Biography
TASK OVERVIEW
Just what is a biography?
The story of someone's life?
A tale of accomplishment?
A tale of woe?
Or is it a boring list of facts
that nobody cares about?
A good biography brings the person to life . . .
makes us care about what she or he did
with time and opportunity.
INSTRUCTIONS
Biography Assignment
A great biography is driven by great questions.
Boring questions produce boring answers.
Boring answers put readers to sleep.
Simple lists of facts are a bit like dry cereal . . .
no milk . . . no fruit . . . no taste!
Writing Your Biography:
Consider these suggestions as you write:
1. Decide if you want to write the whole life story or if you will focus on one or two main events.
2. Consider your audience and choose an appropriate style (serious and fairly formal, informal and friendly).
3. Brainstorm events from your explorer's life that you want to include. Be selective you can't include everything. Choose the most
interesting events.
4. Use your research notes to get your ideas. Your timeline should help guide you.
5. Organize your brainstorming into a logical sequence. For example, chronologically (from birth to death), or by category (travels,
education, family etc.).
6. Complete a bibliography as outlined in your research project.
What will be handed to your teacher:
1. Brainstorming ideas (fully organized)
2. Rough draft - revised and edited
(if typed, rough draft must be handed in with corrections made in coloured pencil)
3. Make sure you have addressed all the assessed expectations
4. Good Copy - revise and edit
5. Make sure you have addressed all the assessed expectations
6. Bibliography
Due: Wednesday January 26th
ASSESSED SKILLS
Communication
communicates ideas and information for a variety of purposes (to inform, to persuade, to explain) and to specific
Organization of Ideas
organizes information to convey a central idea, using well-linked paragraphs
Reasoning
revises and edits own work in collaboration with others, seeking evaluating feedback, and focusing on content,organization, and appropriateness of vocabulary for audience
Application of Language Conventions
proofreads and corrects final drafts, focusing on grammar, punctuation, spelling, and conventions of style
Organization of Ideas
accurately uses appropriate organizers (e.g., table of contents, index)