Biography essays are one of the most popular essay types assigned to students from all grades. The aim of biography essays is to familiarize the reader with a particular well-known person.
This person can be a politician, a writer, a painter, or a philosopher… The list goes on. So, if you want to learn how to write a great and coherent academic essay, keep reading.
The essential steps of a biography essay
- When the readers finish reading your essay, they should become familiar with to the famous person you wrote about.
- Your biography essay should include information on personal life. Also, if necessary, there should be an evaluation of those personal details.
- The information in the essay should be based on concrete facts. So, use credible sources only.
- Your tone should be factual, academic, and objective, while your narrative should be in the third person, not in first-person.
Step 1: Choose the subject of your essay
The person you will be writing about should have made significant contributions to their respective field. They should also be well-known since you will need resources to find information about them.
- He is an influential person in his field.
- He has many works that we can refer to in our essay.
- There are many reliable sources where we can find information about him.
Step 2: Do your research
Credibility of your source
First, you have to eliminate unreliable sources. You can evaluate the credibility by asking yourself the following questions:- Does this source have any authors and/or editors listed?
- Does this source cite or link to trustworthy sources?
- Is this source prepared professionally?
If your source checks all the boxes, they are most likely reliable sources. However, if it doesn’t have any authors, has no citation, or is poorly written, consider it risky.
Information included in the essay
You should avoid including unnecessary details. Coherence is crucial for academic writing, including biography essays. Ask the questions below to filter information.- Is this information useful in the context of my essay?
- Is this development remarkable in my subject’s life story?
Example use of events in a biography essay
Now, we will be choosing information from Albert Camus’ life story to include in our biography essay.
- Albert Camus was born on 7 November 1913 in French Algeria. (We choose to include this information because it is reasonable to start with this line for a biography essay.)
- He published his essay The Myth of Sisyphus in the year 1942. (This information is essential because this essay explains his notion of “the absurd,” a philosophy he is widely known for.)
- He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1957. (This event is a significant acknowledgment of his works; therefore, it should be included.)
- He died on 4 January 1960 in France. (A reasonable ending point for a biography essay.)
Step 3: Prepare an outline
Preparing an outline is essential for biography essays just like any other essay. You can follow your typical outline preparing process in this step because biography essays also adhere to the traditional essay structure.
Important
The structure below is widely known as the standard five-paragraph format, consisting of an introduction, three body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Preparing an outline will help you put your thoughts in line.
Step 4: Write an introduction
The introduction paragraph is crucial because it is the section that needs to grab the reader’s attention. There are some methods you can use to make your introduction more interesting:
- Start your paragraph with a quote from your subject, especially one that reveals their personality.
- Start with an intriguing story or an interesting anecdote about your subject.
- Start by informing the reader about a significant accomplishment of your subject.
Biography essay introduction example
“You will never be happy if you continue to search for what happiness consists of. You will never live if you are looking for the meaning of life.” This is a quote by French-Algerian philosopher, writer, and journalist Albert Camus. Camus was born in French Algeria on 7 November 1913. Opening: Intriguing quote that grabs the reader’s attention and summarizes Camus’ philosophy He is one of the most prominent writers of absurdist philosophical thought. Subject: A sentence which explains the subject’s contribution to their field. Through his works, Camus contributed to the rise of the absurdist philosophy, which was essentially a response to nihilism. Stance: Further explanation of the subject’s stance on the field He wrote works that conveyed an abiding faith in the human race’s displaced but still righteous situation. Thesis statement: You highlight your stand and main focus of the essay.
Step 5: Write the body paragraphs
This is the section where the results of your research come in. Like other types of essays, body paragraphs are the central part of your biography essay (see biography essay example).
Biography essay body paragraph example
During his literary career, Camus published his works in three cycles. In each cycle, he published a novel, an essay, and a play. The first cycle of his works was on “the absurd,” and they were published from 1942 to 1944. Topic sentence: Further exploration of the claim presented in the introduction. This cycle’s works were some of his most significant works: The Stranger as the novel, The Myth of Sisyphus as the essay, and Caligula as the play. Camus also explored the concepts “the revolt” and “the love” through the cycle structure. Subject’s accomplishments: Reveal of the subject’s extensive work on the field Through his major works, Camus earned the Nobel Prize for Literature, and he then published his work named Algerian Chronicles. This work revealed his pacifist tendencies. Personal information: Brief introduction into the subject’s personal reflections. After Camus’ death, two more works of his were released. One is his novel titled A Happy Death and an unfinished autobiographical novel named The First Man. Some of the significant themes Camus explores through his literary career are alienation, rebellion, and guilt. Closing sentence: Information on the subject’s identity.
Step 6: Write a conclusion
In your conclusion paragraph, what you need to do is to bring in your final thoughts. Do not make the mistake (see common mistakes) of merely repeating the claims you made throughout the essay.
- What was my subject’s contribution to the ideas/events that are relevant today?
- Are they still remembered? How do people honor their work?
- Out of the people that are significant today, who did my subject influence?
Biography essay conclusion example
Camus died on 4 January 1960, when he was only 46 years old. He died in a car crash, and many scholars point out the “absurdity” of his death. Restatement: Connection with the subject’s main works Since Camus himself had previously stated that the most absurd way of dying he could think of would be a car accident, people regard his death as ironic. Today, Albert Camus is still considered to be one of the most significant thinkers of Western philosophy. Importance of the person: The subject’s relevancy today He is acknowledged as one of the most critical contributors of the absurdist philosophy. He is referred to as one of the best literary writers of his genre and one of the best thinkers of his age. Closing statement: Concluding sentences by highlighting the subject’s influence
Frequently Asked Questions
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