Writing Workshop Analyzing Nonfiction

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Writing WorkshopAnalyzing Nonfiction
Feature Menu
Assignment Prewriting Choose a
Biography Analyze Character, Events, and
Setting Write and Support a Thesis
Statement Organize Your Analysis Practice and
Apply
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Analyzing Nonfiction
Assignment Write an analytical essay in which
you examine how the parts of a biography fit
together to support the writers thesis.
Every life has a story to tell, whether its the
life of a celebrity, a real-life hero, or a
famous person in history. Thats why
biographiesnonfiction narratives about peoples
livesare so popular. In this workshop you will
analyze a biography about a person whose life you
find interesting.
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Analyzing NonfictionPrewriting Choose a
Biography
Whose life story do you think you would like to
read? Consider

• famous people in history

kings, queens, generals, doctors, scientists,
artists, writers, inventors, explorers

• people who have made an impact in recent decades

world leaders, humanitarians, activists,
innovators, naturalists, architects, athletes
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Analyzing NonfictionPrewriting Choose a
Biography
For ideas about interesting people to investigate

• scan history books for colorful personalities

• flip through current magazines or newspapers to
  find noteworthy people

• search the Internet for stories about prominent
  people in fields that interest you

Then, check to see whether there are biographies
in print about any of those people.
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Analyzing NonfictionPrewriting Analyze
Character, Events, and Setting
The elements of biography give readers a greater
understanding of their subjects and reveal the
biographers point of view about the subject.

• Characterthe subjects personality, thoughts,
  feelings, and actions

• Eventsreal-life incidents that involved the
  subject

• Settingtime and place in which the events of the
  subjects life took place

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Analyzing NonfictionPrewriting Analyze
Character, Events, and Setting
Record details about character, events, and
setting in an analysis log.
Elements of Biography Biographers Conclusions
Character
Events
Setting
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Analyzing NonfictionPrewriting Analyze
Character, Events, and Setting
Character Take notes about what the person did,
thought, felt, and said and about what others
said about him or her.
Elements of Biography
Character As a child, Dickinson conformed to social norms and took part in games with the other children. (p. 43) She learned to cook and sew. As an adult, she dressed all in white and rarely left her home.
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Analyzing NonfictionPrewriting Analyze
Character, Events, and Setting
Events List four to six of the most important
events in the persons life.
Elements of Biography
Events Many speculate Dickinson experienced an unrequited love when she was about twenty-four years old. During a trip to Washington, D.C., and Philadelphia, she met Charles Wadsworth, who became her muse. Charles Wadsworth moved to San Francisco. Emily Dickinson sent some of her poems to Thomas Wentworth Higgins, an editor of The Atlantic Monthly.
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Analyzing NonfictionPrewriting Analyze
Character, Events, and Setting
Setting Write down any details that relate to the
time and place the person lived.
Elements of Biography
Setting Emily Dickinson was born to a well-to-do New England family. She attended boarding school as a young girl. Life in the town was pleasant, with outings, holiday gatherings, and neighborly harmony.
Taking Notes
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Analyzing NonfictionPrewriting Analyze
Character, Events, and Setting
Drawing Conclusions Look for the biographers
conclusions about how the elements affected the
subjects life.
Elements of Biography Biographers Conclusions
Character As a child, Dickinson conformed to social norms and took part in games with the other children. (p. 43) As an adult, she dressed all in white and rarely left her home. The young Emily Dickinson was a normal child. Something must have happened that made her suddenly withdraw from society.
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Analyzing NonfictionPrewriting Analyze
Character, Events, and Setting
Drawing Conclusions
Elements of Biography Biographers Conclusions
Events Many speculate Dickinson experienced an unrequited love when she was about twenty-four years old. During a trip to Washington, D.C., and Philadelphia, she met Charles Wadsworth, who became her muse. Dickinsons painful romantic experiences caused her to withdraw into herself. (p. 133) She used her poetry to express herself and stay in contact with the outside world.
Making Inferences
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Analyzing NonfictionPrewriting Analyze
Character, Events, and Setting
Drawing Conclusions
Elements of Biography Biographers Conclusions
Setting Emily Dickinson was born to a well-to-do New England family. Life in the town was pleasant, with outings, holiday gatherings, and neighborly harmony. Dickinson lived comfortably and had time to focus on her poetry.
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Analyzing NonfictionPrewriting Write and
Support a Thesis Statement

• Take a close look at your analysis log. Ask
  yourself, What is the biographers point of view
  on this person?

• Write a thesis statement, one or two sentences
  in which you identify the biographers main idea
  about the subject.

Emily Dickinsons biographer asserts that
intensely felt events in Emily Dickinsons life
caused her to withdraw from society and cultivate
her poetic genius.
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Analyzing NonfictionPrewriting Write and
Support a Thesis Statement
Support your thesis statement with evidence and
elaboration.
Evidence Look over your analysis log. Select the
details (quotations, summaries, and paraphrases)
that best support your thesis. For each quotation
you use, be sure to include a parenthetical
citation.
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Analyzing NonfictionPrewriting Write and
Support a Thesis Statement
Support your thesis statement with evidence and
elaboration.
Elaboration Help your readers understand your
analysis. Make the connections for them by
explaining how the evidence supports your thesis
statement.
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Analyzing NonfictionPrewriting Organize Your
Analysis
Organize your analysis in order of importance.

1. Decide which element gives the strongest evidence
   to support your thesis statement.

1. Think about whether to discuss that element first
   or last.

1. Arrange your other ideas in order of importance
   to either lead up to or follow this key piece of
   evidence.

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Analyzing NonfictionPrewriting Organize Your
Analysis
Organize your analysis in order of importance.
OR
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Analyzing NonfictionPrewriting Practice and
Apply
Using the information in this presentation,
choose and analyze a biography. Gather details
for each of the elements of biography then,
write a thesis statement. Support your thesis
statement with evidence and elaboration.
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The End
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Analyzing NonfictionPrewriting Analyze
Character, Events, and Setting
Taking Notes Use these methods to complete your
analysis log

• QuoteWrite down the writers exact words in
  quotation marks (record the page number of the
  quotation).

• ParaphraseUse your own words to restate an idea
  presented by the writer.

• SummarizeWrite a summary of the writers most
  important ideas using your own words.

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Analyzing NonfictionPrewriting Analyze
Character, Events, and Setting
Making Inferences If a biographer doesnt state
conclusions directly, try to infer, or make an
educated guess, about the significance of the
elements.
Writers Words
Inferred Conclusion
The biographer seems to be saying that
Dickinsons secluded life allowed her the freedom
and time to create great poetry.
Secluded in her family home, Emily Dickinson did
household tasks and wrote poetrypoetry that
would one day be recognized as some of the
greatest ever created.
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Analyzing NonfictionPrewriting Analyze
Character, Events, and Setting
If its not possible to analyze the entire
biography in great detail, focus on

• one stage of the subjects life early, middle,
  or end

• the stage that had the most influence on the
  subjects achievements or character

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Analyzing NonfictionPrewriting Write and
Support a Thesis Statement
Parenthetical Citations Whenever you include the
writers exact words, provide a parenthetical
citationthe page number in parenthesesto tell
where the quotation can be found in the biography.
Wadsworth quickly became Dickinsons muse,
someone who could inspire her, someone she could
love passionately in her imagination (66).