Biographical Research Paper ©2004www.beaconlearningcenter.com Rev.1/ 04
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BIOGRAPHICAL RESEARCH REPORT
A biography is a true story of a person’s life written by another person. Good biographers research
subjects extensively in order to present information accurately. The writer, or biographer, interviews the
subject if possible and researches the person’s life. Biographers often focus on remarkable or admirable
aspects of their subjects. Although biographers often present their subject in a favorable way, they also
strive for a balance between fact and interpretation. Usually, biographers also must decide which facts
and which parts of a subject’s life to include.
An autobiography is an account of a person’s life written by that person and usually told in the first
person point of view using the pronoun I. In an autobiography, the writer details significant events and
people in his or her life.
An autobiography is usually book length because it covers a long span of time. A shorter form of auto-
biographical writing is a personal narrative, in which the writer focuses on a significant experience in
his or her life. Other short forms of autobiographical writing include journals, diaries, and letters.
This biographical research can take various forms and can encompass a variety of learning experi-
ences. After choosing a subject to research, get an overview of your subject by reading general articles
in reference books, such as encyclopedias, biographical dictionaries, newspaper articles, magazine articles,
films, videos, television programs, autobiographies, and biographies. A new approach to research is to
search the Internet for information.
After getting a general overview of your subject, you should develop a purpose statement, which is
simply one or two sentences that states what you plan to accomplish in your paper. Write your
purpose statement on a note card. This purpose statement will not actually appear in your final paper, but
you may reword it as part of your introduction. Here is an example of a purpose statement for a biographi-
cal research paper:
SAMPLE PURPOSE STATEMENT
(I plan to tell about the life of Eva Duarte Peron and her political contributions to
Argentina as the wife of President Juan Domingo Peron. I will tell how she helped
Peron rise to power and became one of the most famous women of her day. )
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The next step is to develop a preliminary outline to help guide your research. A preliminary outline