Entry 10: I Had to Know What Elyse was Thinking...

Biographies - Blah! or I Had to Know What Elyse was Thinking.

These were the two options for the title of my post this week. Both we're fitting. Alas, I could only use one, so I wanted to make sure everyone knew about the other title I considered. And that this second title would have set the stage right a way as to what my original thoughts were on the biographical genre. Biographies are disdainful. Which is silly now that I reflect on it. I should owe a whole heap of thanks to the biographical genre because this genre values my thoughts, what I think and what I feel... which I clearly love to share in this blog! 

As I perused the posts of my fellow bloggers in the quest to "bless, address or press" I kept coming back to Elyse's 9th post. Her entry "The Power of Biographical Writing" struck something inside of me. My first blessing is to Elyse's easy-going but definite voice in her blog...  I could hear her message loud and clear: "People... do not overlook biographies and autobiographies!" Although I tried to ignore her (while I like the more abstract autobiography pieces like Life Boxes and Bio Bags, I wanted nothing to do with biographical books) Elyse's strong voice combined with her personal narrative and use of pictures kept drawing me back. Not only did I find her blog pleasing and interesting to look at, it was informative. See, I had one burning question that I had to have answered: Why would anyone want to willingly learn  more about the biographical genre. I had to know what Elyse was thinking.

Biographical writing has never held much interest to me. I'm not really sure why - part of it might be that I was only given "boring" biographies as a small child. I do know however that, like most children, my thoughts and experiences were marginalized as I got older, leaving me with the distinct impression that no one (besides my mom who does by the way read this blog on a weekly bases) would be interested in reading about what I think, therefore writing any type of personal narrative was out of the question. "Get rid of the 'I think's Alyse, no one cares what you think" -an actual quote from numerous teachers! Don't get me wrong, I know that you can't have a paper filled with "I think this", but what an interesting message to send to a developing writer...

Thus, my experiences over time with the genre allowed me to to develop my own personal definition for "biography" which is: A biography is a small book with no book cover, just dull book flaps which are usually a brownish-red color. The front cover is home to the "interesting person's name", in a not so interesting font with no pictures. It smells musty. The pages are stained dingy (the color of a four year old use-to-be-white-but-not-quite-so-now Hanes T-shirt). It is located in the back of the library, with the rest of the boring books. The biography fits in here nicely, because its a dull book, written about a person that might/should be important, but who's life is described in a matter-of-fact way. The voice of the text could only be described as voiceless. One does not get excited, laugh, cry or is in anyway entertained when reading a biography.  Biography = dull. 

Now you know why I read Elyse's blog over and over again. How could she have such revere for this type of genre. I had to find out why! It was Elyse's second paragraph that answered my question. As she described how most folks think "boring" when they hear the word "Biography", I thought to myself: Hey! She's talking about me (except for in my mind I actually sing BOOOOORRR-rrrinnnng).  Elyse goes on to say: "Biographies and autobiographies are intriguing, compelling, and sometimes ridiculously funny... I even laugh to myself-- sort of  in a way that would potentially call my sanity into question-- when I think of something funny each of these authors have written. What a shame that people might be missing out!". 

I appreciated that Elyse took the time to explain why she chose the biographical genre and what biographical texts she held near and dear. Which ironically may be exactly why I might actually enjoy the genre. While I love reading stories, that's all they are, stories. Yes, they might be based in fact and they might have a moral to them, but they aren't about real people. I like to know about people, sometimes it's purely because I'm nosy, but it's mostly because I like to learn and  I believe you learn a lot from knowing another perspective and simply listening to (or reading about) what others have to say.         

The second part of Elyse's blog I wanted to bless was her point that personal narratives can be used to scaffold instruction of more difficult and abstract texts. Tompkins (2009) states "Students' greatest source of information for writing is their own experiences" (pg. 233). As literacy specialists, we know that when students are learning a new reading or writing strategy, most of their cognitive resources need to be devoted to meeting this new challenge. Having students focus on a topic that they are familiar with (themselves) gives them the flexibility to practice the new skill while having ample background knowledge to easily draw from. There is a second very important reason for using biographical writing when exploring new topics... it can help to motivate the writer. Radcliff (the author Elyse quoted in her blog) used personal narratives to not only scaffold, but also to help build intrinsic motivation. I clearly see the benefit of this in my own  posts. I get the intrinsic motivation to write and learn about something I originally despised, because I see how it relates to moi! I like to reflect on my initial beliefs and where those beliefs came from. Not only because it helps to clarify the message I'm trying to construct, but also, for pedagogical reasons... I want to know what happened to me so that I don't do the same thing to my own students.

While I know in my heart-of-hearts I've not yet fully ready to pick up a biography/autobiography, I'm going to start giving them a try...this summer.  In the mean time I promise not to tell any impressionable youngsters my slightly biased definition of biography!

ps. I do have one issue to press with Elyse. Would you have a suggestion for an autobiography (I'm thinking funny!) that this Alyse would enjoy?  

Works Cited

Tompkins, G. E.  (2012).  Teaching writing:  Balancing process and product 
            (6^th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ:  Merrill.