unit 7

Text Biography and Autobiography

Analysis We are all curious about other people—about what they do, why they do it, and
Workshop how they feel. The purpose of biographies and autobiographies is to satisfy our
curiosity, to inform us about the effect people have on the world, and even to
entertain us.

Part 1: Understanding the Basics

Included in this workshop: A biography is a story of a person’s life told by someone else and written
RL 9 Compare and contrast a
fictional portrayal of a time, place, from the third-person point of view. The writer, or biographer, usually gets
or character and a historical information about the subject by doing detailed research using a number of
account of the same period as
a means of understanding how sources. Sometimes, the biographer might even interview the subject directly.
authors of fiction use or alter
history. RI 1 Cite textual evidence An autobiography is also the story of a person’s life, but it is told by
to support analysis of what the
text says explicitly. RI 3 Analyze that person and is written from the first-person point of view. Although
the interactions between most of the information is from the subject’s mind and memories, he or she
individuals, events, and ideas in
a text. may still consult others for help in remembering details about his or her life.
Usually, when people talk about biographies or autobiographies, they
are referring to whole books about people’s lives. However, biographical
and autobiographical writing also includes other forms, such as a diary or
journal. These are daily records of a writer’s thoughts, experiences, or feelings.
Additional forms are shown in the chart.

biography autobiography

Writer Subject Writer Subject

is not is

 
sources sources
• letters to and from the subject • memories
• interviews with the subject • thoughts and feelings
and/or others • family, friends, or associates
• books about the subject • memorabilia
• diaries or journals

forms forms
• biographical books • autobiographical books
• encyclopedia entries • diaries and journals
• feature articles in newspapers • personal essays
and magazines or on Web sites • memoirs

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 model 1: biography
 This excerpt is from a biography about Wilbur and Orville Wright, two
brothers who invented and flew the first machine-powered airplane.

from
the wright brothers
Biography by Russell Freedman

Orville was more impulsive, “bubbling over with ideas,” according Close Read
to his niece. Among family and friends, he had a reputation as a tease 1. What clues tell
and a practical joker. Among strangers, however, he seemed uncomfortably you that this is a
shy. He would clam up and fade silently into the background. biography rather than
an autobiography?
5 Orville’s greatest pleasure was to take something apart, see how
it worked, and put it back together. Wilbur was more of a visionary, 2. How were Wilbur and
Orville different? Cite
fascinated by the big picture rather than its individual parts. He was
details to support your
the one who first dreamed of building an airplane. . . . answer. Also note who
provided the author
with some of these
details.
model 2: autobiography
 Now read this excerpt from the autobiography of a Japanese-American
author. What do you learn about her thoughts and feelings?

from

the invisible thread Autobiography by Yoshiko Uchida

I was born in California, recited the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag Close Read
each morning at school, and loved my country as much as any other 1. What clues in the
American—maybe even more. boxed sentences
Still, there was a large part of me that was Japanese simply because signal that this is an
5 Mama and Papa had passed on to me so much of their own Japanese autobiography?
spirit and soul. Their own values of loyalty, honor, self-discipline, love, 2. Name two things
you learn about Uchida
and respect for one’s parents, teachers, and superiors were all very much
from her description
a part of me. of her own thoughts
There was also my name, which teachers couldn’t seem to pronounce and feelings.
10 properly even when I shortened my first name to Yoshi. And there was my
Japanese face, which closed more and more doors to me as I grew older.
How wonderful it would be, I used to think, if I had blond hair and
blue eyes like Marian and Solveig.

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 Part 2: Reading Biographies and Autobiographies
From which book would you learn more—a biography or an autobiography?
You might think that an autobiography is the better source. After all, who
knows more about a person’s experiences than that person? But each form
has strengths and limitations. Here is how you can distinguish one form
from the other.

biography autobiography
When you read a When you read an
biography, you . . . autobiography, you . . .
• get information from a variety of • get the subject’s interpretation of
sources events, written from a subjective
• discover how other people view the point of view
subject • learn the subject’s private thoughts and
• might get a more objective picture of feelings
the subject’s life • hear the subject’s voice and get a sense
of his or her personality
Eleanor Roosevelt The Noble Experiment
by William Jay Jacobs by Jackie Robinson as
pages 786–797 told to Alfred Duckett
pages 834–843

Part 3: Reading Fictional Adaptations

Remarkable people, particularly historical figures, inspire all kinds of
stories. Some are true but some are a blend of fact and fiction. Fictional
adaptations are stories and plays about real people and events and may
be based on biographies, autobiographies, and diaries. Writers of fictional
adaptations combine factual details with imaginary ones, usually to create
a compelling story. You can distinguish between fictional adaptations and
autobiographical forms by understanding a few basic differences.

autobiographies and diaries fictional adaptations

• written by the actual person • written by a writer or playwright
• writer’s primary purpose is to inform • writer’s purpose is to inform
and entertain
• writer presents fairly accurate details • writer may include imaginary
but with own point of view characters and events to boost
dramatic effects

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 Text Analysis Workshop

model 1: reading a biography

The actor Christopher Reeve was famous for his 1978 movie role as
Superman. This article was published in 1982.

from

Feature article in Current Biography

Another outstanding quality is that he [Reeve] brings the same Close Read
energy and enthusiasm to his recreations that he does to acting: he owns 1. Look at the boxed
both a $350,000 private plane and a glider; he is an accomplished sailor details. How would
who, upon completing Superman, gathered a six-man crew and sailed you describe the author’s
attitude toward Reeve?
5 a boat from Connecticut to Bermuda; and he has played classical piano
since adolescence, usually practicing ninety minutes every day, and also 2. What source does the
author use for quotes
composes music. His hobbies, moreover, include skiing, ice-skating, and by and about Reeve?
playing tennis. But nothing takes precedence over his work, as Aljean
3. Based on this article,
Harmetz told readers of the New York Times (August 20, 1979), “He how would you
10 thrives on acting. . . .” According to her, Reeve admitted: “. . . describe Reeve?
[I am] still at the stage where I’m taking care of myself, my career, first.”

model 2: reading an autobiography

In 1995, a fall from a horse left Reeve paralyzed from the neck
down, and he died in 2004. In this essay, Reeve reminds people not to
let fear take over their lives. Reeve conquered his own fears when he
participated in research for spinal cord injuries.

from

living WITHOUT fear Close Read

1. Describe Reeve’s
Personal essay by Christopher Reeve personality at this
point in his life. In your
Of course, the greater difficulty lies in being fearless in surrendering opinion, has his attitude
and in giving. I don’t want to sound too noble, but I really have been toward life changed
able to say, All right, I’ve had some setbacks, but look at the other people or stayed the same?
who have benefited. 2. What picture do you
5 I recommend you do the same thing because being fearless is not always get of Reeve’s life
as a whole? Explain
going to get you exactly where you expect to go. It might take you in how this picture
a completely different direction. It might not give you what you want, would be different
but it can satisfy you to know you did something for the world, for the if you had only read
planet, or even just for your family or your neighbors. And that’s enough. one of these excerpts.

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 Part 4: Analyze the Text
In 1955, a 42-year-old African-American woman in Montgomery, Alabama,
refused to give up her seat on a public bus. Her action sparked a citywide
bus boycott and helped break down the barriers of racial segregation in
the South. Her name was Rosa Parks.
The first excerpt is from a biography of Parks; the second is from her
autobiography. What do you learn about Parks from each excerpt?

from

Rosa Parks Biography by Mary Hull

The driver [J. F. Blake] repeated his order: “Look, woman, I told you Close Read
I wanted the seat. Are you going to stand up?” 1. How can you tell that
In a firm, steady voice, Parks questioned him. “Why should I have this excerpt is from a
to get up and stand? Why should we have to be pushed around?” biography? Cite details
to support your answer.
5 The driver slammed on the brakes and pulled the bus over to the curb.
He walked back to her seat and stood over her. He asked her if she
was going to move, and Parks said, “No.” He told her he would call 2. Consider how the
the police if she did not move. “Go ahead. You may do that,” Parks author describes Parks’s
answered. Blake left the bus angrily and went for the police. Several words and actions in
10 passengers—all of them black—followed, reluctant to become involved lines 3–13. How does
in an incident that invited trouble with whites. While everyone else the author seem to feel
aboard the bus waited to see what would happen next, Parks looked about Parks?
out the window at Montgomery.
Parks had a right to be scared, for she recognized the driver. Twelve
3. What do you learn
15 years earlier, she had refused to enter a bus through the rear door and
about Parks’s upbringing
had been evicted from the bus by this same driver. Although Parks had from this biography?
seen him before while waiting at bus stops, she never boarded a bus
if she knew he was driving. In all these years she had never forgotten his
face. That evening, Parks had not looked at the driver when she boarded, 4. One of the sources
20 but when he stood over her, there was no mistaking who he was. for this biography
Parks’s mother and grandparents had always taught her not to regard was Rosa Parks’s own
herself as inferior to whites because she was black, but she admitted that autobiography.
until that fateful December day on the bus “every part of my life pointed As a result, the author
was able to include
to the white superiority and negro inferiority.” She was uncertain about details about Parks’s
25 what exactly had provoked her not to move on the bus driver’s order, thoughts and feelings.
but her feet certainly hurt, her shoulders ached, and suddenly everything One example is boxed.
became too much. “I had had enough,” Parks later said. She was tired Find one more.
of giving in. “I wanted to be treated like a human being.”

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 Text Analysis Workshop

Now read this excerpt from the beginning of Parks’s autobiography.

Pay attenti0n to how Parks describes the incident on the bus. Also
notice what she reveals about her thoughts and feelings at that time
in her life.

from

Rosa Parks:
My Story
Autobiography by Rosa Parks
(with Jim Haskins)

One evening in early December 1955 I was sitting in the front seat Close Read
of the colored section of a bus in Montgomery, Alabama. The white people 1. Reread the boxed
were sitting in the white section. More white people got on, and they filled sentences. Would
up all the seats in the white section. When that happened, we black people you say that this
autobiography was
5 were supposed to give up our seats to the whites. But I didn’t move.
written in the 1950s,
The white driver said, “Let me have those front seats.” I didn’t get up. or later? Explain.
I was tired of giving in to white people.
“I’m going to have you arrested,” the driver said.
“You may do that,” I answered. 2. How can you tell that
10 Two white policemen came. I asked one of them, “Why do you all the author of the
push us around?” biography used Parks’s
He answered, “I don’t know, but the law is the law and you’re under arrest.” autobiography as a
source? Cite similar
details in both excerpts
For half of my life there were laws and customs in the South that
to support your answer.
kept African Americans segregated from Caucasians and allowed white
15 people to treat black people without any respect. I never thought this
was fair, and from the time I was a child, I tried to protest against
3. By revealing her
disrespectful treatment. But it was very hard to do anything about thoughts and beliefs
segregation and racism when white people had the power of the law in lines 13–25, Parks gives
behind them. readers a real sense of
20 Somehow we had to change the laws. And we had to get enough her personality. How
white people on our side to be able to succeed. I had no idea when would you describe her?
In your opinion,
I refused to give up my seat on that Montgomery bus that my small
do you get this same
action would help put an end to the segregation laws in the South. sense from reading
I only knew that I was tired of being pushed around. I was a regular the biography about her?
25 person, just as good as anybody else. Support your answer.

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