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Body Biography
Purpose: This is a creative way to analyze a character in the literature you’re reading.
Instructions: For your chosen character, create a body biography-a visual and written portrait illustrating several aspects of the character’s life within the story.
You have many possibilities for filling up your sheet of paper. The choices you make should be based on the text. You will be verbally explaining (in your discussion group) the choices you made while you show your classmates your finished product. Make sure your choices are creative, show that you’ve been thinking and are accurate.
Here are some hints as to what your classmates should see/feel as a result of your sharing…
- Review important events, choices and changes involving your character
- Communicate the full essence (heart) of your character emphasizing the traits that make her/him who s/he is
- Get your classmates talking about your character
Body Biography Requirements
Although it should contain other things (remember to be creative), your body biography should include…
- A review of important events in the story
- Visual symbols
- Original text
- At least 3 quotes that clearly represent your character (AP courses are required to have a minimum of 5 quotes)
Body Biography Suggestions
- Placement: Carefully choose the placement of your text and artwork. For example, the area where your character’s heart would be might be appropriate for illustrating the important relationships within your character’s life.
- Spine: What is your character’s objective (what does s/he want to accomplish) in the story? What is her/his goal? What drives her/him? Are there interesting ways to illustrate this?
- Virtues and Vices: What is your character’s most admirable quality? Her/his worst? How can you make us visualize them?
- Color: Colors are often symbolic. What color(s) do you most associate with your character? Why? How can you work these colors into your illustration?
- Symbols: What objects can you associate with your character that illustrate her/his essence (heart)? Are there objects within the story you could use? If not, choose some that you think relate to your character.
- Acrostic poem: This is a fast, but effective way to produce text that will reveal a lot about a character.
- Mirror/Mirror: How does your character appear to others in the story vs. what you know about the character’s inner self. Do these images clash or go together?
- Changes: How has your character changed over the course of the story? Trace these changes (steps) within your text and/or artwork.