how we learn information about another human being's life. Whether you want to start writing a biography about a famous person, historical figure, or an influential family member, it's important to know all the elements that make a biography worth ...
Let's examine 7 ideas about how to write a biography: 1. Create compelling voice. You could say that voice is a crucial ingredient of any story, especially in first person (where the narrator is the character). In autobiography, in particular, you want your reader to form a clear sense of who is telling the story.
Richard Nordquist. Updated on May 30, 2019. A biography is a story of a person's life, written by another author. The writer of a biography is called a biographer while the person written about is known as the subject or biographee. Biographies usually take the form of a narrative, proceeding chronologically through the stages of a person's life.
8. Send a copy to your subject. Consider sending a copy of your manuscript to the person whose life you wrote about in your book. The copy may serve as a thank-you gift, but also, if you intend to publish your work, you will need them to approve, as well as fact check, everything you put into the story.
Conduct relevant interviews. Whenever possible, seek firsthand accounts from those who knew or interacted with the subject. Conduct interviews with family members, friends, colleagues, or experts in the field. Their insights and anecdotes can provide a deeper understanding of the person's character and experiences.
A *narrative essay* provides a narrative, or story, to its reader, while a *biographical essay* describes the life of another person. When you write a biographical narrative essay, you are telling the story of another person's life. Before you begin writing, decide what aspects of a person's life you want to ...
General "life writing" techniques are a subject of scholarly study. [20] In recent years, debates have arisen as to whether all biographies are fiction, especially when authors are writing about figures from the past. ... The information can come from "oral history, personal narrative, biography and autobiography" or "diaries, letters ...
Updated on August 4, 2021 Writing Tips. Narrative writing is, essentially, story writing. A narrative can be fiction or nonfiction, and it can also occupy the space between these as a semi-autobiographical story, historical fiction, or a dramatized retelling of actual events. As long as a piece tells a story through a narrative structure, it ...
In a biography, narrative sequence is configured before the actual text is begun because of the known history of the subject's life; ... Biography's Appeal 133 subject once their research is complete and the writing commences. Ironically, biography has supplanted fiction because of its narrative and structural con servatism, taking up "the ...
Defining Biography. A biography is a detailed account of a person's life, written by someone other than the subject. The term "biography" is derived from two Greek words: "bio," which means life, and "graphy," which signifies writing. Thus, a biography is the written history of someone's life, offering an in-depth look at their experiences, achievements, and challenges.
When he realized no comprehensive biography of Zhou existed in English literature, "I decided that instead of writing a short book, I would take full advantage of these archival resources and compose a full-dress biography of Zhou Enlai," he said. He began writing in mid-2014, around the time he joined NYU Shanghai.
One of the most entertaining character arcs from A Year in the Life is Mrs. Kim managing a Korean choir group.The outcome may seem out of left field considering her strictness, but Gilmore Girls actually dropped hints at this storyline starting at the end of season 5.Firstly, Mrs. Kim knows enough about music to say that the "E" string is flat when going over to Lane's apartment.