Making a Body Biography

Get Started You must create a visual representation of your chosen character. You will also be making claims about the character and supporting them with text evidence. You need to be able to make intelligent decisions about which quotes to use, what to draw, and where to draw it.

Start with Claims SPINE: What is your character’s most important or significant character trait. http://www.readwritethink.org/files/resources/lesson_images/lesson175/traits.pdf BRAIN: Think about your character’s values. What is his or her most significant belief? This needs to be some idea that he or she holds to be very important. SHOULDERS: What is the main conflict your character deals with? HEART: What does your character love, want, or desire the most. Write this inside or near the heart. Note: “Robert” is not Edna’s chief desire; her thought-process at the end of the book proves this.

Evidence You MUST Use direct quotations from the story to prove your claims. Find strong passages from the text to prove what you said about your character. For each key element (the spine, brain, shoulders, and heart), you must back up your claim with 2 pieces of text evidence.

Writing Once you have chosen your quotes, write a body paragraph for each segment (spine, head, shoulders, and heart). Start with a claim, followed it with your first piece of evidence, then explain how the evidence proves the claim. Then transition to the next piece of evidence, and explain how that proves the claim. Cite your text evidence correctly. Use quotation marks and parentheticals within the paragraph, and don’t forget to put a Work Cited page on the back of your poster.

Creativity Where and how you incorporate your information on the poster is up to you. Try not to make your poster super huge. It shouldn’t need to be any larger than the size of a school desktop. The only real “rule” is that your name and period need to be on the back, and so does a Work Cited page.