Tompkins Ch.7 Biographical Writing

According to Tompkins (2008, p.144), "Children use biographical writing to chronicle event in their own and other people's lives, to reflect on experience, and to draw generalizations about life." Personal narratives, autobiographies, and biographies are included in this writing. Expecially, personal narratives seem like keeping a diary. Also, if children add a picture to it, it can be a picture writing. It appears that most of writing types are related to one another partly. However, not like personal narratives, biography has heavier meaning. Mary (2010) says "Writing a biography is much more than recording facts. Good biographies make people live, highlight their accomplishments, and present the puzzles of their life".

Sunmi Kim indicates that writing biographies of others offers insightful opportunities as well in that they can examine a person’s life- living or dead, accomplished or nominal- from historical, psychological, or sociological perspective. As I cited above, biographies let people live, stress their achievements, and show their lives. As for auto biographies, Tompkins (2008) suggests a variety of writing method such as "All about me" books, life boxes, bio bags, "Me" quilts, and chapter books. They would be very useful writing teaching methods to anyone who has no idea about how to instruct biographical writing.

Tompkins, G. E. (2008). Teaching Writing: Balancing Process and Product. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.

Mary, M. (2010). Tips on writing a biography: Here is a process for deciding on a subject and giving your manuscript interest and shape. Writer, 123, 23–24.