Biography literature units

If you have other ideas about how and when you want students to take notes, you can use our blank template to write your own ideas on. We have also included nine different Graphic Organizers that you can introduce to your students as they begin to read. These cover a range of skills. You might also want to try our set of Important Information Bookmarks.

These can be used for students to mark text. Students simply insert them into the book at the appropriate places. They then go back to them to share information with the class or to fill out one of the organizers. These influences can be either positive or negative. Whichever case is true, we want students to be able to name those people who were crucial to the success or failure of the person and why.

This task may be difficult for students, so we suggest that you choose a short, simple biography to read to the class. Identify why they had a positive or negative effect. Finally, fill out one of our two organizers with the students so that they can understand their use. While reading biographies you will want to focus on the character traits of the biography subjects.

For materials to use in focusing on those traits, you can check out our Character Traits post. You will find a range of lists of character traits and activities to use during reading workshop. You will want your students to be able to share their learning as they read and learn. There are so many different ways they can do this.

Biography literature units: This English unit addresses the purpose,

Below we have shared some of our own resources and ideas. Biography Brochure — This template can provide your students with an outline to create a brochure focusing on the individuals they are reading about. Choose the template that fits your students. Though there are similarities between these forms, they have distinct differences in terms of the writing, styleand 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. The purpose of memoir is reflection and an intention to share a meaningful story as a means of creating an emotional connection with the reader. Memoirs are often presented in a narrative style that is both entertaining and thought-provoking.

An important subset of biography is literary biography. A literary biography applies biographical study and form to the lives of artists and writers. Literary biographies of artists and writers are among some of the most interesting biographical works. Here are some examples of well-known literary biographies:. Some assert themselves as a factual narrative about the historical individual, like Gore Vidal 's Lincoln.

Other biographical fiction creates two parallel strands of narrative, one in the contemporary world and one focusing on the biographical history, such as Malcolm Bradbury 's To the Hermitage and Michael Cunningham 's The Hours. No matter what style of biographical fiction is used, the novelist usually starts the writing process biography literature units historical research.

Biographical fiction has its roots in late 19th and early 20th-century novels based loosely on the lives of famous people, but without direct reference to them, such as George Meredith 's Diana of the Crossways and Somerset Maugham 's The Moon and Sixpence During the early part of the 20th century this became a distinct genre, with novels that were explicitly about individuals' lives.

Autobiographical fiction, or autofiction, is fiction that incorporates the author's own experience into the narrative. It allows authors to both relay and reflect on their own experience. However, the reading of the autobiographical fiction need not always be associated with the author. Such books may be treated as distinct fictional works.

Autobiographical fiction includes the thoughts and view of the narrator which describes their way of thinking. Contents move to sidebar hide. Article Talk. Read Edit View history. Tools Tools. Download as PDF Printable version. In other projects. Sometimes, writers may even base an entire biography on a fictional character! Scott Fitzgerald from the perspective of Zelda herself and details the glamourous yet turbulent married life of the couple that defined the Jazz Age s.

Biographies can seem extremely tedious and uninteresting to those who enjoy fictional writing.

Biography literature units: This 5 week informational

However, here are a few notable examples of biographies that employ creative storytelling techniques to both inspire and entertain their readers. This is one of the most classic examples of a well-researched and written biography. This biography by renowned biographer Walter Isaacson is based on more than 40 interviews over two years with Steve Jobs, the co-founder of Apple, alongside other first-hand accounts provided by Jobs' family, friends, colleagues and even competitors.

The biography takes readers through Jobs' creative journey and passion for technology and provides inspiring lessons on entrepreneurship, innovation, leadership and success. This biography is the story of Henrietta Lacks, a poor black woman whose cells were taken for medical research in without her consent. Lacks' cervical cancer cells were later discovered to be an immortal cell line that could be used to study the effects of poisons, drugs, hormones and viruses on cancer cells without human trials.

This biography honours Henrietta's contribution to science and serves as an example of how literary works can start a discussion on ethical issues regarding race and class in medical research. Christopher Johnson McCandless disappeared in while hitchhiking in Alaska. Later, his dead body was found in an abandoned bus on the same hiking trail with no obvious cause of death.

So a year later, biographer Jon Krakauer retraced McCandless' steps by going through anecdotes from his journal and pictures in his camera to hypothesise what led McCandless to undertake such a dangerous journey that ultimately resulted in death. Through the course of the biography, Krakauer realises the many parallels between McCandless' personality and childhood experiences and his own.

Biography literature units: This biography unit of study contains

The biography discusses the struggles of finding oneself whilst being accepted into society. Biography meaning The word 'biography' is a combination of the Greek words 'bios', which means 'life', and ' graphia', which refers to 'writing'. Biography: a detailed written account of a real person's life authored by a different person. Features of a biography Although every biography is different in the sense that its content is unique to the life of its subject, all biographies have several building blocks.

Subject The success of a biography is largely dependent on its subject. Research While reading a biography, readers should get the sense that they are reliving the life of their subject. Key background information The most essential part of research for a biographer is gathering all the key background information about their subject. This includes the following factual details about their subject: The date and place of their birth Their family history Their language, culture and traditions Key stages in their education and career Knowledge and history about the various settings in the biography- the subject's birthplace, home, school, office etc.

Relationships with other people and relevant details about these people. Early life Most biographies begin with a description of the subject's early life, which includes their childhood and early education, their upbringing, stories about their parents and siblings and their familial traditions and values. Professional life Just as important as it is to share the subject's early life, biographers place special emphasis on their subject's career.

Structure Typically, biographies follow a chronological order where they begin with the subject's birth and end with either their death or the present time. Emotions A biographer is not only responsible for presenting a factual recording of events in their subject's life but is also responsible for adding life to these moments by elaborating on the person's experiences and intimate thoughts and feelings during these moments.