Biographical essay
1. You will prepare a five-part (1000-word minimum) biographical essay on a fictional character who turned 18
years old in 1760 and lived until 1805 or who turned 18 years old in 1820 and lived until 1865. (Instructors may
choose or allow you to select another relevant era)
2. You may choose your character’s place of birth within colonial North America or the United States (or
perhaps as a young immigrant to North America), gender, ethnicity, race, religion, class, occupation, and
overall personality traits.
3. Your character may not die prematurely.
4. Your character cannot alter the course of history in any fundamental way.
5. Your assignment will consist of the following parts:
a. Part I (100 words minimum): Utilizing your course readings and materials, introduce your character in two or
three paragraphs. Provide historically- accurate and meaningful details regarding your character’s name, date
and place of birth, current place of residence, race, ethnicity, sex, gender, class, and other relevant personal
detail and information. In addition, create an avatar of your character and explain why you chose the
characteristics depicted. (COM)
b. Part II (250 words minimum): Identify one major historically relevant ethical dilemma or moral choice that
your character faced in the time-period your character is living through. Explain how the ethical issue relates to
historical events and how they impact your character, his or her everyday experiences, and your character’s
world and ethical view(s). (SLO1; CT; COM)
c. Part III (250 words minimum): Analyze one primary source document relevant to the ethical dilemma your
character is struggling with. Examine the historical and ethical issues raised within the primary-source
document and explain how the ideas or issues raised within the primary-source document would have
reinforced or challenged your character’s world view, ethical values, and/or historical perspective. (SLO2; CT;
COM)
d. Part IV (200 words minimum): Explain how your character has decided to respond to the ethical dilemma at
hand and why he or she responded in the way you identified. Elucidate how your character’s cultural
background and historical setting (i.e. the historical, social, political, economic, cultural and global forces), and
the broader conceptions of ethical behavior embedded within, shaped your character’s response. Consider at
least one of the following: (1) your character’s conception(s) of civic responsibility; (2) your character’s
understanding of importance and role of the democratic process; (3) your character’s respect for social justice,
fairness, and difference; (4) your character’s experiences with prejudice, racial or gender discrimination, and/or
economic and social marginalization. (SLO3; SR; COM)
e. Part V (200 words minimum): Last, elucidate on how your character’s understanding of self and his or her
related personal values influenced their response to the ethical dilemma faced and/or was altered by the
historical events of the era he or she experienced. (PR; COM)
Sample Solution
People write (auto)biographies because they have stories to tell. This doesn’t mean that the events contained within a life naturally fall into a narrative form. Biographies are storied by running a thread through events in order to connect them. This writing style is similar but rarely the same as you’ll find in a work of ficiton. Fictional characters are more often an amalgam (or a generalisation) of personality traits, which are explored through a narrative. Novels are about awakenings and changing awareness, and yes this can be injected into biographies – the protagonist of a biography sat watching the sunrise having escaped over the border to Mexico.
