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Biography in French

Article by Andrée Désilets

Published Online February 6, 2006

Last Edited October 17, 2014

Biography is the study of a life. It reveals a personality and an analysis of an individual's work in the context of the age in which it existed. Biography has always been popular in French Canada. For a people with limited education and a limited standard of living until very recently, this literary genre was often, in its most elementary form, the only one which received space in the meagre public and private libraries.

Among the cultivated elite in Québec, especially among historians, biography has been both in and out of favour. Its history corresponds to that of ideologies. In its evolution, therefore, one can trace the major trends of more than 2 centuries of French Canadian society. Before taking the path where quality depends on concern for scientific rigour and fidelity to historical accuracy, biography served to showcase virtue, spread a message and support the national cause.

The First Biographies of French Canada

These were "edifying lives," popularized or frankly distorted, and they hold an important place in the history of Québec literature. Until about 1880, biography was closer to medieval hagiography than to true biography. After 1840, the Catholic church began the rise which brought it control of society for a good century. It sought to consolidate its position on 2 fronts.

Internally, it tried to increase its strength and inculcate in the population a value system conforming with its vision of society. Externally, it tried to show its power and credibility with Rome. In this perspective, the recognition, official or not, of the sainthood of various individuals could only reinforce its position. Hence the interest of the clergy in the biography of the founders of the church in Canada.

It is perhaps not by accident that La Vie de Mme d'Youville (1852) by Etienne Michel Faillon appeared just when d'Youville's beatification was under consideration in Rome. And it was to happen again. Faillon also published the biography of Soeur Bourgeoys (1853), of Jeanne Mance (1854) and of Jeanne Le Ber (1860).

In the purest medieval tradition, Faillon's biographies paid much more attention to God and His work in New France than to the subject of the biography and her creative role. Faillon adopted the clergy's view of history, namely that it should immortalize "good" people, people who conformed to the values of society and could serve as role models.

With a little more talent, Henri-Raymond CASGRAIN continued in the same vein as Faillon, and his Histoire de la Mère Marie de l'Incarnation (1864) was the greatest bookstore success in French Canada at the end of the 19th century. As for the Vie de Mgr Laval (1890), written by Auguste Gosselin, its main purpose was to promote the ULTRAMONTANE cause by stressing the required rights, real or assumed, of the Church in Québec and by insisting on the importance of these ties with Rome from the beginning. It helped to nourish an already conservative school of thought.

Even if only a small part of the population had access to these biographies, their influence stretched far beyond their readers. They reached the masses through priests' sermons and schooling, and stimulated the recruitment of clergy and creation of many religious communities. The various biographies of the 19th century were thus an instrument of social control which reached the people through the intermediary of the elites.

The First True Biographies

The end of the 19th century and the first quarter of the 20th century saw the birth and development of the first true biographies. Now well established, the Québec church, allied with the bourgeois elite, concerned itself with the preservation of economic, cultural and social strength in French Canada. The idealization of a glorious past, of an exemplary style of life reinforced the ideology of survival. And so along came the national heroes and the biographies of laymen, politicians, explorers and military men, to enrich a literature which already overvalued the historical patrimony. French Canadian history was thus presented as a succession of lives of heroes, illustrious or unknown, who were all living examples of the virtues of the ancestors, all of them outstanding.

The first of these biographies was that of Guillaume Couture, premier colon de la Pointe-Levy (1884) by Joseph-Edmond Roy. Of "populist" inspiration, this biography of a pioneer exalted the rough life of the homesteader and the purity of rural society. Here we find the 2 themes which Michel Brunet emphasized a century later: agriculturism and messianism. But the book was also in the avant garde, in the sense that instead of praising submission, it showed that French Canadians could moderate the consequences of the CONQUEST .

It is worth noting that most of the biographies of this period dealt with pre-Conquest figures. Jacques Cartier, Samuel de Champlain, Sieur de Maisonneuve, Louis Jolliet, Jean Talon, Marquis de Montcalm and François Lévis each found his biographer. In each work, we see the classic triptych of Québec at the time: the Cross, the plough and the sword. Recalling a glorious past through these idealized heroes was a way to obscure the real situation of inferiority of French Canadians, all the while justifying the preservation of values handed down by these illustrious men.

It was also, in a way, a reply to the DURHAM REPORT : in place of a future, French Canadians had a past. Moreover, the appearance of these biographies often coincided with the building of a monument to their heroes, which also helped to strengthen this belief in the population.

Three authors stand out among all these biographers by the quantity as well as the quality of their work: Henri-Raymond Casgrain with Marie de l'Incarnation (1864); Narcisse-Eutrope Dionne with Samuel de Champlain (1891-1906); and Thomas CHAPAIS with Jean Talon (1904) and the Marquis de Montcalm (1911). All 3 were ultraconservatives and representatives of the old aristocratic and clericalized rural society. At a time when economic and social changes were under way, their exaltation of the past amounted to a rejection of these changes.

Even if the biographies of this period dwelt on a religious past overlaid with nostalgia for the French régime, some biographers focused their analyses on political matters, the second element of traditional French Canadian thought. It was this myth of the leader that inspired Laurent-Olivier David's biography about the Patriotes de 1837-1838 (1884) and Laurier et son temps (1919), as well as Alfred-Duclos DeCelles's studies of LaFontaine (1907), Cartier (1913) and Laurier (1920).

These 2 biographers belonged to opposing ideologies: David incarnated the purified liberal thought of the turn of the century while DeCelles belonged to the conservative nationalism which had reconciled itself to Confederation. But they were united in their admiration for political strong men. They made these men the new heroes, even if abundant archival material compelled less hyperbole and more realism.

After WWI, which coincided with Abbé Lionel GROULX 's entry on the historiographical scene, the biography changed its tone. It remained moralizing and romantic, lacking sufficient grounding in historical reality (eg, Groulx wrote in the course of a polemic about Dollard des Ormeaux: "I retain my admiration for and devotion to these 17 young men of Long-Sault whose memory, revived in 1920, has truly exalted a generation and created for it an atmosphere of French pride").

What changed was the subjects of biography and its orientation. The heroes were no longer only pious and valiant men, obedient to God and authority; they were combative warriors who did not passively accept destiny. Dollard des Ormeaux, Madeleine de Verchères, d'Iberville and La Vérendrye are only a few examples. For Groulx and his disciples, it was no longer enough to assure survival; they meant to demand and win back the rights and pride of the French Canadian people, laid low by 150 years of coexistence with the conquerors.

In this spirit, several historians sought to highlight the elements of the constitutional battles of the 19th century. Louis-Hippolyte LaFontaine, George-Étienne Cartier and Honoré Mercier were the subjects of various studies. Here one finds the monumental output of Robert RUMILLY , which included many biographies, the most important being Honoré Mercier (1935), Mgr Laflèche et son temps (1936), Henri Bourassa (1953) and, in particular, L'Histoire de la Province de Québec , to which he imparted a biographical flavour by giving each volume the name of the person who had pretty well dominated the short period of time under consideration. This series constituted, in fact, a gallery of individuals, great and small, who were judged by the yardstick of their nationalism and their battles for the rights of Québec.

It is significant that during the years 1920-50 more attention was paid to periods other than the French régime, even if the most notable biographies were still stuck in that era. This is the time when Guy FRÉGAULT , disciple of Groulx and member of the neo-nationalist school, published Iberville le Conquérant (1944), Bigot (1948) and Vaudreuil (1952). These were rigorous biographies, universally praised by the critics, which could have consolidated the genre had they not appeared at the moment when the SOCIAL SCIENCES were undergoing a reorientation.

After WWII, in fact, biography in Québec, as in France, went into a period of disfavour, especially in intellectual circles. The new historiographic trends, which emphasized economics and social matters, pushed the individual to the background of history. Moreover, the quantitative approach inspired by American sociology, which thought it unscientific, ridiculous even, to show interest in personalities, profoundly influenced the historiography of Québec and distanced historians of the biographical genre. And the negative view of biography was reinforced by the anti-Duplessis and anticlerical spirit which equated, not without reason, moreover, traditional biography with conservative nationalism and the domination of the Catholic Church.

End of the 1960s

At the end of the 1960s, however, the genre came resoundingly back into fashion in Québec, as in the entire Western world, but in a different form and with different content. Biography proved that it could be and had become a contribution of major importance to the growth of historical knowledge. Since then, numerous biographies, solid and serious works, have added knowledge and timely analyses, essential for the construction of any synthesis of quality. It is scientific history, but personified, much more revealing than the cold monographs which too often simplify questions along with their answers.

In this new biography, not only the subject is revealed; so is the group, class or ideology which he or she represents, plus the times this person helped to create. And the individual belongs to an economic, social and cultural world as much as a religious and political one. The new biography thus comes to the rescue of all-embracing history.

Several names deserve mention here, such as Pierre Savard with Tardivel (1967); Henri Masson with Joseph Masson (1972); Robert Rumilly with Duplessis (1973); Nive Voisine with Mgr Laflèche (1981); Brian Young with George-Étienne Cartier (1982); Andrée Désilets with Hector-Louis Langevin (1969) and Louis-Rodrigue Masson (1985); Réal Bélanger with Albert Sévigny (1983); Jean-Paul Delagrave with Fleury Mesplet (1985); and the many contributors to the DICTIONARY OF CANADIAN BIOGRAPHY/DICTIONNAIRE BIOGRAPHIQUE DU CANADA and Le Dictionnaire des Oeuvres littéraires du Québec .

It is evident that after having abandoned the biographical genre for almost a quarter of a century, historians are rediscovering its attractions and real value. The public loves biographies more than ever, whether scientific, or romanticized. The amazing success in Québec of televised series about d'Iberville, Riel and Duplessis proves that biography can meet public taste as well as the demands of the professional historian.

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Biography vocabulary in French

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Improve Your French Writing with These Effective Methods and Tips

Do you enjoy writing and learning French?

If so, why not do both? It’s one of the best ways to immerse yourself in the language .

In this post, we’ll look at how you can start with the basics and work up to practicing in a variety of different writing styles.

Essentials for Writing in French

How to write well in french, learn how narration works, learn the passé simple, grow your vocabulary, use online resources to get started, tips to improve french writing, track your progress with a journal, try writing poetry, put new words to immediate use, don’t use a dictionary too often, write a little first, then check grammar, why are french writing skills important, and one more thing....

Download: This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you can take anywhere. Click here to get a copy. (Download)

To be good at writing in French, there are a number of different skills that you’ll need to brush up on. Putting the following skills together will help your writing sound more fluent and improve your overall accuracy:

• Sentence structure
• Conjugations

Narrating in French involves a complicated weaving of different verb tenses. It’s critical to learn to use the right tense at the right time .

To set the scene, use the imparfait  to describe things that are happening, or characteristics of participants, as the principal action is taking place.

Principal events in a timeline can be narrated in the passé composé or the  passé simple.  In some cases, this type of narration might even  make use of the  présent . Narration can be either in the present or in the past depending on the narrator’s point of view.

Let’s look at this sentence as an example:

Alors que le roi se promenait dans son jardin, un gland est tombé sur sa tête.

(As the king was walking in his garden, an acorn fell on his head.)

Notice how se promener  is in the  imparfait but tomber is in the  passé composé . The king walking is “setting the scene,” and the acorn falling is the principal event in the narration. This is just one example of French narration.

Instead of using the passé composé, we could use the passé simple when narrating principal events.

Our sentence thus becomes:

Alors que le roi se promenait dans son jardin, un gland tomba sur sa tête .

In written French, the  passé simple can take the place of the  passé composé (unless it’s a quote of someone speaking). It’s a much more economical way of narrating, although often not taught by French teachers.

Knowing your audience is just as important as good tense use. The way you write a text, specifically the vocabulary used, differs between, say, children’s stories, emails to your boss and text messages to your close friends.

Writing is a great way to learn vocabulary because you’re putting that vocabulary into use instead of just reading it.

If you have story ideas but are unsure how to proceed, there are many online resources to help you.

Here are a few ways you can use them.

• Try collaborative French writing forums.

Certain forums, such as De Plume en Plume  or  Le Monde de L’Écriture , allow you to actually post short stories for review in exchange for reviewing other peoples’ work.

Commentary can include anything that helps you finish your story, be it grammar corrections, critiques or ideas of how to continue. These sites also propose written exercises such as collaborative writing or prompts like “Describe a garden in under 100 words.”

• Check out concours de nouvelles.

Many French libraries, universities and municipalities host writing contests called concours de nouvelles (literally “short story competition”) where certain people can submit a text. Some have entry conditions (e.g., participants must be under/over a certain age, live in a region, etc.), but others are open to anyone.

Usually, contests give you specific scenarios, such as writing a story based on a simple picture or completing an unfinished work.

There are a range of different ways you can improve your French writing skills. Here are some ideas to get you warmed up.

Language instructors often integrate a written journal into their curricula because it lets students see their improvement in real-time. The writing is personal, so you can experiment with more complicated structures, knowing you won’t be critiqued.

Poetry teaches you to not only write in French, but to become comfortable handling the language. This is your chance to break out of the groove of repetitive exercises and truly experiment. Try reading up on French poetry and then writing some of your own using rhyming, plays on words, etc.

You’re probably already reading French daily (or you should be!). Once you learn a new word, make sure you utilize it right away in your writing, otherwise it might slip away from your memory.

If you’re pressed for time, you can use language learning programs like Duolingo or Memrise to quickly pick up and learn French words. 

It’s okay if you can’t think of a synonym for every word. Just use the words you know. I try to “talk around” words I don’t know if I get stuck. After all, it’s what you do when speaking. Only if this is impossible should you use a dictionary.

Keep in mind that even if you know a word, you might not know its gender or spelling. Sometimes it’s possible to guess the spelling from pronunciation, and genders might be inferred from similar words, but often you’ll just have to memorize.

You don’t want to rely on dictionaries or grammar books to check every sentence, but at the same time you don’t want to wait until you’re completely done with a piece of writing to check it over. Usually I write roughly a paragraph, then check it before moving on. This lets me learn from my mistakes in real-time while not using learning resources as a crutch.

It’s important to know that modern French society may test how well you write in many situations. Here are just a couple examples.

The phenomenon of graphologie

Even with computers, writing on paper remains very important in France. It’s so important, in fact, that many employers use it to learn more about their employees.

As part of a pseudo-scientific practice known as graphology, prospective employees submit handwritten letters that are analyzed by graphologists to determine psychological traits from their handwriting. The BBC provides a good explanation for the French enthusiasm for graphology.

The French take letters seriously!

It’s not a stretch to say that the French use written correspondence more than English speakers do. Up until recently, it was often considered more polite to submit handwritten letters of motivation than typed letters when applying for a job.

Unlike the relative creative liberty given in American business correspondence, French counterparts usually follow tried-and-true templates, such as the one seen here .

Notice the last line:

“Veuillez agréer, (Madame, Monsieur), l’expression de mes sincères salutations.” (Please accept, [Sir or Madam], the expression of my sincere greetings.)

This long-winded formality, called a formule de politesse,  is one of the mainstays of formal communication in French —a long way from our simple “From” or “Sincerely”!

Now you have everything you need to start developing your French writing skills!

Although it might seem like a daunting task, with the above tips and plenty of practice, your writing should see an improvement in no time.

FluentU has a wide variety of great content, like interviews, documentary excerpts and web series, as you can see here:

FluentU brings native French videos with reach. With interactive captions, you can tap on any word to see an image, definition and useful examples.

For example, if you tap on the word "crois," you'll see this:

Practice and reinforce all the vocabulary you've learned in a given video with learn mode. Swipe left or right to see more examples for the word you’re learning, and play the mini-games found in our dynamic flashcards, like "fill in the blank."

All throughout, FluentU tracks the vocabulary that you’re learning and uses this information to give you a totally personalized experience. It gives you extra practice with difficult words—and reminds you when it’s time to review what you’ve learned.

Start using the FluentU website on your computer or tablet or, better yet, download the FluentU app from the iTunes or Google Play store. Click here to take advantage of our current sale! (Expires at the end of this month.)

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Learn How to Write in French Easily

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Improve Your Written French Today

Whether you want to pen a love letter or submit an essay in France, you need to know how to write in French. Luckily, learning how to write in French is fairly straightforward. Since French uses the Latin Alphabet, you’re already ahead of the game. Improve your writing in French fast with these easy steps.

The Basics of French Writing for Beginners

When it comes to French writing, it’s a little different than speaking French. But, if you know how to read French well, you shouldn’t have a lot of problems.

Before you read the 8 easy steps of learning to write in French, there’s one important factor in mastering French writing: practice. The only way you can truly improve your French writing skills is with a lot of practice . Make sure you write a little bit in French every day. Soon, you’ll find that writing in French is like second nature.

1. Watch Out for French Spelling

One of the biggest obstacles that throws French learners off is spelling. Unfortunately, those silent letters that you don’t pronounce are very much there in writing. Be careful how you spell certain complicated words. You need to master all parts of French grammar to write French correctly.

2. Genders Influence Grammar in French

You may already know that nouns have genders in French. They can either be masculine or feminine. And depending on the gender, different parts of a French sentence need to be conjugated.

• articles : French articles need to be conjugated to reflect the gender and the number of the noun. These can be ‘le’, ‘la’, ‘l”, and ‘les’ for definite articles, and ‘un’ and ‘une’ for indefinite articles.
• pronouns : Pronouns in French are the words that replace the name of the subject in a sentence. ‘He’, ‘she’, and ‘them’ are some examples of pronouns in English. In French, you need to use different forms of pronouns depending on the gender of the subject.
• adjectives : When you’re describing a noun, you use an adjective. And since the noun is the only reason the adjective’s there in the sentence, you need to make the adjective fit the noun in French. There are various ways to conjugate French adjectives depending on the gender and the number of the noun, so make sure you brush up on that knowledge before you write in French.

3. Careful with French Accent Marks

French accent marks also don’t do us any favors. While they’re extremely useful when it comes to French pronunciation, their writing isn’t as straightforward. Try to associate the sound with the written French word. There are only 5 accent marks in French. One is the cedilla (ç), which only works with the letter “c”, and another is the acute accent (é), which only sits on top of the letter “e”. So in practice, there are only 3 different kinds of accents you should look out for in French.

4. Follow the French Sentence Structures

English and French sentence structures are similar in many ways. Both follow the SVO (subject-verb-object) structure, which makes writing in French much easier. And just like in English, the French sentence structure is also flexible. You can switch the words around to emphasize a part of a sentence, but still have the same meaning.

• Tomorrow , I’m going to work.    Demain  je vais travailler. I’m going to work  tomorrow .   Je vais travailler  demain .

The most important part of the first sentence is the time the speaker goes to work. The second sentence focuses on the subject, the speaker instead. Still, both sentences convey the same meaning of going to work.

If you want to ask a question in French, you can do so by putting a question word at the beginning of the sentence. Common question words are:

• How  Comment
• What  Que / Qu’est-ce que queue
• What kind  Quel genre
• When  Quand
• Why   Pourquoi

You can also ask a question by switching the order of the verb and the pronoun around, and connecting them with a hyphen:

• Do you speak English?    Parlez-vous anglais ?

It’s important to remember these basic rules of French sentence structure before you start writing in French. If you want to learn how to write in French effectively, practice these 4 steps a lot.

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How to Write in French for Intermediate Students

If you’re an intermediate French learner you’re familiar with basic French grammar, and you’re confident in writing in French. But, there’s always room to improve. Once you know the basic steps of how to write in French, it’s time to make your writing even better. You can start paying attention to style, flow, and structure. The tips below will benefit your French writing practice.

5. Try Nominalization

This useful technique will make your sentences better. Nominalization means that you make nouns in the sentence more dominant. While in English, the dominant words are verbs, in French, you can write with the focus of the noun instead, making them more meaningful. Here’s an example to demonstrate.

• Normal sentence: The ice cream is cold. – La glace est froide.
• Nominalized sentence: The ice cream is cold. – La glace, c’est droid.

6. Use French Conjunctions

Conjunctions are the tools to write complex French sentences. Without them, you’re limited to simple and boring sentence structures. As an intermediate student, you can start connecting two equal or unequal sentences to make an even more interesting phrase. Here are the different kinds of French conjunctions you can use to write better in French:

Coordinating Conjunctions:

You use these kinds of conjunctions to connect two equal sentences. The most common coordinating conjunctions in French are:

Subordinating Conjunctions:

If one of the sentences in unequal or dependent on the other, you need to use subordinating conjunctions. These connectors often show causality. The most common conjunctions in French for this category are:

7. Style and Flow

Now that you wield the power of conjunctions, you have to be careful with it. As fun as it is to write long and complicated sentences in French, it doesn’t sound good. Make sure you use appropriate sentence lengths as you’re writing in French.

Aim for shorter sentences. Make them explain your point well. But, feel free to mix the flow up with the occasional longer sentences. That’s how you write in French with a nice and smooth flow. And that’s how you perfect your French writing too. It will be a pleasure to read your work.

Writing in French for Advanced Learners

Once you mastered all of the French writing rules, you’re officially an advanced French learner. But, there may still be room to improve your French writing. If you’re looking to kick your projects up a notch, you can learn how to write essays and dissertations in French. These pointers will be useful if you ever attend school or university in France, or you want to take a language exam.

8. Get Familiar with French Essay Structure

When you’re writing an essay, you have to structure it for readability. If you want to learn how French high schoolers are taught to write their essays, this is the structure they follow: thèse-antithèse-synthèse (thesis-antithesis-synthesis). Learn how to write French essays using a traditional French essay structure.

• Introduction : You begin your essay by having an introduction, which is a context for argument.
• Thesis : In this section, you present and defend the statement of your thesis. You need to write everything that supports the topic of your essay.
• Antithesis : The antithesis follows the thesis. This is where you state conflicting evidence and explain other potential substitutes for your essay. Including an antithesis doesn’t mean that you disagree with your original thesis. You just need to show that you thought of all possibilities before arriving to your conclusion.
• Synthesis : This is your conclusion. This is where you summarize your arguments, and explain why you still stand by your original thesis despite the antithesis.

9. Use Introduction and Conclusion Vocabulary

Certain words can encourage sentence flow by introducing or concluding some parts of your work.

• tout d’abord (firstly)
• premièrement (firstly)
• deuxièmement (secondly)
• ensuite (then)
• enfin (finally)
• finalement (finally)
• pour conclure (to conclude)

You can use these words when introducing a new idea to your dissertation or essay. These words will signal the readers that they are encountering a new part or thought of your writing process.

10. Writing a Dissertation in French

This is the form of writing you encounter in French higher education. It’s a very complex form of French writing, only the most advanced and fluent French learners should attempt it. It’s also a longer piece of academic writing. It may take you weeks to complete research and write your French dissertation.

The French dissertation is similar to essay structure. But, there’s one main difference: your thesis isn’t a statement, but rather a question. It’s your job in the dissertation to take the reader through your thought process and research to answer your question. This logic is known as “ Cartesian logic .” It comes from Descartes , who was a well known French philosopher.

History of Written French

French was used in Strasbourg Oaths, and it first appeared in writing in 842 AD. Before then, Latin was the only language used for literature in Europe. However, in the 10th and 11th centuries, French appeared in some religious writings and documents but was not used up to the late 12th century or early 13th century. The first greatest French Literature work, the Song of Roland (Chanson de Roland), was published around the year 1200.

Writing in French Alone Won’t Make You Fluent

You need to learn how to write in French to be proficient in the language. But, it won’t make you fluent. The only way to become fluent is to practice speaking French. While it’s crucial to develop every area of your French knowledge, if you want to be fluent in French, you need a reliable language learning method like OptiLingo.

OptiLingo is an app that gets you speaking, not typing a language. It gives you the most common French words and phrases, so you’re guaranteed to learn the most useful vocabulary. Don’t waste time trying to learn French you’ll never use. Complement your French writing practice with fun speaking exercises when you download OptiLingo !

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Posted on Jun 30, 2023

How to Write a Biography: A 7-Step Guide [+Template]

From time to time, nonfiction authors become so captivated by a particular figure from either the present or the past, that they feel compelled to write an entire book about their life. Whether casting them as heroes or villains, there is an interesting quality in their humanity that compels these authors to revisit their life paths and write their story.

However, portraying someone’s life on paper in a comprehensive and engaging way requires solid preparation. If you’re looking to write a biography yourself, in this post we’ll share a step-by-step blueprint that you can follow. 

How to write a biography: 

1. Seek permission when possible 

2. research your subject thoroughly, 3. do interviews and visit locations, 4. organize your findings, 5. identify a central thesis, 6. write it using narrative elements, 7. get feedback and polish the text.

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While you technically don’t need permission to write about public figures (or deceased ones), that doesn't guarantee their legal team won't pursue legal action against you. Author Kitty Kelley was sued by Frank Sinatra before she even started to write His Way , a biography that paints Ol Blue Eyes in a controversial light. (Kelley ended up winning the lawsuit, however).  

Whenever feasible, advise the subject’s representatives of your intentions. If all goes according to plan, you’ll get a green light to proceed, or potentially an offer to collaborate. It's a matter of common sense; if someone were to write a book about you, you would likely want to know about it well prior to publication. So, make a sincere effort to reach out to their PR staff to negotiate an agreement or at least a mutual understanding of the scope of your project. 

At the same time, make sure that you still retain editorial control over the project, and not end up writing a puff piece that treats its protagonist like a saint or hero. No biography can ever be entirely objective, but you should always strive for a portrayal that closely aligns with facts and reality.

If you can’t get an answer from your subject, or you’re asked not to proceed forward, you can still accept the potential repercussions and write an unauthorized biography . The “rebellious act” of publishing without consent indeed makes for great marketing, though it’ll likely bring more headaches with it too. 

✋ Please note that, like other nonfiction books, if you intend to release your biography with a publishing house , you can put together a book proposal to send to them before you even write the book. If they like it enough, they might pay you an advance to write it.  

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Once you’ve settled (or not) the permission part, it’s time to dive deep into your character’s story.  

Deep and thorough research skills are the cornerstone of every biographer worth their salt. To paint a vivid and accurate portrait of someone's life, you’ll have to gather qualitative information from a wide range of reliable sources. 

Start with the information already available, from books on your subject to archival documents, then collect new ones firsthand by interviewing people or traveling to locations. 

Browse the web and library archives

Put your researcher hat on and start consuming any piece on your subject you can find, from their Wikipedia page to news articles, interviews, TV and radio appearances, YouTube videos, podcasts, books, magazines, and any other media outlets they may have been featured in. 

Establish a system to orderly collect the information you find 一 even seemingly insignificant details can prove valuable during the writing process, so be sure to save them. 

Depending on their era, you may find most of the information readily available online, or you may need to search through university libraries for older references. 

For his landmark biography of Alexander Hamilton, Ron Chernow spent untold hours at Columbia University’s library , reading through the Hamilton family papers, visiting the New York Historical Society, as well as interviewing the archivist of the New York Stock Exchange, and so on. The research process took years, but it certainly paid off. Chernow discovered that Hamilton created the first five securities originally traded on Wall Street. This finding, among others, revealed his significant contributions to shaping the current American financial and political systems, a legacy previously often overshadowed by other founding fathers. Today Alexander Hamilton is one of the best-selling biographies of all time, and it has become a cultural phenomenon with its own dedicated musical. 

Besides reading documents about your subject, research can help you understand the world that your subject lived in. 

Try to understand their time and social environment

Many biographies show how their protagonists have had a profound impact on society through their philosophical, artistic, or scientific contributions. But at the same time, it’s worth it as a biographer to make an effort to understand how their societal and historical context influenced their life’s path and work.

An interesting example is Stephen Greenblatt’s Will in the World . Finding himself limited by a lack of verified detail surrounding William Shakespeare's personal life, Greenblatt, instead, employs literary interpretation and imaginative reenactments to transport readers back to the Elizabethan era. The result is a vivid (though speculative) depiction of the playwright's life, enriching our understanding of his world.

Many readers enjoy biographies that transport them to a time and place, so exploring a historical period through the lens of a character can be entertaining in its own right. The Diary of Samuel Pepys became a classic not because people were enthralled by his life as an administrator, but rather from his meticulous and vivid documentation of everyday existence during the Restoration period.

Once you’ve gotten your hands on as many secondary sources as you can find, you’ll want to go hunting for stories first-hand from people who are (or were) close to your subject.

With all the material you’ve been through, by now you should already have a pretty good picture of your protagonist. But you’ll surely have some curiosities and missing dots in their character arc to figure out, which you can only get by interviewing primary sources.

Interview friends and associates

This part is more relevant if your subject is contemporary, and you can actually meet up or call with relatives, friends, colleagues, business partners, neighbors, or any other person related to them. 

In writing the popular biography of Steve Jobs, Walter Isaacson interviewed more than one hundred people, including Jobs’s family, colleagues, former college mates, business rivals, and the man himself.

🔍 Read other biographies to get a sense of what makes a great one. Check out our list of the 30 best biographies of all time , or take our 30-second quiz below for tips on which one you should read next. 

Which biography should you read next?

Discover the perfect biography for you. Takes 30 seconds!

When you conduct your interviews, make sure to record them with high quality audio you can revisit later. Then use tools like Otter.ai or Descript to transcribe them 一 it’ll save you countless hours. 

You can approach the interview with a specific set of questions, or follow your curiosity blindly, trying to uncover revealing stories and anecdotes about your subject. Whatever your method, author and biography editor Tom Bromley suggests that every interviewer arrives prepared, "Show that you’ve done your work. This will help to put the interviewee at ease, and get their best answers.” 

Bromley also places emphasis on the order in which you conduct interviews. “You may want to interview different members of the family or friends first, to get their perspective on something, and then go directly to the main interviewee. You'll be able to use that knowledge to ask sharper, more specific questions.” 

Finally, consider how much time you have with each interviewee. If you only have a 30-minute phone call with an important person, make it count by asking directly the most pressing questions you have. And, if you find a reliable source who is also particularly willing to help, conduct several interviews and ask them, if appropriate, to write a foreword as part of the book’s front matter .

Sometimes an important part of the process is packing your bags, getting on a plane, and personally visiting significant places in your character’s journey.

Visit significant places in their life

A place, whether that’s a city, a rural house, or a bodhi tree, can carry a particular energy that you can only truly experience by being there. In putting the pieces together about someone’s life, it may be useful to go visit where they grew up, or where other significant events of their lives happened. It will be easier to imagine what they experienced, and better tell their story. 

In researching The Lost City of Z , author David Grann embarked on a trek through the Amazon, retracing the steps of British explorer Percy Fawcett. This led Grann to develop new theories about the circumstances surrounding the explorer's disappearance.

Hopefully, you won’t have to deal with jaguars and anacondas to better understand your subject’s environment, but try to walk into their shoes as much as possible. 

Once you’ve researched your character enough, it’s time to put together all the puzzle pieces you collected so far. 

Take the bulk of notes, media, and other documents you’ve collected, and start to give them some order and structure. A simple way to do this is by creating a timeline. 

Create a chronological timeline

It helps to organize your notes chronologically 一 from childhood to the senior years, line up the most significant events of your subject’s life, including dates, places, names and other relevant bits. 

You should be able to divide their life into distinct periods, each with their unique events and significance. Based on that, you can start drafting an outline of the narrative you want to create.  

Draft a story outline 

Since a biography entails writing about a person’s entire life, it will have a beginning, a middle, and an end. You can pick where you want to end the story, depending on how consequential the last years of your subject were. But the nature of the work will give you a starting character arc to work with. 

To outline the story then, you could turn to the popular Three-Act Structure , which divides the narrative in three main parts. In a nutshell, you’ll want to make sure to have the following:

• Act 1. Setup : Introduce the protagonist's background and the turning points that set them on a path to achieve a goal. 
• Act 2. Confrontation : Describe the challenges they encounter, both internal and external, and how they rise to them. Then..
• Act 3. Resolution : Reach a climactic point in their story in which they succeed (or fail), showing how they (and the world around them) have changed as a result. 

Only one question remains before you begin writing: what will be the main focus of your biography?

Think about why you’re so drawn to your subject to dedicate years of your life to recounting their own. What aspect of their life do you want to highlight? Is it their evil nature, artistic genius, or visionary mindset? And what evidence have you got to back that up? Find a central thesis or focus to weave as the main thread throughout your narrative. 

Or find a unique angle

If you don’t have a particular theme to explore, finding a distinct angle on your subject’s story can also help you distinguish your work from other biographies or existing works on the same subject.

Plenty of biographies have been published about The Beatles 一 many of which have different focuses and approaches: 

• Philip Norman's Shout is sometimes regarded as leaning more towards a pro-Lennon and anti-McCartney stance, offering insights into the band's inner dynamics. 
• Ian McDonald's Revolution in the Head closely examines their music track by track, shifting the focus back to McCartney as a primary creative force. 
• Craig Brown's One Two Three Four aims to capture their story through anecdotes, fan letters, diary entries, and interviews. 
• Mark Lewisohn's monumental three-volume biography, Tune In , stands as a testament to over a decade of meticulous research, chronicling every intricate detail of the Beatles' journey.

Finally, consider that biographies are often more than recounting the life of a person. Similar to how Dickens’ Great Expectations is not solely about a boy named Pip (but an examination and critique of Britain’s fickle, unforgiving class system), a biography should strive to illuminate a broader truth — be it social, political, or human — beyond the immediate subject of the book. 

Once you’ve identified your main focus or angle, it’s time to write a great story. 

While biographies are often highly informative, they do not have to be dry and purely expository in nature . You can play with storytelling elements to make it an engaging read. 

You could do that by thoroughly detailing the setting of the story , depicting the people involved in the story as fully-fledged characters , or using rising action and building to a climax when describing a particularly significant milestone of the subject’s life. 

One common way to make a biography interesting to read is starting on a strong foot…

Hook the reader from the start

Just because you're honoring your character's whole life doesn't mean you have to begin when they said their first word. Starting from the middle or end of their life can be more captivating as it introduces conflicts and stakes that shaped their journey.

When he wrote about Christopher McCandless in Into the Wild , author Jon Krakauer didn’t open his subject’s childhood and abusive family environment. Instead, the book begins with McCandless hitchhiking his way into the wilderness, and subsequently being discovered dead in an abandoned bus. By starting in medias res , Krakauer hooks the reader’s interest, before tracing back the causes and motivations that led McCandless to die alone in that bus in the first place.

You can bend the timeline to improve the reader’s reading experience throughout the rest of the story too…

Play with flashback 

While biographies tend to follow a chronological narrative, you can use flashbacks to tell brief stories or anecdotes when appropriate. For example, if you were telling the story of footballer Lionel Messi, before the climax of winning the World Cup with Argentina, you could recall when he was just 13 years old, giving an interview to a local newspaper, expressing his lifelong dream of playing for the national team. 

Used sparsely and intentionally, flashbacks can add more context to the story and keep the narrative interesting. Just like including dialogue does…

Reimagine conversations

Recreating conversations that your subject had with people around them is another effective way to color the story. Dialogue helps the reader imagine the story like a movie, providing a deeper sensory experience. 

One thing is trying to articulate the root of Steve Jobs’ obsession with product design, another would be to quote his father , teaching him how to build a fence when he was young: “You've got to make the back of the fence just as good looking as the front of the fence. Even though nobody will see it, you will know. And that will show that you're dedicated to making something perfect.”

Unlike memoirs and autobiographies, in which the author tells the story from their personal viewpoint and enjoys greater freedom to recall conversations, biographies require a commitment to facts. So, when recreating dialogue, try to quote directly from reliable sources like personal diaries, emails, and text messages. You could also use your interview scripts as an alternative to dialogue. As Tom Bromley suggests, “If you talk with a good amount of people, you can try to tell the story from their perspective, interweaving different segments and quoting the interviewees directly.”

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These are just some of the story elements you can use to make your biography more compelling. Once you’ve finished your manuscript, it’s a good idea to ask for feedback. 

If you’re going to self-publish your 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 self-edit your manuscript eliminating passive voice, filler words, and redundant adverbs. 

Then, have a professional editor give you a general assessment. They’ll look at the structure and shape of your manuscript and tell you which parts need to be expanded on or cut. As someone who edited and commissioned several biographies, Tom Bromley points out that a professional “will look at the sources used and assess whether they back up the points made, or if more are needed. They would also look for context, and whether or not more background information is needed for the reader to understand the story fully. And they might check your facts, too.”  

In addition to structural editing, you may want to have someone copy-edit and proofread your work.

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Importantly, make sure to include a bibliography with a list of all the interviews, documents, and sources used in the writing process. You’ll have to compile it according to a manual of style, but you can easily create one by using tools like EasyBib . Once the text is nicely polished and typeset in your writing software , you can prepare for the publication process.  

In conclusion, by mixing storytelling elements with diligent research, you’ll be able to breathe life into a powerful biography that immerses readers in another individual’s life experience. Whether that’ll spark inspiration or controversy, remember you could have an important role in shaping their legacy 一 and that’s something not to take lightly. 

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How to Describe Yourself in French

Last Updated: September 9, 2022 Fact Checked

This article was co-authored by Language Academia . Language Academia is a private, online language school founded by Kordilia Foxstone. Kordilia and her team specialize in teaching foreign languages and accent reduction. Language Academia offers courses in several languages, including English, Spanish, and Mandarin. There are 7 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources. This article has been viewed 439,017 times.

Describing yourself is an important skill personally and professionally. You may wish to meet or date someone, get to know a friend better, or present yourself in a professional context. The rules for describing yourself in French are similar to how you would do it in English, but there are a few distinctions to be aware of. Using these guidelines you will have a basic structure that you can expand on to provide a more personalized description of yourself.

Describing your Personality

• The French word for first name is “prenom” (prey–nom). You could say “Mon prénom est...” (mon prey-nom ey) which means “my first name is...”
• The French word for surname is “nom de famille” (nohm dhe fah-mee). In a professional or commercial transaction if someone asks for your "nom" be sure to provide your last name rather than your first.

• Consult a dictionary to find pronunciations of specific numbers.
• You can also describe your age group more generally using the phrase “je suis” (zhe swee) followed by an adjective. “Jeune” (zhuhn) means young. “Vieux” (vee-euh) indicates an elderly man, while “vieille” (vee-ay) indicates an elderly woman. “Je suis jeune” means “I am young.”

• You can also say “my hair is...” followed by a color. The phrase for this is “Mes cheveux sont...” (meh chuh-vuh son). Consult a dictionary for the appropriate color.
• The same construction works to describe your eye color. You would say “Mes yeux sont ...” (mehz-yuh son) which means "my eyes are..." Note that in this case you pronounce the s at the end of “mes” because the next word begins with a vowel.

• “Fort” (for) means strong, while “faible” (febl) means weak.
• “Petit” (petee) for men or “petite” (peteet) for women means small or short.
• “Grand” (grahn) for men or “grande” (grahnd) for women means large or tall.

• Content (cohn-tahn) means happy, while triste (treest) means sad. You would say "je suis triste" to convey "I am sad."
• Fatigué (fah-tee-gay) means tired. You would say “je suis fatigué” to convey "I am tired."

Describing Your Activities

• Male occupations that end with “eur” (euhr) often change to “euse” (euhz) for women. For example, a massage therapist would be either a masseur or a masseuse.
• Male occupations that end in “ier” (ee-ay) often add an extra e to become ière (ee-ehr) for women. A farmer would be either a fermier or a fermière.
• Male occupations that end in a consonant may add an extra e to become feminine. For example, a male student is an “étudiant” (ay-tood-eeon) while a female student is an "étudiante" (ay-tood-eeont). Note that the final consonant is pronounced only in the female form.
• Many occupations have only one form, regardless of gender, such as "professeur" which means teacher.

• “I like” is “j’aime” (zhehm). "I love" is “j’adore” (zha-dor). “J’aime lire” (zhehm leer) means “I like to read.”
• The words “ne” and “pas” on either side of the verb negate the phrase, indicating dislike. "I do not like" is “je n’aime pas” (zhe nem pah). “Je n’aime pas chanter” (zhe nem pas chan-tay) means “I do not like to sing.”

• Mon (mohn) or ma (mah) are used as possessives, when you wish to indicate that you like something that belongs to you. Mes (meh) indicates a possessive plural. [5] X Research source
• Mon is used when the noun is masculine, indicated in the dictionary by the letter m. “J’aime mon chat” means "I like my cat." Note that it does not matter if you are male, it matters that cat (chat) is a masculine noun.
• Ma is used when the noun is feminine, indicated in the dictionary by the letter f. “J’aime ma tante” means "I like my aunt." Again, it matters that aunt is a feminine noun, not that you are a man or a woman.
• Mes indicates a possessive plural noun, such as “my aunts” or “my cats.” You would say “j’aime mes tantes” or “j’aime mes chats.” [6] X Research source

• If this is too challenging it may be easier to use the above recommendations for sharing hobbies, simply saying “I like sports” or “j’aime les sports.”
• This construction also works to describe personality traits. For example gentil/gentille (zhantee/zhanteel) means nice. You would say “je suis gentil” if you are a man or "je suis gentille" for a woman.

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• ↑ https://omniglot.com/language/phrases/french.php
• ↑ https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/zjx947h/articles/z7ftwty
• ↑ https://ecampusontario.pressbooks.pub/frenchcopy/chapter/2-4-the-verb-etre/
• ↑ http://www.languageguide.org/french/grammar/gender/
• ↑ http://www.thefrenchexperiment.com/learn-french/possessive-adjectives.php
• ↑ https://www.lawlessfrench.com/grammar/possessive-adjectives/
• ↑ http://www.languageguide.org/french/grammar/adjectives/

About This Article

To describe yourself in French, start by learning some of the basic French phrases for introducing yourself, like “Je m’appelle” and “Je suis” to tell people your name and something about yourself. For example, “Je suis blonde” tells people that you’re a blonde, while “Je suis fatigué” means “I’m tired!” To talk about your interests, use the word “J’aime” to say that you love or like something! Scroll down to learn how to use the appropriate adjectives for your gender! Did this summary help you? Yes No

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• French and English Grammar / Grammaire française et anglaise

FR: French tense for Biography

• Thread starter stephanielee
• Start date Apr 26, 2011

stephanielee

• Apr 26, 2011

What tense do we use when we want to write a Biography for a person? I saw a passage about a history story of a person, using present tense in french. Should we use present tense to write a Biography? thank you! regards, Stephanie  

Senior Member

I think you can use both tenses (past or present). But choose one and don't change ! Past tense place your story but as this is a biography it is understood that it is past. There is a french tense called "présent de narration" : it is present used to tell past stories. It make it more lively.  

• Apr 27, 2011

I myself would seriously doubt that a biography could be written in the present tense in English. As whims points out, French commonly uses the present tense when narrating past events. This would be rare in English. I think probably you should go with the past tense. (My son told me recently that he was reading a novel that was for some reason written in the present tense and he found it extremely annoying.)  

How do you Write a biography in french?

To write a biography in French, start by gathering relevant information about the person's life, including important events, achievements, and personal details. Follow a chronological order, beginning with the person's birth and early life, and ending with their current status or most recent accomplishments. Pay attention to grammar, vocabulary, and style to ensure a coherent and well-written biography in French.

Add your answer:

Why are autobiographies called autobiographies?

because in french auto means self and biography means write which lead to autobiography

Can you write the biography of your own father?

no i cant write +++ You might not, but otherwise there is no reason why a son cannot write a biography of either of his parents.

What year did Abraham Lincoln not write in his biography?

Abraham did not write his biography. He said almost nothing about his family or upbringlng.

Auto biography of William d sargent?

Sargent did not write his biography.

How do you say auto biography in french?

Autobiographie.

How do you write a biography for church honoree?

What do you call it when you write a biography about yourself.

autobiography

How do you write a mini biograhpy?

Write out your biography, and then take out every third word

How do you write Abigail in FRENCH?

To write Abigail in French is easy. You just write it the same way.

How do you say write in french?

to write is "écrire" in French.

How do you write the time in french?

the same way as in englishb but write it in french!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

How do you write i have eaten in french?

how to write i have eaten in french: J'ai mange

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How to Write a Biography (Examples & Templates)

A biography is a written account of a person’s life that details their life in chronological order. Another person usually writes this detailed account, and it contains reports of their childhood, career, major life events, relationships, and social impact. It also details their relationships with their family, children, and life accomplishments.

The best way to find out more about a popular figure is through reading their biographies, so you need to make sure you get the correct information. Before writing a biography, you need to do a lot of research and interviews to represent a person’s life accurately.

Types of Biography

A biography is the story of someone’s life as written by another writer. Most biographies of popular figures are written years, or even decades, after their deaths. Authors write biographies of popular figures due to either a lack of information on the subject or personal interest.

A biography aims to share a person’s story or highlight a part of their life.

There are different types of biographies, depending on the story. Some biographies are written true to the story, while some are written as fictional works. Biographies can give you true understanding of a person on an internal as well as external level along with a lot of life lessons.

Autobiography

An autobiography is different from a biography because it is written by the subject of the story, themselves. The author writes in the first-person narrative, and it flows step-by-step like a story of their life. Autobiographies contain personal accounts of the subject’s life, along with their perspectives and opinions on events in their life.

How To Write a Biography

Pick a subject.

Picking a subject is the first step in writing a biography. You can pick an already famous person or a relatively unknown person with a great life story. If you already have a few in mind, you can start by asking yourself some questions such as;

• What has the subject accomplished that makes them a good subject?
• Have they had an impact on society?
• Is the subject a celebrity or a well-known personality?
• Will the biography appeal to a wide audience?

Get Permission

When you pick a subject, the next thing to do is to get permission from them or their family or rights owners. Although, with some historical figures, there may not be any need for permission. Getting permission from your subject makes it easier for you to get stories to put into your book. You can get the chance to obtain additional personal stories and anecdotes that will make your book more interesting by doing so as well.

Do The Research

Research is the most important part of a biography’s process as the entire content of the book is dependent on it. Irrespective of what you know about the subject, you need to carry out as much research as possible to get the story’s facts precisely.

Biography research comes from various sources, depending on the book’s subject. Firsthand reports from family, friends, or personal accounts from the subjects are primary sources. They are usually the most accurate and reliable, and they are crucial for a biography. Secondary sources come from other sources like magazines or documentaries.

Pick a Format

Biographies come in various formats, with each of them having their pros and cons. A typical biography will start at the beginning, usually with the birth and childhood of the subject. Yet, if the biography’s theme involves a different event in their life, the author may want to explore the flashback option or one with concurrent events from different times.

Usually, biographies have a theme or a general life lesson at the center. The author’s role is to tell the subject’s story leading up to the major event.

Which-ever format you choose should place the theme at the center, with the other events detailing the journey.

Create a Timeline Of The Story

Since a biography takes place in chronological order, there needs to be a timeline of the events in the right order. The timeline should contain the key events in the subject’s life, in the order the author plans on revealing them. A great way to declutter the story and keep it interesting is to use flashbacks . This way, the author can introduce past events and explain later events excluding the element of monotony.

Add In Your Thoughts

The good thing about biographies is that you don’t have to stick to the hard facts only. As the author, you can share your opinions and emotions in writing. The author has the freedom to do this by commenting on a significant action by the subject in a manner that describes why they feel the subject may have done what they did.

The author can also include commentary on events depicted in the biography – how it was influenced society or its impact on the lives around them. Recounting these events through a different perspective can make the biography more relatable and interesting to read.

FAQ’s

Why is a biography template important.

A biography template has an outline that makes the writing easier for the author. Biography templates usually contain a sample timeline, format, and questions that provide more information about the subject. With a great biography template, you can cut your writing time in half and spend less time coming up with an outline.

How are biographies better in comparison to autobiographies

Since a different person writes biographies, they tend to be more objective and somewhat accurate than autobiographies. An autobiography tells things from the author’s perspective, so their views and perspective cloud it. Thus, a biography will likely tell a more factual story.

These are the important steps you need to take to help you write a great biography. Now, to make things easier for you, we have a free customizable autobiography and biography template that you can use to start your first book. Get the template and start writing today

What are some of the most important elements to keep in consideration while writing a biography?

Any author looking to write a biography must consider the factors below. They aren’t the only important factors, but a biography isn’t complete without them. • Date and place of their birth • Academic background • Professional expertise • Death, if deceased • Facts and anecdotes about the person • Main accomplishments • Detailed accounts of their child and adult life

Biographies tell the untold stories of some incredibly relevant people in the world. But biographies are not always strictly accurate. So, every biographer needs to follow the necessary steps to provide a biography with all the requirements.

Related Documents

How to Write a Biography

Biographies are big business. Whether in book form or Hollywood biopics, the lives of the famous and sometimes not-so-famous fascinate us.

While it’s true that most biographies are about people who are in the public eye, sometimes the subject is less well-known. Primarily, though, famous or not, the person who is written about has led an incredible life.

In this article, we will explain biography writing in detail for teachers and students so they can create their own.

While your students will most likely have a basic understanding of a biography, it’s worth taking a little time before they put pen to paper to tease out a crystal-clear definition of one.

What Is a Biography?

A biography is an account of someone’s life written by someone else . While there is a genre known as a fictional biography, for the most part, biographies are, by definition, nonfiction.

Generally speaking, biographies provide an account of the subject’s life from the earliest days of their childhood to the present day or their death if the subject is deceased.

The job of a biography is more than just to outline the bare facts of a person’s life.

Rather than just listing the basic details of their upbringing, hobbies, education, work, relationships, and death, a well-written biography should also paint a picture of the subject’s personality and experience of life.

A COMPLETE UNIT ON TEACHING BIOGRAPHIES

Teach your students to write AMAZING BIOGRAPHIES & AUTOBIOGRAPHIES using proven RESEARCH SKILLS and WRITING STRATEGIES .

• Understand the purpose of both forms of biography.
• Explore the language and perspective of both.
• Prompts and Challenges to engage students in writing a biography.
• Dedicated lessons for both forms of biography.
• Biographical Projects can expand students’ understanding of reading and writing a biography.
• A COMPLETE 82-PAGE UNIT – NO PREPARATION REQUIRED.

Features of a Biography

Before students begin writing a biography, they’ll need to have a firm grasp of the main features of Biography. An excellent way to determine how well they understand these essential elements is to ask them to compile a checklist like the one blow

At a minimum, their checklists should contain the items below. Be sure to help them fill in any gaps before moving on to the writing process.

The purpose of a biography is to provide an account of someone’s life.

Biography structure.

ORIENTATION (BEGINNING) Open your biography with a strong hook to grab the reader’s attention

SEQUENCING: In most cases, biographies are written in chronological order unless you are a very competent writer consciously trying to break from this trend.

COVER: childhood, upbringing, education, influences, accomplishments, relationships, etc. – everything that helps the reader to understand the person.

CONCLUSION: Wrap your biography up with some details about what the subject is doing now if they are still alive. If they have passed away, make mention of what impact they have made and what their legacy is or will be.

BIOGRAPHY FEATURES

LANGUAGE Use descriptive and figurative language that will paint images inside your audience’s minds as they read. Use time connectives to link events.

PERSPECTIVE Biographies are written from the third person’s perspective.

DETAILS: Give specific details about people, places, events, times, dates, etc. Reflect on how events shaped the subject. You might want to include some relevant photographs with captions. A timeline may also be of use depending upon your subject and what you are trying to convey to your audience.

TENSE Written in the past tense (though ending may shift to the present/future tense)

THE PROCESS OF WRITING A BIOGRAPHY

Like any form of writing, you will find it simple if you have a plan and follow it through. These steps will ensure you cover the essential bases of writing a biography essay.

Firstly, select a subject that inspires you. Someone whose life story resonates with you and whose contribution to society intrigues you. The next step is to conduct thorough research. Engage in extensive reading, explore various sources, watch documentaries, and glean all available information to provide a comprehensive account of the person’s life.

Creating an outline is essential to organize your thoughts and information. The outline should include the person’s early life, education, career, achievements, and any other significant events or contributions. It serves as a map for the writing process, ensuring that all vital information is included.

Your biography should have an engaging introduction that captivates the reader’s attention and provides background information on the person you’re writing about. It should include a thesis statement that summarizes the main points of the biography.

Writing a biography in chronological order is crucial . You should begin with the person’s early life and move through their career and achievements. This approach provides clarity on how the person’s life unfolded and how they accomplished their goals.

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.

Adding personal insights and opinions can enhance the biography’s overall impact, providing a unique perspective on the person’s achievements, legacy, and impact on society.

Editing and proofreading are vital elements of the writing process. Thoroughly reviewing your biography ensures that the writing is clear, concise, and error-free. You can even request feedback from someone else to ensure that it is engaging and well-written.

Finally, including a bibliography at the end of your biography is essential. It gives credit to the sources that were used during research, such as books, articles, interviews, and websites.

Tips for Writing a Brilliant Biography

Biography writing tip #1: choose your subject wisely.

There are several points for students to reflect on when deciding on a subject for their biography. Let’s take a look at the most essential points to consider when deciding on the subject for a biography:

Interest: To produce a biography will require sustained writing from the student. That’s why students must choose their subject well. After all, a biography is an account of someone’s entire life to date. Students must ensure they choose a subject that will sustain their interest throughout the research, writing, and editing processes.

Merit: Closely related to the previous point, students must consider whether the subject merits the reader’s interest. Aside from pure labors of love, writing should be undertaken with the reader in mind. While producing a biography demands sustained writing from the author, it also demands sustained reading from the reader.

Therefore, students should ask themselves if their chosen subject has had a life worthy of the reader’s interest and the time they’d need to invest in reading their biography.

Information: Is there enough information available on the subject to fuel the writing of an entire biography? While it might be a tempting idea to write about a great-great-grandfather’s experience in the war. There would be enough interest there to sustain the author’s and the reader’s interest, but do you have enough access to information about their early childhood to do the subject justice in the form of a biography?

Biography Writing Tip #2: R esearch ! Research! Research!

While the chances are good that the student already knows quite a bit about the subject they’ve chosen. Chances are 100% that they’ll still need to undertake considerable research to write their biography.

As with many types of writing , research is an essential part of the planning process that shouldn’t be overlooked. If a student wishes to give as complete an account of their subject’s life as possible, they’ll need to put in the time at the research stage.

An effective way to approach the research process is to:

1. Compile a chronological timeline of the central facts, dates, and events of the subject’s life

2. Compile detailed descriptions of the following personal traits:

•      Physical looks
•      Character traits
•      Values and beliefs

3. Compile some research questions based on different topics to provide a focus for the research:

• Childhood : Where and when were they born? Who were their parents? Who were the other family members? What education did they receive?
• Obstacles: What challenges did they have to overcome? How did these challenges shape them as individuals?
• Legacy: What impact did this person have on the world and/or the people around them?
• Dialogue & Quotes: Dialogue and quotations by and about the subject are a great way to bring color and life to a biography. Students should keep an eagle eye out for the gems that hide amid their sources.

As the student gets deeper into their research, new questions will arise that can further fuel the research process and help to shape the direction the biography will ultimately go in.

Likewise, during the research, themes will often begin to suggest themselves. Exploring these themes is essential to bring depth to biography, but we’ll discuss this later in this article.

Research Skills:

Researching for biography writing is an excellent way for students to hone their research skills in general. Developing good research skills is essential for future academic success. Students will have opportunities to learn how to:

• Gather relevant information
• Evaluate different information sources
• Select suitable information
• Organize information into a text.

Students will have access to print and online information sources, and, in some cases, they may also have access to people who knew or know the subject (e.g. biography of a family member).

These days, much of the research will likely take place online. It’s crucial, therefore, to provide your students with guidance on how to use the internet safely and evaluate online sources for reliability. This is the era of ‘ fake news ’ and misinformation after all!

COMPLETE TEACHING UNIT ON INTERNET RESEARCH SKILLS USING GOOGLE SEARCH

Teach your students ESSENTIAL SKILLS OF THE INFORMATION ERA to become expert DIGITAL RESEARCHERS.

⭐How to correctly ask questions to search engines on all devices.

⭐ How to filter and refine your results to find exactly what you want every time.

⭐ Essential Research and critical thinking skills for students.

⭐ Plagiarism, Citing and acknowledging other people’s work.

⭐ How to query, synthesize and record your findings logically.

BIOGRAPHY WRITING Tip #3: Find Your Themes In Biography Writing

Though predominantly a nonfiction genre, the story still plays a significant role in good biography writing. The skills of characterization and plot structuring are transferable here. And, just like in fiction, exploring themes in a biographical work helps connect the personal to the universal. Of course, these shouldn’t be forced; this will make the work seem contrived, and the reader may lose faith in the truthfulness of the account. A biographer needs to gain and maintain the trust of the reader.

Fortunately, themes shouldn’t need to be forced. A life well-lived is full of meaning, and the themes the student writer is looking for will emerge effortlessly from the actions and events of the subject’s life. It’s just a case of learning how to spot them.

One way to identify the themes in a life is to look for recurring events or situations in a person’s life. These should be apparent from the research completed previously. The students should seek to identify these patterns that emerge in the subject’s life. For example, perhaps they’ve had to overcome various obstacles throughout different periods of their life. In that case, the theme of overcoming adversity is present and has been identified.

Usually, a biography has several themes running throughout, so be sure your students work to identify more than one theme in their subject’s life.

BIOGRAPHY WRITING Tip: #4 Put Something of Yourself into the Writing

While the defining feature of a biography is that it gives an account of a person’s life, students must understand that this is not all a biography does. Relating the facts and details of a subject’s life is not enough. The student biographer should not be afraid to share their thoughts and feelings with the reader throughout their account of their subject’s life.

The student can weave some of their personality into the fabric of the text by providing commentary and opinion as they relate the events of the person’s life and the wider social context at the time. Unlike the detached and objective approach we’d expect to find in a history textbook, in a biography, student-writers should communicate their enthusiasm for their subject in their writing.

This makes for a more intimate experience for the reader, as they get a sense of getting to know the author and the subject they are writing about.

Student Examples of Biography Writing

• Year 5 Example
• Year 7 Example
• Year 9 Example

“The Rock ‘n’ Roll King: Elvis Presley”

Elvis Aaron Presley, born on January 8, 1935, was an amazing singer and actor known as the “King of Rock ‘n’ Roll.” Even though he’s been dead for nearly 50 years, I can’t help but be fascinated by his incredible life!

Elvis grew up in Tupelo, Mississippi, in a tiny house with his parents and twin brother. His family didn’t have much money, but they shared a love for music. Little did they know Elvis would become a music legend!

When he was only 11 years old, Elvis got his first guitar. He taught himself to play and loved singing gospel songs. As he got older, he started combining different music styles like country, blues, and gospel to create a whole new sound – that’s Rock ‘n’ Roll!

In 1954, at the age of 19, Elvis recorded his first song, “That’s All Right.” People couldn’t believe how unique and exciting his music was. His famous hip-swinging dance moves also made him a sensation!

Elvis didn’t just rock the music scene; he also starred in movies like “Love Me Tender” and “Jailhouse Rock.” But fame came with challenges. Despite facing ups and downs, Elvis kept spreading happiness through his music.

Tragically, Elvis passed away in 1977, but his music and charisma live on. Even today, people worldwide still enjoy his songs like “Hound Dog” and “Can’t Help Falling in Love.” Elvis Presley’s legacy as the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll will live forever.

Long Live the King: I wish I’d seen him.

Elvis Presley, the Rock ‘n’ Roll legend born on January 8, 1935, is a captivating figure that even a modern-day teen like me can’t help but admire. As I delve into his life, I wish I could have experienced the magic of his live performances.

Growing up in Tupelo, Mississippi, Elvis faced challenges but found solace in music. At 11, he got his first guitar, a symbol of his journey into the world of sound. His fusion of gospel, country, and blues into Rock ‘n’ Roll became a cultural phenomenon.

The thought of being in the audience during his early performances, especially when he recorded “That’s All Right” at 19, sends shivers down my spine. Imagining the crowd’s uproar and feeling the revolutionary energy of that moment is a dream I wish I could have lived.

Elvis wasn’t just a musical prodigy; he was a dynamic performer. His dance moves, the embodiment of rebellion, and his roles in films like “Love Me Tender” and “Jailhouse Rock” made him a true icon.

After watching him on YouTube, I can’t help but feel a little sad that I’ll never witness the King’s live performances. The idea of swaying to “Hound Dog” or being enchanted by “Can’t Help Falling in Love” in person is a missed opportunity. Elvis may have left us in 1977, but he was the king of rock n’ roll. Long live the King!

Elvis Presley: A Teen’s Take on the Rock ‘n’ Roll Icon”

Elvis Presley, born January 8, 1935, was a revolutionary force in the music world, earning his title as the “King of Rock ‘n’ Roll.” Exploring his life, even as a 16-year-old today, I’m captivated by the impact he made.

Hailing from Tupelo, Mississippi, Elvis grew up in humble beginnings, surrounded by the love of his parents and twin brother. It’s inspiring to think that, despite financial challenges, this young man would redefine the music scene.

At 11, Elvis got his first guitar, sparking a self-taught journey into music. His early gospel influences evolved into a unique fusion of country, blues, and gospel, creating the electrifying genre of Rock ‘n’ Roll. In 1954, at only 19, he recorded “That’s All Right,” marking the birth of a musical legend.

Elvis wasn’t just a musical innovator; he was a cultural phenomenon. His rebellious dance moves and magnetic stage presence challenged the norms. He transitioned seamlessly into acting, starring in iconic films like “Love Me Tender” and “Jailhouse Rock.”

However, fame came at a cost, and Elvis faced personal struggles. Despite the challenges, his music continued to resonate. Even now, classics like “Hound Dog” and “Can’t Help Falling in Love” transcend generations.

Elvis Presley’s impact on music and culture is undeniable. He was known for his unique voice, charismatic persona, and electrifying performances. He sold over one billion records worldwide, making him one of the best-selling solo artists in history. He received numerous awards throughout his career, including three Grammy Awards and the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.

Elvis’s influence can still be seen in today’s music. Many contemporary artists, such as Bruno Mars, Lady Gaga, and Justin Timberlake, have cited Elvis as an inspiration. His music continues to be featured in movies, TV shows, and commercials.

Elvis left us in 1977, but his legacy lives on. I appreciate his breaking barriers and fearlessly embracing his artistic vision. Elvis Presley’s impact on music and culture is timeless, a testament to the enduring power of his artistry. His music has inspired generations and will continue to do so for many years to come.

Teaching Resources

Use our resources and tools to improve your student’s writing skills through proven teaching strategies.

BIOGRAPHY WRITING TEACHING IDEAS AND LESSONS

We have compiled a sequence of biography-related lessons or teaching ideas that you can follow as you please. They are straightforward enough for most students to follow without further instruction.

BIOGRAPHY LESSON IDEA # 1:

This session aims to give students a broader understanding of what makes a good biography.

Once your students have compiled a comprehensive checklist of the main features of a biography, allow them to use it to assess some biographies from your school library or on the internet using the feature checklist.

When students have assessed a selection of biographies, take some time as a class to discuss them. You can base the discussion around the following prompts:

• Which biographies covered all the criteria from their checklist?
• Which biographies didn’t?
• Which biography was the most readable in terms of structure?
• Which biography do you think was the least well-structured? How would you improve this?

Looking at how other writers have interpreted the form will help students internalize the necessary criteria before attempting to produce a biography. Once students have a clear understanding of the main features of the biography, they’re ready to begin work on writing a biography.

When the time does come to put pen to paper, be sure they’re armed with the following top tips to help ensure they’re as well prepared as possible.

BIOGRAPHY LESSON IDEA # 2:

This session aims to guide students through the process of selecting the perfect biography subject.

Instruct students to draw up a shortlist of three potential subjects for the biography they’ll write.

Using the three criteria mentioned in the writing guide (Interest, Merit, and Information), students award each potential subject a mark out of 5 for each of the criteria. In this manner, students can select the most suitable subject for their biography.

BIOGRAPHY LESSON IDEA # 3:

This session aims to get students into the researching phase and then prioritise events and organise them chronologically.

Students begin by making a timeline of their subject’s life, starting with their birth and ending with their death or the present day. If the student has yet to make a final decision on the subject of their biography, a family member will often serve well for this exercise as a practice exercise.

Students should research and gather the key events of the person’s life, covering each period of their life from when they were a baby, through childhood and adolescence, right up to adulthood and old age. They should then organize these onto a timeline. Students can include photographs with captions if they have them.

They can present these to the class when they have finished their timelines.

BIOGRAPHY LESSON IDEA # 4:

Instruct students to look over their timeline, notes, and other research. Challenge them to identify three patterns that repeat throughout the subject’s life and sort all the related events and incidents into specific categories.

Students should then label each category with a single word. This is the thematic concept or the broad general underlying idea. After that, students should write a sentence or two expressing what the subject’s life ‘says’ about that concept.

This is known as the thematic statement . With the thematic concepts and thematic statements identified, the student now has some substantial ideas to explore that will help bring more profound meaning and wider resonance to their biography.

BIOGRAPHY LESSON IDEA # 5:

Instruct students to write a short objective account of an event in their own life. They can write about anyone from their past. It needn’t be more than a couple of paragraphs, but the writing should be strictly factual, focusing only on the objective details of what happened.

Once they have completed this, it’s time to rewrite the paragraph, but they should include some opinion and personal commentary this time.

The student here aims to inject some color and personality into their writing, to transform a detached, factual account into a warm, engaging story.

Get our FREE Biography Writing Graphic Organizer

Use this valuable tool in the research and writing phases to keep your students on track and engaged.

WRITING CHECKLIST & RUBRIC BUNDLE

To Conclude

By this stage, your students should have an excellent technical overview of a biography’s essential elements.

They should be able to choose their subject in light of how interesting and worthy they are, as well as give consideration to the availability of information out there. They should be able to research effectively and identify emerging themes in their research notes. And finally, they should be able to bring some of their personality and uniqueness into their retelling of the life of another.

Remember that writing a biography is not only a great way to develop a student’s writing skills; it can be used in almost all curriculum areas. For example, to find out more about a historical figure in History, to investigate scientific contributions to Science, or to celebrate a hero from everyday life.

Biography is an excellent genre for students to develop their writing skills and to find inspiration in the lives of others in the world around them.

HOW TO WRITE A BIOGRAPHY TUTORIAL VIDEO

OTHER GREAT ARTICLES RELATED TO BIOGRAPHY WRITING

How to write an Autobiography

How to Write a Historical Recount Text

15 Awesome Recount & Personal Narrative Topics

Personal Narrative Writing Guide

Comment écrire une biographie - How to write a biography FRENCH

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Description

Need help trying to introduce this topic in French? This purchase includes a short description of what a biography is with success criteria, a self-evaluation, a rubric, word list as well as all the necessary prompts to support students in writing their own biography.

Used in a hybrid classroom, this can be printed or used during distance learning. This resource can also be easily adapted to cover numerous influential people!

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