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Biography Sentence Starters

Biography sentence starters are a great way to begin writing a biography or autobiography. They can provide structure, direction, and inspiration for your story. These sentence starters can help you craft an engaging narrative and bring life to your story. They can also help you focus on key elements of a biography, such as a person’s accomplishments, struggles, and relationships. Once you start writing, you can use these sentence starters to create a powerful story that captures your subject’s life experience.

What is a Biography?

A biography is a detailed account of a person’s life, typically including their experiences, relationships, and accomplishments. It is written by a biographer, usually in the form of a book or essay. Biographies provide readers with a glimpse into the life of an individual, from their childhood experiences to their successes and failures. They offer insight into the motivations and passions of the subject, and can even provide a glimpse into the future of the individual. Biographies are often used to inspire readers, as well as to provide a comprehensive understanding of a person’s life. Whether one is reading a biography of a famous celebrity, a great leader, or a relative, biographies offer an opportunity to gain insight into the human experience.

Benefits of Writing a Biography

Writing a biography is an excellent way to share someone’s life story with the world. It can help to capture the essence of someone’s life and showcase their achievements, struggles, and impact on society. In addition to creating a lasting legacy, there are a number of other benefits of writing a biography.

Biographies can provide an opportunity to learn from the past. They can help introduce readers to people they may not have otherwise known about, and share the lessons learned from their experiences. Biographies can also help to inform and shape future generations by allowing readers to gain insight into how others have solved problems or navigated difficult times.

Moreover, biographies can help foster empathy and understanding. By reading about someone’s life, readers can gain perspective on their own experiences and gain insight into the perspectives and feelings of others.

Finally, biographies can be an excellent source of inspiration. Reading about someone’s accomplishments can be motivating and can help provide readers with the courage to pursue their own ambitions.

Writing a biography can be a great way to honor someone’s life and to spark meaningful conversations. By considering the benefits outlined above, authors can create compelling biographies that will have a lasting impact.

Identifying Your Audience

Having a clear understanding of your target audience is essential when crafting a biography. Knowing who you are trying to reach with your story can help you to determine the tone and language of your piece. Consider the age, gender, and interests of the readers that you want to reach and tailor your writing to them. Additionally, you may want to consider the geographical locations of your readers and vary the way you refer to certain places to better capture their attention. Keeping in mind the type of readers you are aiming to engage with can help you to create a more effective and engaging biography.

Types of Biographies

Biographies come in many different types, each with its own unique purpose. Whether you are looking to write a short personal profile or a full-length academic biography, there are some common elements and sentence starters that can help you get started. Knowing the different types of biographies will help you structure your story and make the writing process easier.

Autobiographies tell the life story of the person who wrote it. They provide a first-person account of the writer’s life, from childhood to adulthood. Autobiographies often include anecdotes, personal reflections, and insights into the person’s life. To start, consider using a sentence like, “My life has been shaped by my experiences and the people I have encountered.”

Biographies focus on the life of a particular person. They can be written about famous people such as politicians, artists, or scientists, or about everyday people in your community. To capture the person’s essence, consider using a sentence like, “John Smith was a man of many talents and passions.”

Collective biographies are written about a group of people, such as a family or a business. They provide an overview of the group’s history and accomplishments, as well as individual stories and profiles. To introduce the group of people, try a sentence like, “The Johnson family has been an integral part of the local community for generations.”

Finally, hagiographies, or saints’ lives, are biographies written about holy figures. These provide an in-depth look into the person’s life and the impact they had on the world. To begin, try a sentence like, “Saint Mary was a woman of immense faith and determination.”

No matter which type of biography you are writing, understanding the various types and sentence starters can help you craft a compelling story. With a bit of practice, you’ll be able to create a captivating biography that you can be proud of.

Tips for Writing a Biography

Writing a biography can be a daunting task, but with a few simple tips, you can get started on your masterpiece. Before you begin, consider collecting meaningful quotes, stories, and anecdotes from the person you’re writing about. This will help you craft a more detailed and accurate portrait of the subject. Additionally, you should outline the main points of the biography and divide the work into sections. This will make the process of writing much easier.

When writing the biography, make sure to use active verbs and detailed descriptions. Additionally, you should consider the audience of the biography and use language they will understand. Additionally, be sure to incorporate relevant facts about the subject’s life, such as their education, profession, and accomplishments.

Finally, remember to proofread your work. With a few simple steps, you can craft an accurate, engaging, and informative biography. Start by gathering quotes, stories, and anecdotes, then outline the main points of the biography and divide the work into sections. Make sure to use active verbs and detailed descriptions, and consider the audience of the biography. Incorporate relevant facts about the subject’s life, and proofread your work. By following these tips, you’ll be able to write a compelling biography that captures the life of the subject.

Examples of Biography Sentence Starters

Biography sentence starters are a great way to get started on writing a biography. Whether you are writing a biography for a school project or for a professional purpose, these sentence starters can provide you with a good foundation to develop the story of someone’s life. From childhood to adulthood, these sentence starters can help you capture the story of any individual.

When it comes to writing a biography, it is important to make sure that the sentences you use are creative and informative. Using sentence starters can help you craft a compelling story of someone’s life, from their early days to their later achievements. Below are some examples of sentence starters that can help you get started on writing a biography about someone.

For childhood: “From a young age, [Name] was always interested in…”

For education: “[Name] went on to attend [Name of School] to further their studies in…”

For accomplishments: “Throughout their life, [Name] achieved many successes, including…”

For later years: “In their later years, [Name] was admired for their…”

By using these biography sentence starters, you can craft a compelling story of someone’s life. They can serve as the foundation for the narrative, helping to provide structure and focus to your writing. Once you have outlined the facts, you can then add further details to develop the story. Remember that the goal of writing a biography is to capture the personality of the individual, so be sure to include details that will bring the story to life.

FAQs About the Biography Sentence Starters

Q1: How can I use biography sentence starters to write my biography? A1: Biography sentence starters can be a great help when writing a biography. They provide ideas and starting points for writing your story, whether it is about yourself or someone else.

Q2: What kind of information should I include in my biography? A2: The information you include in your biography should depend on the type of biography you are writing. Generally, biographies include information about the person’s life, accomplishments, and legacy.

Q3: What are some examples of biography sentence starters? A3: Examples of biography sentence starters include: “Born on [date], [person] was a [adjective] [profession].”, “[Person] was known for [accomplishment].”, “[Person] made a lasting contribution to [field/cause].”, “[Person] left a legacy of [legacy].”, etc.

Biography sentence starters are a great tool for those who are new to writing biographies. They provide an easy way to get started, and to help focus the writing process. They can also be used to help create structure and provide guidance for the overall writing. By using these sentence starters, writers can begin crafting an engaging and informative biography that will capture the essence of the subject.

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How to Write a Biography

Learn how to write a biography with our comprehensive guide.

Last updated on Dec 8th, 2023

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Table of Contents

How to write a biography can be a fun challenge as you share someone’s life story with readers. You may need to write a biography for a class or decide to write a biography as a personal project. Once you’ve identified the subject of your biography, do your research to learn as much as you can about them. Then, immerse yourself in writing the biography and revising it until it’s best. What I am going to share with you in today’s post is how to write a biography. If you want to know the rules of how to write a biography correctly then this post of ours is essential for you. 

Introduction

While it’s true that most biographies involve people in the public eye, sometimes the subject is less well-known. But most of the time, famous or not, the person we’re talking about has an incredible life. Although your students may have a basic understanding of How to write a biography, you should take some time before putting pen to paper to come up with a very clear definition of biography.

Before knowing how to write a biography, let’s first understand what a biography is. A biography is an account of a person’s life written by someone else. Although there is a genre called fictional biography, by definition biographies are mostly non-fiction. In general, biographies trace the subject’s life from early childhood to the present day or until death if the subject is deceased. 

Biography writing is not limited to describing the bare facts of a person’s life. Instead of just listing basic details about their upbringing, interests, education, work, relationships, and deaths, a well-written biography should also paint a picture of a person’s personality as well as that person’s life experiences.

Tips and Tricks For How To Write a Biography

1. ask the subject’s permission to write a biography.

Here are the first tips on how to write a biography. Before starting your research, make sure you get your subject’s consent to write their biography. Ask them if they’re ready to be the subject. Getting their permission will make writing a biography much easier and ensure that they are open to information about their lives.

If the theme does not allow you to write a bio, you can choose another theme. If you decide to publish a profile without the subject’s permission, you may be subject to legal action from the subject. 

If the topic no longer exists, you don’t need to ask permission to write about them. 

2. Research primary sources on the topic

Primary sources may include books, letters, photographs, diaries, newspaper clippings, magazines, Internet articles, magazines, videos, interviews, existing biographies, or autobiographies on the subject. Find these resources in your local library or online. Read as much as you can about the topic and highlight any important information you come across in your sources. 

You can create research questions to help you focus your research on this topic, such as: 

What do I find interesting about this topic? Why is this topic important to readers? 

3. Conduct interviews with subjects and their relatives

Interviewing people will turn your research into reality: the people you interview will be able to tell you stories you can’t find in history books. Interview the subject as well as people close to them, such as spouses, friends, business associates, family members, co-workers, and friends. Interview in person, over the phone, or via email.

For in-person interviews, record them with a voice recorder or voice recorder on your computer or phone. You may need to interview the subject and others multiple times to get the documents you need.

4. Visit places important to the topic

Whenever you want to know how to write a biography, to understand the history of the subject, spend time in places and areas that are significant to the subject. This may be the subject’s childhood home or neighborhood. You can also visit the subject’s workplace and regular meeting places. 

You may also want to visit areas where the subject made important decisions or breakthroughs in their life. Being physically present in the area can give you an idea of what your subjects may have felt and help you write about their experiences more effectively.

5. Research the time and place of the subject’s life

Contextualize your subject’s life by observing what’s going on around them. Consider the period in which they grew up as well as the history of the places they lived. Study the economics, politics, and culture of their time. See current events happening where they live or work.

When you studying how to write a biography, ask yourself about time and place: 

What were the social norms of this period? 

What happened economically and politically? 

How has the political and social environment influenced this topic?

6. Make a timeline of a person’s life

To help you organize your research, create a timeline of a person’s entire life, from birth. Draw a long line on a piece of paper and sketch out as many details about a person’s life as possible. Highlight important events or moments on the timeline. Include important dates, locations, and names. 

If you think about how to write a biography You can also include historical events or moments that affect the topic in the timeline. For example, a conflict or civil war may occur during a person’s lifetime and affect their life.

7. Focus on important events and milestones

Major events can include marriage, birth, or death during a person’s lifetime. They may also achieve milestones like their first successful business venture or their first civil rights march. Highlights key moments in a person’s life so readers clearly understand what’s important to that person and how they influence the world around them.

For example, you might focus on one person’s achievements in the civil rights movement. You could write an entire section about their contributions and participation in major civil rights marches in their hometowns.

8. Cite all sources used in  biography

Most biographies will include information from sources such as books, journal articles, magazines, and interviews. Remember to cite any sources that you directly quote or paraphrase. You can use citations, footnotes, or endnotes. If the biography is for a course, use MLA, APA, or Chicago Style citations according to your instructor’s preference.

9. Reread the biography

Check the biography for spelling, grammar, and punctuation. Circle all punctuation marks in the text to confirm they are correct. Read the text backward to check for spelling and grammar errors. 

Having a biography full of spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors can frustrate readers and lead to poor grades if you submit your work to the class.

10. Show your biography to others to get their feedback

It is a momentous step of how to write a biography. Once you have completed your draft biography, show it to your colleagues, friends, teachers, and mentors to get their feedback. Ask them if they have a good understanding of someone’s life and if the biography is easy to read. Be open to feedback so you can improve the biography and make it error-free. Revise profile based on feedback from others. Don’t be afraid to trim or edit your biography to suit your readers’ needs.

11. Use flashbacks

Flashbacks happen when you move from the present to the past. You can start with the present moment, and then bring in a scene from the person’s past. Or you could have one chapter focusing on the present and one focusing on the past, alternating as you go.

The flashback scene must be as detailed and realistic as the present-day scene. Use your research notes and interviews with subjects to better understand their past to reminisce. 

For example, you can move from a person’s death in the present to reminiscing about their favorite childhood memory.

12. Outline Your Story Chronologically 

This is another important step in how to write a biography is to write an outline that describes your story in chronological order. An outline is a tool that helps you visualize the structure and key elements of your story. This can help you organize your story into chapters and sections. 

You can write your plan in a digital document or draw it with pen and paper. Remember to store your outline in an easily accessible place so you can refer to it throughout the writing process.

What citation style should I use for my biography?

Use MLA, APA, or Chicago Style citations based on your instructor’s preference when citing sources in your biography.

Should I include personal opinions in a biography?

No, a biography should be objective and based on facts. Avoid injecting personal opinions or bias into the narrative.

What’s the difference between a biography and an autobiography?

A biography is written by someone else about a person’s life, while an autobiography is written by the subject themselves about their own life.

Can I write a biography about a living person?

Yes, you can write a biography about a living person with their consent. Ensure you respect their privacy and follow ethical guidelines when writing about them.

Conclusion 

Other than creating a sense of closure, there are no set rules about how a biography ends. An author may want to summarize their main points about the subject of their biography. If the person is still alive, the author can inform the reader about their condition or circumstances. If the person has died, inheritance can be discussed. Authors can also remind readers how they can learn from the biographical subject. Sharing a closing quote or about a person can leave the audience with a point to consider or discuss in more detail.

For further insights into writing and to avoid common mistakes, check out our article on Most Common Mistakes in Writing . Additionally, explore the Best Writing Tools for Writers to enhance your writing skills and discover the tools that can assist you. If you’re looking to improve your typing speed and accuracy, our article on How to Type Faster with Accuracy offers valuable tips.

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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 childhood to the present day or, if the subject is deceased, their death.

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.

Full Biographies

Teaching unit.

Teach your students everything they need to know about writing an AUTOBIOGRAPHY and a BIOGRAPHY.

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Features of a Biography

Before students begin writing a biography, they’ll need to have a firm grasp of the main features of a 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

Their checklists should contain the items below at a minimum. 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 summarising the biography’s main points.

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 clarifies 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 students wish 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.

Biography Examples For Students

• 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, then prioritise and organise events 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.

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.

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

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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

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Blog • Perfecting your Craft

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.

FREE RESOURCE

Biography Outline Template

Craft a satisfying story arc for your biography with our free template.

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.  

Book Proposal Template

Craft a professional pitch for your nonfiction book with our handy template.

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. 

Continue reading

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How to write a strong one-line biography (with examples!)

As a blogger or content marketer, you’re spreading your content across the internet to build your name as a thought leader and to drive traffic back to your (or your client’s) website.

One of the best ways to do this is via a strong biography, where sites will often allow you to also link back to somewhere. But you need to get their interest to learn more, so you need a strong one-line biography as most sites will only allow a short biography.

Here’s how you write a strong one-line biography for your blog author page:

Write in 3rd person

Highlight your role/profession.

• Keep it short

Include a call to action

Biographies should be written in third person. Instead of “I am a serial entrepreneur…” you should write “John is a serial entrepreneur…”

Some publications may have different guidelines, in which case you should follow them, but as a general guideline always write your bio in 3rd person.

Your bio should tell readers who you are and what you do, so be sure to highlight your role or profession.

“John is a serial entrepreneur and digital marketing veteran who…”

This gives people more information about you, why you are qualified to be talking about the topic you are bylined on, and helps them decide if they want to click your link to learn more.

Don’t be afraid to brag a little bit! In our world of fake humility, finding someone who is willing to state what they’ve done can be refreshing and encourage them to click to learn more about you.

Don’t overdo it though. A quick interesting fact is usually more than enough to get them interested.

For example:

“John is a serial entrepreneur and digital marketing leader who via his company Credo has generated over a quarter billion dollars in leads for agencies since 2015.”

The lead value number is a brag, but it’s also true and lets people know that John knows what he’s doing.

Have some fun!

In today’s social media world, people want to connect with the person behind the account.

So don’t be afraid to use emojis or a bit of humor.

This advice does not carry over to a professional website like LinkedIn where people are more professional and you should present your best face to the world.

Keep it short, but readable

If you’re required to keep your biography to just one sentence, you have just 15 to 20 words on average to get your point across. You need to be succinct and make every word count.

As such, remove superlatives and flowery language that could make it harder to read. This is not the place to be cute or show off – it’s the place to communicate effectively.

Include a backlink/hyperlink

Most websites where you publish will allow you to link back to a site of your choice from your biography. Don’t be spammy and try to link back to multiple places – link to a place where people can find out more about you or your company easily.

Finally, include a call to action (CTA) if you have enough space and can work it in. At minimum, make sure you follow the above advice and include a hyperlink back to your main website where people can learn more about you or your business.

Some examples

Here are some examples of great bios.

Dan Martell (Instagram)

Dan Martell is a coach to software founders, an entrepreneur with 3 business exits, an award-winning angel investor, and a proud dad and husband.

How do we know this? Because he says so in his Instagram bio. Short and effective.

Kimberly Bryant

Kimberly Bryant is the founder of Black Girls Code , a company that “build[s] pathways for young women of color to embrace the current tech marketplace as builders and creators by introducing them to skills in computer programming and technology.” Here is her Twitter biography, which clearly states what she does and gives insight into who she is.

Chris Ducker

Chris Ducker is a UK-based entrepreneur who “helps midlife leaders and entrepreneurs build future proof businesses around their expertise” with his Youpreneur coaching program.

Pat Flynn is a serial entrepreneur, dad, and husband who also has a physical product and a Pokemon card side hustle with over 100,000 YouTube subscribers. Here’s his Instagram profile:

Rand Fishkin

Rand is also a serial entrepreneur and currently the CEO of Sparktoro, an audience insight software tool. He’s formerly the cofounder and CEO of Moz, an SEO software suite. His LinkedIn bio says succinctly what he does, and also adds a bit of personality to let you know what he believes.

John Doherty

John is the founder and CEO of Credo and EditorNinja. (Hi, I’m John writing this!). His bio tells you what he cares about (his family and Colorado), what he does and the various projects he works on as well as his accomplishments.

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How to Use biography in a Sentence

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'biography.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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How To Use Biography In A Sentence

• Stark gave Izzard the warmest of welcomes and seems to have put no obstacle in the way of a biography . 0 0
• a biography ...appreciative and yet judicial in purpose 0 0
• Moceanu has written an autobiography , had book signings and cashed in on corporate and commercial appearances. 0 0
• A short autobiography is prefixed to the 1827 edition of Juvenal. 0 0
• In closing, I would like to reflect upon what I think was the most disturbing, and unnoticed, subtheme of Van Sant's film biography of Harvey Milk. Archive 2009-01-01 0 0

• The tone of Nicholls' biography is dispassionately respectful, admiring even. 0 0
• I had just published my autobiography , which met with universal disapproval. Times, Sunday Times 0 0
• What drove him remains a mystery in a book that is more hagiography than biography . Times, Sunday Times 0 0
• There are further parallels to be drawn within this illusory cat 's cradle of fiction, memoir and biography . Times, Sunday Times 0 0
• Therefore, saccharorrhea patient wants the reality treatment this question certainly not to want to readily believe some not symbol actual suitable biography . 0 0
• I asked the guy who would bowdlerize Larry Niven if given the chance this question: "If someone was writing the biography of your life, would you want it to have a sex scene? Bowdlerized 0 0
• On the downside, this dependency on biography and history means that sometimes the tales do not stand in their own right. 0 0
• In this rather archaically written biography , marred by ornate, stilted language and the author's reliance on and citation of endlessly extended passages from his great-great-grandfather's autobiography , James Mellon struggles mightily but fails to make his readers care much for or about Thomas Mellon. Banking On the Future 0 0
• A ghosted autobiography requires a deep bond between sportsman and journalist. Times, Sunday Times 0 0
• Each character is given a home instance, personalized to their biography choices, located in their racial capital - Hoelbrak for the norn, the Grove for the sylvari, and so forth. 0 0
• In his biography Alec Guinness: The Unknown, Garry O'Connor reveals that Guinness was arrested and fined 10 guineas for a homosexual act in a public lavatory in Liverpool in 1946. 0 0
• How grateful and enlightened he must be to have that cleared up: one wouldn't want a thicko to write one's autobiography . 0 0
• Well, you can wait for the autobiography or you can come with me to shop for formalwear. 0 0
• Maraniss's balanced biography is not a "pathography," obsessive about its subject's defects. Rough Rider In Green Bay 0 0
• They're rerunning a two-part ‘ Biography for Kids’ that Harry did, visiting the set and interviewing the folks behind, in and under the Muppets. 0 0
• Why nobody has ever written a biography of David is beyond me. 0 0
• There is biography , hagiography and social, religious and political history. Times, Sunday Times 0 0
• This is the first official biography of her and it is introduced by her daughter. 0 0
• This turns biography into hagiography: the subject isn't a mere artist working through his aesthetic ideas, he's Christ among the doubters and Pharisees. 0 0
• One final irony: In 1950, at age 82, Millikan published his Autobiography , with Chapter 9 entitled simply "The Experimental Proof of the Existence of the Photon--Einstein's Photoelectric Equation. 0 0
• A profile is a collection of information about the user, typically including a short biography and contextually appropriate facts. 0 0
• A good biography is weakened by not giving the major biographical facts due prominence. 0 0
• Keynes would have interpreted this as an extreme outbreak of liquidity-preference, says Paul Davidson, whose biography of the master has just been republished with a new afterword. 0 0
• His biography is eminently sensible on a subject about which much high-flown transcendental nonsense has been written. 0 0
• Her mother, Jackiey, the daughter of a market trader, was described in her daughter's autobiography as a petty thief and "clipper" - a woman who pretends to be a prostitute but runs off with the money instead. DUFF & NONSENSE! 0 0
• As he accepts, it would have been dishonest to write an autobiography without touching on this subject. Times, Sunday Times 0 0
• The biography is an attempt to uncover the inner man. 0 0
• The biography is a useful corrective to the myths that have grown up around this man. 0 0
• I have some time to spare and would like to sit down and read my copy of the biography of Berlioz. 0 0
• What I discovered in Bruce Hindmarsh's learned biography was that Newton became a convert not because of his disgust for the slave trade, but because of his horror at the dissolute life he had led. 0 0
• Snow was an accomplished author as well, having published a biography of Anthony Trollope as well as several novels, including a whodunit. 0 0
• This new biography will revive interest in an eccentric and rare polymath of the last century. Times, Sunday Times 0 0
• His history is, he argued, "a biography of things, a filiation of objects, not as pictures of an exhibition, but as records of the process of their coming into existence. Trafficking Materials and Gendered Experimental Practices: Radium Research in Early 20th Century Vienna 0 0
• Derek Jarman's Caravaggio presents itself as a loose, poeticized biography of the famed Baroque painter Michelangelo de Caravaggio, but in fact Jarman appears to be using his subject as a gateway into ruminations on art, love, violence and religion. Caravaggio 0 0
• Publication of his biography was timed to coincide with his 70th birthday celebrations. 0 0
• They had met originally when Verrall was writing a biography of Cromwell for which William had done much of the research. 0 0
• The biggest surprise in this colourful biography is that its subject allowed it to be published. Times, Sunday Times 0 0
• After all, in her 1993 autobiography she disclosed one or two juicier titbits contained in the files, which she was allowed to see soon after the Wall came down. 0 0
• Her achievements are chronicled in a new biography out this week. 0 0
• It takes a bold writer to attempt a biography of one of the most recognized and cited of Restoration Englishmen. 0 0
• ANDREW MORTON, AUTHOR, "TOM CRUISE: AN UNAUTHORIZED BIOGRAPHY ": He could be in the position of what they call inspector general inside scientology. CNN Transcript Jan 17, 2008 0 0
• Unless you want to write a very long biography indeed, a measure of rapid movement is in most cases unavoidable. The Times Literary Supplement 0 0
• … reminds me of an image Deirdre Bair sketches in her biography of the game young Samuel used to play diving fearlessly from the tops of tall trees, crashing through branches to the ground. 2009 May 05 | NIGEL BEALE NOTA BENE BOOKS 0 0
• Between these two positions lies a range of literacy activity, such as personal autobiography , diaries, functional lists etc. 0 0
• Indeed there is probably more fiction in autobiography than there is autobiography in fiction. 0 0
• I don't want a biography of your old French wine - bibber. Flush of Gold 0 0
• Some companies have used "biodata" a mash-up of the words biography and data. How to Ace a Google Interview 0 0
• This is another very interesting part of the biography that is missing from the first print run. 0 0
• He also wrote several short biographies on early identities to be included in Dictionary of New Zealand Biography . 0 0
• While at the BlogWorld Expo in Las Vegas next week, I’ll be signing copies of my autobiography I’ll Do It Myself in which I intimately share living with cerebral palsy to show others that cp is not a death sentence, but rather a life sentence: Do It Myself Blog – Glenda Watson Hyatt » 2007 » November 0 0
• It is not everyday that you find an autobiography so disarmingly direct and candid. 0 0
• The thing about this biography is that it is not fair, it is unbalanced and it is biased, and it is what John Howard would call a ‘black armband biography ’. 0 0
• He saved his carfares and went without lunch until he had enough money to buy an encyclopedia of American biography - and then he did an unheard-of thing. 0 0
• Along the way he offers a sort of autobiography of his bibliomania, which takes him across New England and the rest of the country searching for old books. 0 0
• This highly condensed biography allows little room for analysis. 0 0
• The Guardian's Book Review has a review of his new biography of the grumpiest man in popular music, which advises you to snap it up quick before Van's solicitors run their toothcombs over it. 0 0
• There are elements of autobiography in these acute, erudite, elegant and amusing essays. Times, Sunday Times 0 0
• Matilda of Canossa had obsessed Maureen for the better part of the last two years, possessing her first when Maureen read the autobiography of the controversial countess, and then as she wrote her latest book in honor of this remarkable woman. The Poet Prince 0 0
• The story she unfolds is both biography and intellectual parable. Times, Sunday Times 0 0
• Film biography , a special film of genre with a long historic tradition, profound aesthetic particularity and stong vitality during the whole development of cinematics. 0 0
• A brief preface goes before the first part which provides a brief biography of Hugo Wolf including the forming and development of his peculiar style. 0 0
• This biography sometimes crosses the borderline between fact and fiction. 0 0
• ‘ Biography ’ scriptwriters churn out copy that is always simple, straightforward, and unrelievedly vanilla. 0 0
• Prepare a two-line biography detailing your skills with a contact number. 0 0
• Jack . Welch Autobiography & gt ; praised as " the Holy Bible of CEO ". 0 0
• He said he would, but there were three more volumes of his biography and accompanying document collections to complete first. Times, Sunday Times 0 0
• The letters were used as source material in this new biography . 0 0
• The third was a lengthy and dully-written biography of a late nineteenth-century general. 0 0
• And he found time to write two volumes of autobiography in which he could give full vent to his views on theatre. Times, Sunday Times 0 0
• Adams' biography confesses to concentrating less on the later years and this deprives the book of a conclusive judgment about its subject. 0 0
• Sarah Bradford is right to spend two-thirds of her quiet, lucid biography on the years before the assassination. 0 0
• While going through such varied sources, it is a great joy when one finds an autobiography or a biography or an unpublished piece of writing. 0 0
• She wrote in her autobiography that The Manchurian Candidate was ‘a dynamite film,’ though she had worried about working with Frank Sinatra. 0 0
• Ironically, it is only possible to write a cultural biography of this horse, insofar as it is possible, because of his multiply commodified status. 0 0
• Mandelstam's attitude to the interrelation of biography and poetic persona was complex. The Times Literary Supplement 0 0
• The sleeve notes include a short biography of the performers on this recording. 0 0
• The major events of Woodman's biography have clearly marked her artistic growth. 0 0
• The trailer actually undersells the film, while the storyboards and biography make for intriguing viewing. 0 0
• It does Mr. Chernow no disservice to regard his biography as a culmination of a long biographical tradition that has divested Washington of his marmoreal armor. The Life of the Lives 0 0
• Larkin had his diaries destroyed, Hardy burnt all his personal papers, then got his second wife to put her name to the biography he had actually written himself. 0 0
• Maybe we could even rush out a quickie biography , explaining to the masses the meaning of Mr. Greenspan's life and work. 0 0
• The Wonder edition includes an informative biography and a discography of his recordings. 0 0
• Autobiography used to be the preserve of hammy actors, gammy lieutenant commanders and superannuated hangers-on to the Bloomsbury Group. 0 0
• It is a famously unclassifiable book, part cultural criticism, part autobiography , mixing participant ethnography with literary analysis. The Times Literary Supplement 0 0
• In her autobiography she said curiosity had made her take the job, but 60 years on she admits she failed to let herself see the atrociousness of the regime she worked for. 0 0
• Life, as every biography and obit I have ever read confirms, is what happens when you are making other plans. 0 0
• I think it's like the whole history of Italian art in the biography of one person. A TALE OF FOUR HOUSES: Opera at Covent Garden, La Scala, Vienna and the Met since 1945 0 0
• Sylvia Plath and the Theatre of Mourning continues this tense push-pull struggle with biography throughout its pages. 0 0
• I thought, 'Doing this autobiography is more serious than I thought. With No Ax to Grind 0 0
• Through bursts of laughter he told me that the first extracts of the new biography about Jack have finally been landing on editors' desks. 0 0
• Despite honourable exceptions, the ubiquitous dramatised biography has probably been the most accident-prone arts genre. Times, Sunday Times 0 0
• Beyond the headlines inspired by his recent autobiography , it is easy to recognise just how the modern game has transformed his life. Times, Sunday Times 0 0
• These texts, written in the style of 1980s bonkbuster novels but with the content of newsy autobiography , could change the face of publishing. Bonk-bios, the perfect beach books 0 0
• The fifth was a biography of a famous writer, which Boy read twice with great fascination. 0 0
• The result of her research is a new biography , Perdita: The Life of Mary Robinson, which includes much unpublished material. 0 0
• Earlier over lunch I had been three pages into a biography of the man who invented Freon when the article suddenly made no sense at all - instead of freon, it was now discussing Medieval paint technology. 0 0
• As well as being erudite, witty and utterly shameless, his autobiography shows he was capable of great mercy. Times, Sunday Times 0 0
• These and other insights into a distinguished writer 's life are reason enough to read this chronological autobiography . Times, Sunday Times 0 0
• But in light of his political biography there can be no doubt of his preparedness to assume a ministerial office in a Union-led government. 0 0
• He is engaged on a biography of his father. 0 0
• About 70,000 copies of the biography were published but it was soon suppressed by the German government. Times, Sunday Times 0 0
• Critics regularly mutter about how hard it is to write literary biography in the 21st century. Times, Sunday Times 0 0
• She wrote the first Kerouac biography in 1973. 0 0
• Record in my Notes to this Manuscript, but except as subsidiary and elucidative of the Text, I put no value on such: express Biography of me, I had really rather that there/[Page xviii]/should be none. New Letters and Memorials of Jane Welsh Carlyle 0 0
• Sandrart's story of Caravaggio's death is easily interpreted as an apologue rather than as biography because there is so little ground to confuse moral and factual truths. 0 0
• It is a great new form of literature: biography of a few months in one country. Times, Sunday Times 0 0
• I’m enjoying reading Carl Sandburg’s biography on Abraham Lincoln — it’s great writing, it’s informative, and I feel good after reading a chapter or two. 0 0
• This biography makes it abundantly clear. Times, Sunday Times 0 0
• George is the survivor, the cat with nine lives, and he has an autobiography for every one of them. 0 0
• The script used is Potter's own condensed and Americanised version of the BBC's, written, according to Humphrey Carpenter's fine biography , in 1990. 0 0
• He re-read his father's autobiography and realised they shared many character traits. 0 0
• This autobiography will appeal most to those interested in the history of the Chattahoochee Valley. 0 0
• It contains a potted biography , stressing the adulation and the good works. Times, Sunday Times 0 0
• This new biography contains a wealth of previously unpublished material. 0 0
• But I managed to correct and amplify an account of his biography and works sufficiently to provide a decent introduction to that edition. The Times Literary Supplement 0 0
• In four volumes of autobiography and three books of journals he distilled much of the flavour of each decade of a remarkable century. 0 0
• Both deeper and wider than a biography , the book documents and vivifies events that still affect us today. 0 0
• A first-rate biography might have reminded the art world of his unique eloquence. 0 0
• In The Name is not a Pilger biography but an account of Pilger's television work with which the journalist himself co-operated. 0 0
• Certainly this critique of autobiography has validity; how many autobiographers are truly honest even with themselves, let alone with their readers, about themselves in narrative? 0 0
• It's not a biography (although a brief bio of Powell is included). 0 0
• V. Johnston, '' Pitirim A. Sorokin an Intelellectual Biography '' (1995) * [[Pitirim Sorokin]] (1889-1968), Russian-American macrosociology; '' Social and Cultural Dynamics '' (4 vol., Conservapedia - Recent changes [en] 0 0
• Over the centuries, Laozi's life took on elements of the mythological hero's biography . 0 0
• So it is with biography and particularly royal biography , a genre that does not suffer from publishing neglect. The Times Literary Supplement 0 0
• He is currently trying to give up smoking as a full-time displacement activity while working on a literary biography . Times, Sunday Times 0 0
• Yet men dominate in this field also, even in fiction, poetry, literary biography . 0 0
• This is in essence a short and rather conventional biography which breaks no new ground but is a good summary of current knowledge. 0 0
• His life is chronicled in a new biography published last week. 0 0
• With an affectionate and admiring smile on his own face, he has written an unaffected biography of an unaffected great man. 0 0
• Marje now admits that her carefully nurtured image has been torn apart by revelations from a new biography . 0 0
• His official NASA biography listed a diverse number of hobbies -- oil painting, woodworking, motorcycling, and racquetball, to name a few. Jim Noles: Twenty-Five Years Ago, We Lost More Than a Space Shuttle 0 0
• After Lacroix, Man Ray spent about six years with the famed Parisian demi-mondaine Kiki de Montparnasse, to whom he devoted an entire chapter in his autobiography . 0 0
• In simplest terms, he is a computer security celebrity junketeer, a highly specialized occupation somewhat obscured by an official biography bulging with professional-strength acronyms. 0 0
• As he wrote in his autobiography : 'I serve as a blank screen on which people of vastly different political stripes project their own views. Times, Sunday Times 0 0
• The biography explains the circumstances surrounding her fall from grace. 0 0
• Review: Biography : Polo reminted: A study that strips away the myths to let us see the great Venetian traveller afresh delights Kevin Rushby: Marco Polo: From Venice to Xanadu by Laurence Bergreen 448pp, Quercus, pounds 19.99 Marco Polo: From Venice to Xanadu, by Laurence Bergreen 0 0
• Still, autobiography may be the land of the invented past but, when the person is interesting enough and the life is large enough, the compensations are considerable. 0 0
• The eminent historian Arthur Schlesinger Jr. has sometimes been labeled a hagiographer for the Camelot chords he struck, but A Thousand Days is an intricate and serious narrative biography with sweeping historical themes and incisive drypoint character sketches. American Sketches 0 0
• Mr. Scheuer is out to present something perhaps slightly different from a biography — more a guide to understanding Osama bin Laden, with biographic features included, because he sees bin Laden as America's central adversary. America's Most Wanted 0 0
• Her book is not only a biography , but the detailed chronicle of a social milieu. The Times Literary Supplement 0 0
• There is a story told in his otherwise unrevealing autobiography which nicely illuminates the practical side of this pursuit of goodness. 0 0
• This new biography is the first to consider fully the writer's gestalt. 0 0
• Biography fleshes out the daily realities of living as aliens in your own land and provides insight into indigenous history over the entire 20th century. 0 0
• Known as a master of tokiwazu bushi, a Japanese song featured in Kabuki plays, she published her autobiography two years ago. Autopsy Disclosed 0 0
• He said he'd been working hard recently on his autobiography , which was now half finished. 0 0
• This accessible mini- biography rejects these simplicities and presents a much more rounded account. 0 0
• Even European history of the period was an official or semi-official biography of the state. 0 0
• He was an occasional obituarist for The Independent and The Guardian and a contributor to the New Dictionary of National Biography . 0 0
• In his autobiography , he explains in detail why it did not become a worldwide business. 0 0
• The library also has a wide range of titles on gardening, cookery, history, computers, biography and travel. 0 0
• In his Autobiography he reports a personal experience of racial harassment. 0 0
• Whilst it could be argued that it is po-faced to talk about truth in the biography of a fictional character, the counter-argument is that the constant toying with fiction and fact is ultimately frustrating. 0 0
• In ways that this biography seems not entirely to appreciate, Kennan's far-sighted opposition to American over-militarisation makes his personal career history less gripping than his legacy. 0 0
• In his autobiography , King mentioned that when he "chivved" someone (interesting that the slang hasn't changed), he was always careful to draw the blade downwards across the face, never upwards or sideways, so as not to slash a major artery. A Night With Annie Nightingale; Mary Anne's Send Off Show; Bandits of the Blitz; Jamie Cullum 0 0
• He was reading the Russell autobiography in order to steady himself for the selection procedure. 0 0
• Burderop farmer Charles W Whatley recalls his schooldays at Swindon High School in his autobiography Farming And Foxhunting published c1940, where Mr Snell had the reputation of pushing on the smart and forward boys. Undefined 0 0
• I was intrigued to read in your autobiography that your relationship with your parents was starchy and formal, while you were close to your grandmother. 0 0
• Also archaeologists, the Gears apply over thirty years of research with their backgrounds in biblical archaeology, religious studies, Greek, and Latin, to reveal a new and relatively unknown and historically unsupported biography of Jesus Christ, or Yeshua. “The Betrayal: The Lost Life of Jesus” by Kathleen O’Neal Gear and W. Michael Gear (Forge, 2008) « The BookBanter Blog 0 0
• Tebow's autobiography , audaciously written when he was merely a 23-year-old second-string quarterback most critics called a miscast running back, came out in June. USATODAY.com News 0 0
• In her autobiography , she describes the song's genesis late one night in a Dublin bar. 0 0
• It makes one wonder how much of the speech is true and how much is false, based on Stalin's tendency toward revisionism of his revolutionary biography . 0 0
• Hence, the new image was done on the basis of Don Bosco's little biography of the boy Saint as well as eyewitness accounts gathered for the process of Canonisation . 0 0
• Greenblatt instead wants to write, and most consumers of literary biography want to read, a story extraordinary and uplifting. 0 0
• The first two installments of a projected seven-volume biography of one of the portlier Founding Fathers. Cover to Cover 0 0
• According to his biography , he wrote and recorded parts of this album while living in the studio for two months. 0 0
• Rowlandson intersperses her autobiography with numerous quotations from the Bible. 0 0
• It's been promoted as the biography that lays bare the truth behind the legend. 0 0
• But Wyler is barely more visible in his biography than in his films. 0 0
• For now Ricky is busy attending book signings around the country to promote his autobiography Ricky. 0 0
• In some ways, this biography should be applauded for its total absence of the prurient interest so common to most of its peers. 0 0
• As it cools, write another autobiography . The Sun 0 0
• Drummund, who was also a biographer for Billy Graham, wrote an excellent biography on Finney which deals with this. 0 0
• Her book is a mesh of biography and a wider history of the geisha. 0 0
• One might have thought such an unlikely colossus of Australian political history would have encouraged a few level-headed intellectuals and journalists to write a serious biography . 0 0
• His autobiography is set to become a massive hit - but it seems not even the England captain can topple Harry Potter from top spot. 0 0
• In deeply unpropitious times, the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography has refreshed and fortified our sense of what can still be meant by the collective endeavour of ‘scholarship’. 0 0
• ANDREW MORTON, AUTHOR, "DIANA: HER TRUE STORY": Well, I was writing a biography of Diana, and we had a mutual friend called James Coldhurst (ph). CNN Transcript Mar 10, 2004 0 0
• Further, Langdon deems the sculpture — which depicts St. Teresa of Avila in spiritual ecstasy, based on a description in her autobiography — as pornographic, as it supposedly depicts the saint “on her back in the throes of a toe-curling orgasm.” Ron Howard, Angry & Demeaning? 0 0
• While trying to help starving villagers, Yunus met a 21-year-old woman named Sufia Begum, who was burdened by a tiny yet crushing debt, Yunus recalled in his autobiography , "Banker to the Poor. 0 0
• I, Dreyfus takes the form of its eponymous hero's autobiography , penned while in prison. 0 0
• The thesis is divided into five parts as follows:"Introduction"presents a brief biography of Lyman Frank Baum and a brief introduction to The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. 0 0
• IT was supposed to be his grand comeback - a new album and autobiography out on consecutive days after months of hard work. The Sun 0 0

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• Education and Communications

How to Write a Conclusion for a Biography

Last Updated: March 30, 2023 Fact Checked

This article was co-authored by Alexander Peterman, MA . Alexander Peterman is a Private Tutor in Florida. He received his MA in Education from the University of Florida in 2017. There are 13 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 115,072 times.

Biographies offer readers a unique glimpse into the lives of others. Some biographies are supportive, while others are critical. Some observe a life through a political perspective, while others are told through the context of history and particular circumstances. However the story is told, the biography’s conclusion should offer the readers a sense of closure. If you describe the subject’s legacy, incorporate personal details, and support your main thesis, you can write a successful conclusion for a biography.

Reminding the Reader of the Subject’s Importance

• A conclusion in Jane Austen’s biography, for example, should mention that she wrote 6 novels, some of which are regarded among the memorable and influential works of English literature. [2] X Research source

• A biography about Martin Luther, the 16th-century monk who lead the Protestant Reformation, should mention his impact on the development of religious beliefs throughout Europe. Not only did he challenge the ruling Catholic Church, but he made the Bible more accessible to all individuals, not just the clergy. A conclusion should mention that his actions influenced religious beliefs during the Renaissance.

• A biography of Susan B. Anthony, for example, could mention that her actions and beliefs influenced generations of women and their continued fight for gender equality.
• A conclusion of the biography of Albert Einstein could mention that his theories and publications have influenced the development of quantum theory and generations of scientists who work toward unifying his theories of the universe. [4] X Research source
• A biography of author Upton Sinclair could mention that his novel The Jungle influenced the American public health system and helped create laws for regulating the food and drug industries. [5] X Research source
• For instance, a biography written by your grandmother may focus on how moving to a metropolitan area when she got married changed her perspective on women in the workforce.
• If you’re writing the biography about yourself , note the greatest life lessons you’ve learned or the biggest achievements you’ve had so far.

Including Personal Details

• Discuss how they loved visiting their grandmother, or mention that their favorite place was a quiet cabin in the mountains.

• The late Nelson Mandela led an influential, prominent, and successful life as a South African activist and former president. Although he earned many awards and honors, he admitted that he was not a very good student when he was trying to earn a law degree. [8] X Research source A reader may be able to better understand that Nelson Mandela had to work hard during his life.

• Weave their personal interests into the conclusion by acknowledging how those interests influenced their work or life decisions.

Bringing It All Together

• Briefly remind the audience of the key points that influenced your thesis. Perhaps your subject moved a lot as a child, and you believe the subject’s bestselling novels were influenced by this. Point out that the main character in the novel is often on the go, and that was the basis for your thesis.

• If you believed that the subject’s actions later in life were a result of their experiences during war, briefly reassert what major decisions you think were affected. Perhaps they participated in anti-war protests, founded an organization that promotes peace, and worked to uphold human rights. Make a note that their actions revolved around establishing peace.
• Remind the reader what makes the subject unique or special and what life events demonstrate these qualities.

• Instead of saying, "in conclusion," try to provide your reader with a subtle transition instead. Conclude by saying, "Because of the magic and popularity of her novels, I believe that J.K. Rowling will continue to influence young readers for generations to come."

• This is an exception to the rule of not adding new information to the conclusion, as quotes shouldn’t be repeated throughout the biography.

• Conclude with a sense of hope or continued progress. Allow your reader to imagine that this person’s life story will continue influence the lives of others. If your subject is still alive, for example, provide a hopeful ending by saying “Elizabeth continues to fight for the rights of those who have been repressed by being a vocal leader in the United States Senate.”

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• ↑ https://penandthepad.com/write-conclusion-biography-5840696.html
• ↑ http://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo-9780199846719/obo-9780199846719-0081.xml
• ↑ http://penandthepad.com/write-conclusion-biography-5840696.html
• ↑ http://www.infoplease.com/encyclopedia/people/einstein-albert-major-contributions-to-science.html
• ↑ https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/projects/cp/obituaries/archives/upton-sinclair-meat-industry
• ↑ https://grammar.yourdictionary.com/writing/how-to-write-a-biography.html
• ↑ https://www.nelsonmandela.org/content/page/biography
• ↑ http://writingcenter.unc.edu/handouts/conclusions/
• ↑ https://www.grammarly.com/blog/how-to-write-a-bio/
• ↑ http://writingcenter.gmu.edu/articles/7015
• ↑ https://www.uvm.edu/wid/writingcenter/tutortips/engssupport.html
• ↑ http://www.tameri.com/write/nonfiction/biography.html

About This Article

Writing the conclusion of your biography assignment is an opportunity to bring your points together and leave a lasting impression on your readers. Use your conclusion to summarize your subject’s achievements and the impact they had on the world. For example, if you're writing a paper about Jane Austen, you could mention her influence on modern literature and the lasting popularity of her novels. You can also revisit the opening scene or a key event from your biography to link your conclusion back to your introduction. If you find a good quote from your subject or one of their critics that highlights your thesis, include this in your conclusion. For more tips from our Educational co-author, including how to include examples to support your thesis, read on! Did this summary help you? Yes No

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Biography in a Sentence  🔊

Definition of Biography

a person’s life story as told by another person

Examples of Biography in a sentence

It took me years to shape the president’s life story into an engaging biography.  🔊

Since the actress never asked you to write about her rise to stardom, your book isn’t an authorized biography.  🔊

The popular author will recount the singer’s upbringing in a biography.  🔊

In order for the writer to pen my biography, he’ll need to ask me numerous questions about my life.  🔊

Using my grandmother’s diaries, I was able to mesh her stories into a biography.  🔊

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May 22, 2024

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Can disease-detecting dogs help save South Dakota's bighorn sheep?

by Addison Dehaven, South Dakota State University

In summer 2021, Badlands National Park was home to a healthy and growing population of Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep, with approximately 300 total among the three herds. Then in August, Paul Roghair, lead biological science technician for the park, came across a dead sheep. In September, he found a dead ram. Roghair had a sinking feeling about what might be afoot.

"I thought, 'Oh no, we might have a situation,'" Roghair said.

Early testing revealed a worst-case scenario: The sheep had contracted a deadly, pneumonia-causing bacteria—Mycoplasma ovipneumoniae—that nearly wiped out a herd located in Custer State Park in the early 2000s.

Pneumonia quickly spread throughout the rest of the three herds, and wildlife officials began to notice bighorns coughing regularly. Within three months, 50% of the radio-collared sheep were dead.

"We were finding sheep everywhere," Roghair, a 2006 South Dakota State University wildlife and fisheries sciences graduate, said. "We lost a lot of them."

Three years later, with nearly 85% of the population lost, about 50 bighorns remain in the park. While there is no vaccine or treatment for Mycoplasma ovipneumoniae, researchers in SDSU's Department of Natural Resource Management have joined a collaborative, National Park Service-funded project among the South Dakota Department of Game, Fish and Parks and the Oglala Sioux Parks and Recreation Authority to find solutions in slowing the current problem and preventing future outbreaks.

Tumultuous history in South Dakota

Prior to European settlement, Audubon's bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis auduboni) were common in the Badlands and Black Hills regions of South Dakota. But, by 1887, bighorns had all but been "cleared out" of the state and now, Audubon's are an extinct subspecies. Unregulated hunting and domestic livestock grazing are believed to be the primary culprits in their demise.

In 1922, Peter Norbeck, South Dakota's ninth governor and a three-term U.S. senator, obtained eight Rocky Mountain bighorns (Ovis canadensis canadensis) from Alberta, Canada, which were released into Custer State Park. This was the first of many translocation and repopulation efforts for bighorn sheep in South Dakota.

Their tumultuous history has been marked by periods of growth and die-offs. Take, for example, Norbeck's herd. It flourished in Custer State Park up until the 1950s, when the population suddenly went into a decline and, eventually, was completely lost due to "unknown reasons."

In 1964, Badlands National Park received its first translocation herd of bighorn sheep, when 22 bighorns were relocated from Pike's Peak, Colorado. The park received a second herd from Wheeler Peak, New Mexico, in 2004.

Other herds in the Black Hills have also seen periods of growth, followed by periods of decline and, in some cases, total population loss. Almost all these deaths can be chalked up to accidents (usually vehicular) or Mycoplasma ovipneumoniae outbreaks within herds.

In the United States, there are approximately 80,000 Bighorn sheep.

Current situation

So what happened in this latest die-off? How did the bighorns become infected?

According to William Severud, assistant professor in SDSU's Department of Natural Resource Management, it is suspected that a ram, or group of young rams, interacted with a domestic sheep unit north of the park.

"What happened was that some of the sheep left the park and comingled with domestic sheep," Severud said. "That's where they likely came in contact with the disease. They brought it back to the park and passed it around to the rest of the herd. A lot of them died outright."

Domestic sheep (and goats) are carriers of Mycoplasma ovipneumoniae and are seemingly unaffected by the bacterium. But for wild sheep, pneumonia is a death sentence, with mortality rates hovering between 50% and 80% for infected bighorns.

For bighorns that do survive an infection, the future is lonely. Outbreaks within a population subsequently cause low lamb recruitment, meaning herds have difficulty repopulating.

"The survivors of the pneumonia either clear the bacteria or they become chronic carriers of it," Severud explained. "The bacterium still lives in their nasal cavity . When the lambs are born in the spring, they have some immunity from their mother's milk, but after about six weeks, that goes away and basically all the lambs die. So, it not only eliminates 50% of the herd, it also suppresses reproduction for survival."

With no treatment available, one of the ways in which wildlife managers prevent further die-off is to test animals in the herd for the disease. If a positive test is revealed through a nasal swab, the animal will be retested twice more. Three straight positive tests mean the animal is a chronic carrier and is shedding the bacterium, causing other sheep to become infected.

"Removing animals that test positive is one of the only ways to combat this right now," Severud explained.

Training dogs

Since joining on the bighorn recovery project, Severud and his graduate research assistants have made multiple trips to the Badlands for testing and tagging bighorns. One of the current challenges with testing is the cost of capturing and restraining the animals, along with the lag time for getting test results.

Capturing bighorns is done through "helicopter net gunning," which utilizes highly trained pilots and wildlife biologists to capture and restrain the animals for testing. After swabbing the animals' nasal cavities, they ship the specimens to a testing facility in Washington State. Under ideal conditions, results will be available in two weeks.

This capture and testing process is the most efficient method to test and detect disease in bighorns; however, researchers are looking for a more efficient way to test and detect for disease.

Severud and one of his graduate assistants, Michele Lovara, are exploring if trained dogs could be the answer. Previously, dogs have been used to detect a variety of human diseases, including cancer, and the researchers believe they can be trained in a similar way to detect pneumonia in bighorns.

"There's a few different ways to test and detect pneumonia," Severud said. "We are interested in this dog method because that would preclude us from having to swab them and sending them the DNA off to the lab and waiting for results."

Lovara, a master's student at SDSU, is involved with the world's leading conservation dog organization, Working Dogs for Conservation. For the past few months, she has been training the dogs, primarily shelter dogs, to detect bacteria from the swab.

"We are looking at the nasal swabs, but we are also looking at scat because if we can look at scat, we don't have to do the captures at all," Lovara said. "We could do this completely non-invasively, and that would be ideal."

To test their idea, they first trained the dogs to detect bacteria through domestic sheep's scat. The dogs are making accurate detections at a 93% rate. For wild scats, they are making accurate detections at an 80% rate.

"In the lab, they are doing decently well at detection, and next year, we are hoping to test the dogs in the field," Lovara said. "This summer, we will test them in the field with the nasal swabs."

If the dogs can make accurate detections, it would allow wildlife officials to remove infected bighorns from the rest of the herd in a much more efficient and timely manner.

"The issue is some of the animals do get the disease and they are fine. We don't want to remove an animal that has the genetics to get over this disease," Lovara said. "The question becomes, which ones do you remove?"

While removing infected sheep from the herd is one way to combat outbreaks, how can they be prevented in the first place?

The best way to combat the disease is keeping livestock and wild sheep separate," Severud said.

Another collaborative project that one of Severud's graduate students is involved with is understanding the movements of individual bighorns and entire herds. Since a large majority of the sheep are collared, the researchers can track their movement in and outside the park.

Previously, an SDSU graduate student, Austin Wieseler, evaluated the population within Badlands National Park for his master's thesis. During field research in 2018, Wieseler identified five domestic goat and sheep populations within 10 miles of the park 's boundaries.

"As the population continues to have high survival and growth, disease exposure from contact with livestock appears to be the greatest risk to the population in the future," Wieseler prophetically wrote in spring 2021.

Wild animals are exceedingly difficult to contain and eventually, the sheep comingled with their domestic cousins. To prevent a similar situation in the future, Lovara suspects that dogs could be utilized to keep the groups separate.

"Can we use livestock guardian dogs to stop the disease from spreading?" Lovara said. "That's the preventative measure that we have also been working on."

The issue is that livestock guardian dogs will often only protect their sheep from predators, and according to domestic producers in the area, dogs currently don't see bighorns as predators and will let them commingle with the other sheep. However, anecdotal evidence has shown that if producers chase bighorns away from their herds, guardian dogs will mimic their owner's behavior.

"We think it could be a pretty easy training fix," Lovara said.

Future outlook

While the situation is bleak within Badlands National Park, according to Roghair, there is room for optimism. Fewer bighorns are testing positive, meaning the outbreak is starting to subside.

"We need to clear out the disease from the herds which will help with lamb recruitment," Roghair said. "Then we can get back to a growing and healthy population."

The Badlands are also ideal ground for bighorns as the population—prior to the outbreak—was healthy and thriving. Roghair believes they can again thrive once they get back to a disease-free population.

"We're not out of the woods yet," Roghair said. "But we are making steps in the right direction."

Provided by South Dakota State University

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