essay outline biography

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How to Outline a Biography

Last Updated: July 4, 2023 Fact Checked

This article was co-authored by Stephanie Wong Ken, MFA . Stephanie Wong Ken is a writer based in Canada. Stephanie's writing has appeared in Joyland, Catapult, Pithead Chapel, Cosmonaut's Avenue, and other publications. She holds an MFA in Fiction and Creative Writing from Portland State University. This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources. This article has been viewed 55,410 times.

Writing a biography can seem daunting, as you are trying to explore the entirety of someone's life on the page. The key to writing a good biography is outlining it before you dive in. A strong, detailed outline will work through key events chronologically. To outline a biography, start by discussing early life and childhood. Then, go into adulthood and current life, or later life and death if the person is no longer alive.

Discussing Early Life and Childhood

• For example, you may write, “RuPaul Andre Charles, born November 17, 1960 in San Diego, California.”

• For example, you may write, “RuPaul's mother, Ernestine Charles, was from Louisiana. RuPaul's father was Irving Charles. They divorced in 1967.”

• For example, you may write, “RuPaul grew up in San Diego, California and moved to Atlanta, Georgia with his sister when he was 15.”

• For example, you may write, “At 15 years old, RuPaul attended a performing arts school in Atlanta. After he graduated, he focused on his budding stage career, opting not to attend college.”

• For example, you may write about the person's experience with abuse at the hands of a parent. Or you may mention that the person struggled with a learning disability in middle school that would go undiagnosed until later in their life.

Outlining Adulthood

• For example, you may write, “Martha Graham went to Brown University from 1967-1981, majoring in dance. She worked under famous dancers and choreographers in the performance industry at Brown. She graduated with honors.”

• For example, you may write, “Martha Graham met choreographer Dash Nam in a dance class at Brown. They became romantic and professional partners, collaborating on a number of early performances. Nam would later play a major role in Graham's performing company in New York City.”

• For example, you may write, “Martha Graham worked as a bartender while at Brown to support herself. She then created performances for a small stipend until she was able to open her own performing company in 1987 with the help of Dash Nam.”

• For example, you may write, “Martha Graham was rejected from several major dance companies and was unemployed for several years. In frustration, Graham decided to open her own dance company and studio, using funds from friends and colleagues. It later became the premier dance company in America.”

Detailing Current Life and Impact

• For example, you may write, “RuPaul currently resides on a ranch in Wyoming with his partner of twenty years, Australian painter George LeBar. He continues to produce several successful television shows and is a continued advocate for the LGBTQ community.”

• For example, you may write, “In her later life, Graham fell into a depression and battled alcohol addiction. She died in 1991 at the age of 96 from pneumonia. She was cremated and her ashes were scattered over the Sangre de Cristo Mountains in Northern New Mexico.”

• You can also include your own opinions about the person's overall life. You may include a short section on the impact the person had, or continues to have, on you.
• For example, you may write about how the person influenced a generation of artists or how the person impacted the way we view technology in the 21st century.

Expert Q&A

You might also like.

• ↑ https://grammar.yourdictionary.com/writing/how-to-write-a-biography.html
• ↑ https://www.apsu.edu/writingcenter/writing-resources/Biography-Outline.pdf
• ↑ https://www.grammarly.com/blog/how-to-write-bio/

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How to write a biography essay

• March 29, 2022

A biography essay is a type of academic writing that tells the story of someone’s life, typically focusing on their achievements, struggles, and impact on the world.

In this article, we’ll provide you with a step-by-step guide on how to write a compelling biography essay that engages readers and tells the story of a person’s life in a meaningful way.

Choose a person to write a biography

First you need to choose a person to write about. The person should have made significant contributions to his/her respective field. This person should also be well-known as you will need resources to find information.

For this guide, we will be writing our biography essay on French-Algerian philosopher and author Albert Camus . There’re some reasons why Albert Camus is a suitable topic for a biography essay:

• 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. ​

Gather information on the person

You need some information about your the person you chose. While getting this information, pay attention to two main factors: the credibility of your source and what information you are putting in your essay.

Credibility of your source

• 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 sources check all the boxes, they are most likely reliable sources . However, if a source doesn’t have any authors, has no citation, or is poorly written, consider it risky.

Information included in the essay

• Is this information useful in the context of my essay?
• Is this development remarkable in my subject’s life story? ​

You can definitely add the information if they meet these criteria. If not, it’s best to keep them out.

Use of important information on the person

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.) ​

Create an outline

Preparing an outline is essential for biography essays just like any other essay . You can follow our typical outline preparing process in this step because biography essays also adhere to the traditional essay structure.

Biography Essay Outline Example

Albert Camus Biography Essay

• Open with a curious quote by Albert Camus
• Explain how Camus contributed to his field
• Further explore Albert Camus' stance on the field
• Present your thesis statement
• Topic sentence of your paragraph
• Albert's accomplishments and more personal information
• Closing sentence
• Restate your thesis statement
• Mention the importance of Albert Camus
• Finish your essay with memorable concluding sentences by highlighting Camus' importance

Important reminder

Write an introduction.

The introduction paragraph is crucial. Because you need to grab the reader’s attention at this part. This is where a hook sentence is useful. With a hook sentence , you can start your essay in multiple interesting directions for you reader: 

• Start your introduction 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.

Biography essay 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 ).

Through these paragraphs, you will discuss the milestones in your subject’s life, their accomplishments, and their works.

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.

Biography essay 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 only repeating the claims you made throughout the essay.

As an alternative, you can choose to tie your subject’s legacy into the current day . You can ask yourself these questions to figure out what to say in your conclusion paragraph:

• 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

Now you know all the separate parts of a biography essay and how to create them.  Remember that these steps can be used in all academic essays.

Before closing this article, let’s have a look at an extensive biography essay example on Mustafa Kemal Ataturk , you see below. 

5-Paragraph Biography Essay Example

Mustafa Kemal Atatürk: The Modernizer of Turkey

Introduction

Body paragraphs, key takeaways.

• A biography essay should tell the story of a person's life, but also focus on their contributions and impact.
• Start by doing thorough research and organizing your information into a chronological outline.
• Use vivid details and anecdotes to bring your subject to life and make the essay engaging for the reader.
• Incorporate analysis and reflection to help the reader understand the significance of the subject's life and work.
• End with a strong conclusion that summarizes the key points and leaves the reader with a lasting impression.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you start a biography essay.

Start your biography essay by giving a general information about your subject, such as their profession or importance.

What is biography example?

Biography is a literary work in which a person’s life is narrated. They are based on facts, and the main purpose of them is educating people about well-known individuals.

How do you write an outline for a biography?

A proper biography outline should include details about the information that will be presented in the introduction, body paragraphs, and conclusion.

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How to write a Perfect Biography Essay about Anyone

A biography essay is an essay that focuses on the life of a person. The person is usually famous – a politician, an entrepreneur, an inventor, an author, an artist, or a historical figure.

When you are asked to write a biography essay on a person, your work is to research and detail the key facts about the person. Anyone can write a biographical essay if they plan adequately and know what falls where. If you take a history, cultural studies, leadership, English, hospitality, and science-based course, you are guaranteed to write at least one biography essay.

Since biography essays are usually written on famous personalities, you should always focus your essay on that person’s achievements. Besides, ensure that you reveal the contributions of that person to the world. Doing this in an organized manner will make your essay interesting and increase your chances of getting a good grade.

This post reveals everything important you need to know about writing biography essays.

What Is a Biography Essay?

By definition, a biography essay is an essay on the life of a famous personality written by another person other than the subject . Therefore, when you are asked to write a biography of a person, you are supposed to focus on their life, challenges, philosophies, principles, and achievements.

For example, suppose you are asked to write a biography essay on Barrack Obama. In that case, your essay should focus on the political journey of Obama to the presidency, the achievements of his administration, and his legacy.

It is important to do thorough research when you are asked to write a biography essay on someone. This should be the case even when you know a lot about that person. The research will help you to uncover important facts and dates. Proper research will also give you reliable information and credible sources to use.

A biography is usually not a long paper. It can be a 1000-words essay or 500 words essay . The professors and instructors prefer shorter biography essays because it eases their burden when marking. The least word count for a biography essay is 250 words.

Purpose of Writing a Biography Essay

The purpose of a biography essay is to enable the reader to fully understand the person who is the subject of the essay and the contributions they have made. So, when you are asked to write a biography essay, your task will be to make sure that the essay focuses on the person and their key achievements.

The subjects of biography essays are almost always famous personalities. This makes them somewhat easy to write because there is usually plenty of online information on famous people. However, while there is plenty of information, your goal during research is to uncover credible details on the subject of your essay.

If you do this well and increase the reader’s understanding of the subject of your essay, you will have achieved the purpose/objective of writing a biography essay.

Biography essay vs. Autobiography essay vs. profile essay vs. narrative essay

Although a biographical essay tells a story, it differs from narrative essays, autobiography essays, profile essays, and narrative essays.

A biographic essay is usually formal, meaning it should use an objective tone and language. A biography writer tells a story about someone else other than themselves. It should be a true story based on scholarly references and sources.

Let us compare the four types of essays head-to-head.

Steps to writing a good biography essay

If you are assigned to write a biographical essay or biography essay, follow the steps below.

Step 1: Read the instructions twice or thrice

The first step you need to take to write a good biography essay is to read the instructions twice or thrice. When reading the instructions, try to really understand them. The purpose of reading the instructions several times is to make sure you truly understand them.

If the instructions require you to choose a subject , you should choose a subject you will be excited to write about or one that inspires you. Doing this will make it more exciting for you to research and write your essay.

Step 2: Conduct thorough research

After reading the instructions and choosing a subject, you should conduct thorough research. Since biography essays are usually written on famous persons, you should be able to find plenty of information on them online. Try to spend about 30 minutes online to find out everything you need to know about the subject.

Every time you come across important facts, events, names, or dates related to your subject, you should note them down. You should also note the strong opinions others have on your subject when you come across them. Make sure you only take information or details from credible or reliable sources. And when you take information, make sure you also note down your sources.

Thorough research will give you a clearer picture of the subject of your essay.

Step 3: Create an outline

Upon conducting thorough research, you should create a proper outline. Your outline should have five paragraphs – an introduction paragraph, three body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Of course, if your professor wants a shorter or longer essay, you should follow their instruction.

When creating an outline at this stage, simply create something straightforward. A well-organized outline will help you to write a logical and flowing essay. In addition, it will make your essay easy to read and increase your likelihood of getting a high grade.

As you write the outline, remember to formulate a catchy title for your biographical essay.

Step 4: Write the introduction

After creating a detailed but straightforward outline, the next thing you need to do is to start writing. First, start writing your essay by expanding the introduction part of your outline .

The introduction should start with a quote about or by your subject. You can also use an interesting fact about the subject, as long as you grab the attention of your audience . It could also start with an interesting fact about the subject.

Write the quote or fact, and then provide a general introduction about the subject of your essay. Do not forget to make sure your introduction has a nice sentence-to-sentence flow. Use transition words and phrases to enhance flow where necessary.

You can also signpost ideas in your introduction paragraph so that your readers are not caught unawares with your written content.

Step 5: Write your thesis statement

After writing your introduction, the last sentence in your introduction should be your thesis statement. If you have already created a good outline, it will certainly have a thesis.

Transfer the thesis you created to your essay. Refine the thesis statement if you need to, at this stage, to make it better or more accommodative of what you want to write.

Step 6: Write body paragraphs

You should share all the information you gathered in your research in the body paragraphs. Then, of course, you should write your body paragraphs by expanding the body paragraph points you outlined in your outline.

If you created a good outline, each body paragraph will focus on one argument or point. Of course, the point will be in support of the thesis statement. All your body paragraphs should have enough evidence, proof, examples, or details.

Remember to adhere to the paragraphing rules in academic writing so that you leave the professor or markers with no option other than awarding your biography essay top marks.

Step 7: Write the conclusion

The conclusion paragraph is the last paragraph in a biography essay. Your conclusion paragraph should summarize the main points in your body paragraphs. It should not include any new details or information about your subject.

After summarizing your main points, you should end your essay with a closing statement. The statement should either focus on the biggest achievement or the legacy of the subject of your essay.

Step 8: Refine your essay

After writing your closing statement, you should go through it and try to make it better. Your purpose should be to make sure that you have offered a detailed account of the life and the achievements of your subject. Make sure you offer as many details as possible so that no reader can dismiss your essay as a superficial account of the subject’s life story.

Step 9: Proofread and edit

This is the last step when writing a biography essay. At this stage, you are done writing. All you need to do is to proofread and edit your essay. So, go through your essay slowly to discover and edit all types of typing and grammar mistakes. Correct every error you see.

In case you notice any sentence that is complex or difficult to understand, you should also correct it. Correct it and make it simple or easy to understand. After proofreading and editing your essay, you should give it to a friend or relative to read it with a fresh pair of eyes. They could help identify the errors or mistakes you may have missed. Alternatively, you could use an online grammar checker to find the errors or mistakes you have missed.

After eliminating all mistakes and errors, you will be good to go. Simply submit your essay and wait for the results.

Elements of a Good Biography Essay

A good biography essay has three key elements – a singular subject, life events, and a linear narrative arc. Your biography essay should certainly have a singular subject, and the subject should be worth talking about or discussing. Choosing a boring subject or someone without any meaningful achievements will make your essay boring and unreadable.

Your biography essay should focus on the key life events in the subject’s life story. A good biography essay focuses on the key life events of a person. If you are a good researcher, you will find plenty of information about your subject. If you do so, you should narrow down the information or the details to the key life events. Your professor does not need to know about every little detail related to your subject.

Lastly, your biography essay needs a linear narrative arc. In other words, you should present the life story of the subject logically and linearly; start the story from birth to death.

Biography Essay Outline / Structure

Biography essays are usually five paragraphs long. They can have more paragraphs if you are writing an entire book or a detailed extended essay or research paper. In this section, we will present to you the biography essay outline/structure. The information you get in this section should help you quickly create a good essay outline on any biography essay subject.

Biography essay outline/Template

I. introduction paragraph.

• Hook statement (a quote by or about the subject or a fact about the subject)
• Subject’s background information (talk about the subject’s biggest achievement in brief)
• Thesis statement (this will be the main argument of your essay)

II. Body paragraph 1

• Topic sentence (summarize the subject’s early life from birth to college)
• Provide supporting information (present details about the subject’s early life)
• Closing sentence (wrap up this paragraph nicely in a sentence)

III. Body paragraph 2

• Topic sentence (summarize the subject’s main achievement(s))
• Provide supporting information (present details about the subject’s key achievements)

IV. Body paragraph 3

• Topic sentence (summarize the subject’s biggest impact or contribution to society)
• Provide supporting information (present details about the contributions)

V. Conclusion

• Restate your thesis statement
• Summarize your main points
• Closing sentence (wrap up your essay by stating your subject’s biggest achievements)

Using this essay outline template, you can create an outline for your biography essay. And when you do everything instructed in the template above, your outline will be detailed and straightforward. You will find it very easy to write your biography essay.

Tips When Writing a Biography Essay

• Find the time. Before you start writing your biography essay, you should identify a day when you will have enough time to do everything. Doing just a portion of your essay every day will result in an essay that does not have a good flow. It could also lead to you taking too much time to write the essay. So, you should identify a day and a time when you will be free to do everything from start to finish; the goal should be to complete your essay in one go.
• Conduct thorough research. Even if you are writing a biography essay on someone you know a lot about, you should conduct thorough research. Comprehensive research is important because it is precisely what you need to make your essay compelling and fact-filled. Conversely, not doing thorough research can result in a simplistic essay that simply regurgitates information available from online sources.
• Always create an outline. Creating an outline may seem like a lot of work. However, it is indispensable in the pre-writing stage. It is necessary because making a good outline ensures your essay has good organization and flow. Without an outline, your essay can easily look disorganized.
• Take time to write your thesis. The thesis is probably the most important statement or sentence in your essay. This is because it is the central point or argument of every essay. So, take your time to write your thesis and make sure you write a good one.
• Follow a chronological order. When writing a biography essay, you must follow a chronological order. Start from the birth of the subject to their death (or their current situation if they are alive).
• Refine your essay when done writing. The best writers usually rewrite their texts repeatedly to ensure the final delivery is simple and easy to understand. So, re-read and refine your work constantly to improve it and make it brilliant before submitting it.

Example Biography Essay

A Biography of Tristan Thompson – a Fitness Trainer

Tristan Thompson has been one of the leading fitness trainers in the city of Los Angeles over the last decade. He has been training clients from all walks of life, including entrepreneurs, millionaires, ordinary workers, housewives, students, and so on. Tristan has, over the years, risen to become one of the most sought-after fitness trainers in California because of the fact that his training programs have consistently yielded positive results.

Tristan was born in 1989 in San Diego, California. It always seemed as if Tristan was destined for greater things from his birth. Both his parents are renowned personal trainers. His parents have operated the Silver Gym chain of fitness centers for over twenty years. Tristan joined them in the gym business when he turned fifteen. By age 17, Tristan was already participating in fitness competitions. Again, he seemed destined for greater things.

Just a few weeks after he turned 27 years old, Tristan was thrust to the helm of the Silver Gym business after the unfortunate passing of his parents. The business initially struggled for a couple of months but soon after started recording increasingly positive results. Through his hitherto unknown business acumen, Tristan grew his inheritance into one of the leading gym businesses in Southern California. The business is now worth $100,000,000, and it is projected to grow even more.

In addition to growing the gym business, Tristan will perhaps best be remembered for his achievements as a personal trainer. The man’s exercises and fitness programs have continuously yielded positive results with clients from different backgrounds. Tristan has won many accolades for his effective and innovative training programs that have helped hundreds achieve their ideal physique.

Tristan Thompson’s training programs have consistently yielded positive results. His gym has grown in leaps and bounds, and his programs have continued attracting dozens of clients every year. He is undoubtedly a legend in the California fitness industry, and whatever he does is only bound to increase his legendary status.

Final Thoughts

As a student or professional, you have written many types of essays. Maybe you have not encountered a biography essay yet, or you find the process of writing a perfect one, not within your reach. You are not alone; writing a biography or a professional biography is never that easy. It is often confusing, laborious, and sometimes challenging.

We strongly believe and hope you have honed your biography writing skills thanks to our comprehensive biography essay writing guide.

This guide has covered all the vital information you need to write a good biography essay. If you are confident enough, you should go ahead and try writing one now. Otherwise, if you are not confident, you should seek assistance from one of our professional writers.

Do this by ordering a biography essay from us now. If you hire one of our writers to write you a biography essay, you will get a 100 percent original biography essay without any mistakes or errors.

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How to Write a Biography: A Step-by-Step Guide

By Hannah Yang

Table of Contents

What is a biography, a step-by-step guide to writing a biography, tips for how to write a great biography, conclusion on how to write a biography.

Writing a biography can be a rewarding endeavor, but it can also feel a bit daunting if you’ve never written one before.

Whether you’re capturing the life story of a famous person, a family member, or even yourself, creating a compelling biography involves a mix of thorough research, narrative skill, and a personal touch.

So, how exactly do you write a successful biography? 

In this guide, we’ll break down the essentials to help you craft a biography that’s both informative and engaging, as well as our top tips for how to make it truly shine.

A biography is a detailed account of someone’s life.

A well-written biography needs to be objective and accurate. At the same time, it needs to depict more than just the basic facts like birth, education, work, relationships, and death—it should also portray the subject’s personal experience of those events.

So, in addition to being a good researcher, a good biographer also needs to be a good storyteller. You should provide insights into the subject’s personality, motivations, and impact on the world around them.

What’s the Difference Between a Biography, a Memoir, and an Autobiography?

Understanding the distinctions between different genres of life writing is crucial for both writers and readers. Here’s a quick breakdown of the key differences between a biography and other related genres.

Biography: a detailed account of a person’s life, usually written in the third-person POV and supported by extensive research 

Autobiography: a self-written account of the author’s own life, usually written in the first person POV and following a chronological order 

Memoir: a collection of memories that an individual writes about moments or events that took place in their life, usually in the first person POV and in an introspective and personal way

Narrative nonfiction: a book that tells true stories using the techniques of fiction writing, such as character development, narrative arc, and detailed settings

Best Biography Examples to Study

The best way to learn how to write well is to read other successful books within the genre you’re writing. 

Here are five great biographies to add to your reading list. For a longer list, check out our article on the 20 best biographies to read . 

Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand: the incredible true story of Louis Zamperini, an Olympian and World War II hero.

Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson: a comprehensive and engaging account of the Apple co-founder’s life.

Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow: the biography that inspired the hit musical, providing a deep dive into Hamilton ’ s life and legacy.

Savage Beauty: The Life of Edna St. Vincent Millay by Nancy Milford: a nuanced story that uncovers the family connection between the three Millay sisters and their mother.

Barracoon by Zora Neale Hurston: the story of Cudjo Lewis, one of the last-known survivors of the Atlantic slave trade.

As with writing any book, writing a biography is a marathon, not a sprint. It’s easier to think of it as a series of smaller steps than as one big challenge to tackle. 

Let’s break down the process step by step.

1. Choose Your Subject

Decide who you want to write about. It could be a well-known celebrity, a historical figure, or someone close to you.

In addition to figuring out who you’re writing about, this is also the step where you figure out why you want to write about them. Why is this a story worth telling, and what makes you interested in it? 

Maybe the subject of your biography overcame major hardships in life to achieve success, and that story will inspire others facing similar struggles. Or maybe they made a really unique contribution to the world that not enough people know about, and you want to shine a bigger spotlight on that impact.

Knowing why you’re telling this story will help you make the right decisions about how to research, outline, draft, and edit your biography.

2. Identify Your Target Audience

Understanding your target audience is a crucial step in writing a good biography. You should tailor your biography to the interests and knowledge level of your audience.

A biography for a general audience will differ from one written for experts in a particular field. For example, two biographies about Emily Dickinson would be vastly different if one is written for young children and the other is written for adult poets. 

3. Conduct Research

Dive deep into your research. Use a variety of sources to get a well-rounded view of your subject’s life. Take detailed notes and organize your findings.

Gather as much information as you can about your subject. This includes primary sources like interviews, letters, and diaries, as well as secondary sources such as books, articles, and documentaries.

Here are some primary sources to look for: 

Letters and diaries: These provide intimate insights into the subject’s thoughts, feelings, and daily life, and can often be found in family archives, libraries, and historical societies.

Birth, marriage, and death certificates: These documents can provide crucial dates and familial relationships.

Census data: Census records can provide demographic information and track changes over time.

Property records: These can reveal where the subject lived and owned property.

Employment and school records: These records offer formalized insights into the subject’s education and career.

Military records: If applicable, military records can provide information on service, ranks, and honors.

Photos and videos: Look for photographs and videos in public libraries, historical societies, online databases like the Library of Congress, and family photo albums.

Historical newspapers: Access archives of local and national newspapers for articles, interviews, and obituaries related to the subject.

Digital archives: Use online resources like ProQuest, Chronicling America, and newspaper databases available through public libraries.

You can also look for secondary sources, which provide more context and perspective, such as:

Existing biographies: Search for existing biographies and books about the subject or their era. How does your project stand out from the crowd? 

Academic articles and papers: Access journals through university libraries, which often have extensive collections of scholarly articles.

Documentaries and biographical films: You can often find these on streaming services or public television archives.

Websites and blogs: Look for reputable websites and blogs dedicated to the subject or related fields.

Social media platforms: The things people say on social media can offer insights into public perception about your subject.

Finally, you can also conduct your own interviews. Talk to the subject if they’re still alive, as well as their friends, family, and colleagues. You can ask them for personal anecdotes to add more color to your book, or more information to fill in any gaps in your knowledge. 

4. Ask Engaging Questions

Great biographers start from a place of curiosity. Before you start writing, you should know the answers to the following questions: 

What makes your subject’s story worth telling?

What was your subject’s childhood like? 

What were your subject’s early interests and hobbies?

What level of education did your subject achieve and where did they study?

What was your subject’s personality like?

What were their beliefs and values? 

How did your subject’s personality and beliefs change over time?

What were the major turning points in your subject’s life? 

How was your subject affected by the major political, cultural, and societal events that occurred throughout their life?  

What did their career path look like?

What were their major accomplishments? 

What were their major failures? 

How did they contribute to their field, their country, or their community?

Were they involved in any major controversies or scandals?

Who were the most important people in the subject’s life, such as friends, partners, or mentors?

If the subject is no longer living, how did they pass away?

What lasting impact did the subject leave behind? 

5. Create an Outline

An outline helps you structure your biography. You can write an extensive outline that includes every scene you need to write, or you can keep it simple and just make a list of high-level bullet points—whatever works best for your writing process. 

The best structure to use will depend on the shape of the story you’re trying to tell. Think about what your subject’s life looked like and what core messages you’re trying to leave the reader with.

If you want to keep things simple, you can simply go in chronological order. Tell the story from the birth of your subject to the death of your subject, or to the present day if this person is still living. 

You can also use a more thematically organized structure, similar to what you would find on a Wikipedia page. You could break your book down into sections such as major life events, personal relationships, core accomplishments, challenges, and legacy.

Or, if you want to be more creative, you can use a nonlinear story structure, jumping between recent events and older flashbacks based on which events feel thematically tied together. 

6. Write Your First Draft 

Now that you have an outline, it’s time to sit down and write your first draft.

Your opening chapters should hook the reader and give a preview of what’s to come. Highlight a compelling aspect of the subject’s life to draw readers in.

In your middle chapters, cover all the key events you need to include about your subject’s life and weave in themes and anecdotes that reveal their personality and impact.

In your final chapters, wrap up your biography by summarizing the subject’s legacy and reflecting on their overall significance. This provides closure and leaves the reader with a lasting impression.

Remember that it’s okay if your first draft isn’t perfect. Your goal is simply to get words down on the page so you have something to edit. 

7. Make Developmental Revisions

Now that you’re done with your first draft, it’s time to make big-picture revisions.

Review your biography for coherence and organization. Does the overall structure make sense? Are there any arcs or themes that aren’t given enough attention? Are there scenes or chapters that don’t need to be included? 

8. Make Line Edits

Once you’ve completed your developmental edits, it’s time to make smaller line edits. This is your time to edit for grammar, punctuation, and style.

Make sure you keep a consistent voice throughout the book. Some biographies feel more conversational and humorous, while others are serious and sophisticated. 

To get through your editing faster, you can run your manuscript through ProWritingAid , which will automatically catch errors, point out stylistic inconsistencies, and help you rephrase confusing sentences. 

Don’t be afraid to ask others for feedback. No good book is written in a vacuum, and you can ask critique partners and beta readers to help you improve your work.

What makes a great biography stand out from the rest? Here are our best tips for how to take your manuscript to the next level.

Tip 1: Focus on Key Themes

Identify the central themes or patterns in the subject’s life—the ones that will really make readers keep thinking about your book. These could be related to the subject’s struggles, achievements, relationships, or values.

Tip 2: Balance Facts and Narrative

A good biography should read like a story, not a list of facts.

Use narrative techniques like imagery, character development, and dialogue to create a compelling and coherent story.

Tip 3: Add Your Own Perspective

Biographies need to be objective, but that doesn’t mean the author has to be entirely invisible. Including your own perspective can make the biography relatable and engaging. 

Letting your voice shine can help illustrate the subject ’ s character and bring their story to life. It will also help make your biography stand out from the crowd. 

Tip 4: Create a Timeline

Organize the key events of the subject’s life in chronological order. This will help you see the bigger picture and ensure you cover all important aspects.

Tip 5: Be Considerate

Because biographies are about real people, you should be mindful of who will be impacted by the story you’re telling, especially if your subject is still alive or still has living family members.

If the subject is still alive, ask them for permission to tell their story before you start writing. This also helps ensure that you don’t get sued. 

Writing a biography is a journey of discovery, not just about the subject, but also about the craft of storytelling.

By combining thorough research, a clear structure, and engaging narrative techniques, you can create a biography that not only informs but also inspires and captivates your readers. 

Don’t forget to run your manuscript through ProWritingAid so you can make sure your prose is as polished as possible. 

Now, pick your subject, gather your resources, and start writing—there’s a fascinating story waiting to be told.

Good luck, and happy writing!

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Hannah Yang

Hannah Yang is a speculative fiction writer who writes about all things strange and surreal. Her work has appeared in Analog Science Fiction, Apex Magazine, The Dark, and elsewhere, and two of her stories have been finalists for the Locus Award. Her favorite hobbies include watercolor painting, playing guitar, and rock climbing. You can follow her work on hannahyang.com, or subscribe to her newsletter for publication updates.

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What is a biographical essay?

Some tend to mistakenly attribute biographical essay to the process of writing about themselves. But actually, biography definition has nothing to do with you. It’s more about telling the engaging story about a person’s life. This individual can be anyone: a famous historical figure, a well-known actor, politician, dancer, musician, artist, writer, inventor – you get the point. Such task sounds intriguing and interesting, and indeed it is. A biographical essay is a great chance to dilute simple academic tasks with a pinch of new article full of interesting facts and opinions.

Biography essay outline

Before writing a biography essay, it’s important to pay attention to essay structure and build up a biography outline. An outline is generally a schematic plan that helps to organize biography essays in accordance with the writer’s preference. In this, the primary task is to create a list of the most significant facts you’ll want to develop in the essay. The easiest way of arranging an outline is to add a numbered list indicating the main points, and a list of sub-points marked with bullets. Also, don’t forget to include a biography thesis statement that’ll sum up the main idea of your essay in one sentence.

How to start a biography essay?

Before writing, you first need to understand what to include in a biography essay. An eloquent biography essay always starts with the introduction of a chosen person. The initial step of writing it involves the inclusion of such information as the person’s name, date of their birth, and the place they were born in. Of course, it’s not a uniform set of data necessary for this part. You can take the situation in your hands and write about some cultural or historical background surrounding one’s birthplace or the day they were born. Adding such information to the introductory part will help to create some context by connecting you and readers closer to the described character and broadening the common knowledge with more absorbing facts.

How to write a biography essay about someone else?

When people ask how to write a biography paper, the only thing they think of is a random flow of ideas about someone’s life. In fact, writing a biography paper is more complicated. The section following the introduction is devoted to life description. Here, you’ll need to feature early life and childhood of a chosen person. This part should cover general information about their parents, and divert readers’ attention to some facts related to their origin, education, and relationship status. Next, focus more on education and place where the person grew up. In this section, include more detailed information about the critical moments of their childhood life, like the name of the school they studied in or the point of moving to another city or town. Perhaps there are more facts worthy of note, such as family problems or health issues that revolved around one’s childhood. If there are such, include them as well.

The second section of your biographical essay will tell readers about someone’s adulthood. Depending on the person, this piece of story can be outlined differently. For example, you can write about their university or college life, or indicate their first job. The point here is to chronologically depict a period of moving from childhood to adult life. Then, talk about the formation of a person’s career path, starting with the first working experience and ending with the remarkable moment of revealing talents and skills that shaped their life. In the next paragraph, mention the person’s relationship during their adulthood. If applicable, describe how someone special helped them to become successful or motivated them throughout their career. Another significant aspect in this section has to do with the person’s success, in which readers could know about their notable accomplishments and achievements.

The final section of a biography essay will touch the person’s current or later life. If they are alive, include the overlook of their place of living and write about their activities. You can also add such information as to their current projects or career plans, along with other meaningful facts about their life.

If the person you’re writing about is no longer living, emphasize on the brightest moments at the sunset of their life. Mention the definitive moments and aspects, and write about the cause of their deaths.

Other tips on writing a biography

If you want your biography essay to leave a great impact on readers, don’t conclude it with a simple explanation of why this or that person died and what their latest works were. This is only factual information which brings no specific value to your essay and, more importantly, doesn’t breathe life into it. To wrap up your essay content with a memorable grabber, include a couple of sentences in which write about the person’s legacy. That is, add the opinion of why this individual’s activity became an exceptional contribution to the world’s history, and why they have changed some aspects of their field.

Biography essay writing is a responsible task that aims at showing a well-acclaimed person from the best light. Therefore, you need to write about one’s life as you would about your mother – with maximum details and showing respect for that person. So follow our advice to compose an A+ biography essay that you and your audience will enjoy reading.

Note that our company provides academic writing help. You can buy a Biography essay written from scratch by our  essay writer .

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How to Write a Biography

Biographies are big business. Whether in book form or Hollywood biopics, the lives of the famous and sometimes not-so-famous fascinate us.

While it’s true that most biographies are about people who are in the public eye, sometimes the subject is less well-known. Primarily, though, famous or not, the person who is written about has led an incredible life.

In this article, we will explain biography writing in detail for teachers and students so they can create their own.

While your students will most likely have a basic understanding of a biography, it’s worth taking a little time before they put pen to paper to tease out a crystal-clear definition of one.

What Is a Biography?

A biography is an account of someone’s life written by someone else . While there is a genre known as a fictional biography, for the most part, biographies are, by definition, nonfiction.

Generally speaking, biographies provide an account of the subject’s life from the earliest days of childhood to the present day or, if the subject is deceased, their death.

The job of a biography is more than just to outline the bare facts of a person’s life.

Rather than just listing the basic details of their upbringing, hobbies, education, work, relationships, and death, a well-written biography should also paint a picture of the subject’s personality and experience of life.

Full Biographies

Teaching unit.

Teach your students everything they need to know about writing an AUTOBIOGRAPHY and a BIOGRAPHY.

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Features of a Biography

Before students begin writing a biography, they’ll need to have a firm grasp of the main features of a Biography. An excellent way to determine how well they understand these essential elements is to ask them to compile a checklist like the one-blow

Their checklists should contain the items below at a minimum. Be sure to help them fill in any gaps before moving on to the writing process.

The purpose of a biography is to provide an account of someone’s life.

Biography structure.

ORIENTATION (BEGINNING) Open your biography with a strong hook to grab the reader’s attention

SEQUENCING: In most cases, biographies are written in chronological order unless you are a very competent writer consciously trying to break from this trend.

COVER: childhood, upbringing, education, influences, accomplishments, relationships, etc. – everything that helps the reader to understand the person.

CONCLUSION: Wrap your biography up with some details about what the subject is doing now if they are still alive. If they have passed away, make mention of what impact they have made and what their legacy is or will be.

BIOGRAPHY FEATURES

LANGUAGE Use descriptive and figurative language that will paint images inside your audience’s minds as they read. Use time connectives to link events.

PERSPECTIVE Biographies are written from the third person’s perspective.

DETAILS: Give specific details about people, places, events, times, dates, etc. Reflect on how events shaped the subject. You might want to include some relevant photographs with captions. A timeline may also be of use depending upon your subject and what you are trying to convey to your audience.

TENSE Written in the past tense (though ending may shift to the present/future tense)

THE PROCESS OF WRITING A BIOGRAPHY

Like any form of writing, you will find it simple if you have a plan and follow it through. These steps will ensure you cover the essential bases of writing a biography essay.

Firstly, select a subject that inspires you. Someone whose life story resonates with you and whose contribution to society intrigues you. The next step is to conduct thorough research. Engage in extensive reading, explore various sources, watch documentaries, and glean all available information to provide a comprehensive account of the person’s life.

Creating an outline is essential to organize your thoughts and information. The outline should include the person’s early life, education, career, achievements, and any other significant events or contributions. It serves as a map for the writing process, ensuring that all vital information is included.

Your biography should have an engaging introduction that captivates the reader’s attention and provides background information on the person you’re writing about. It should include a thesis statement summarising the biography’s main points.

Writing a biography in chronological order is crucial . You should begin with the person’s early life and move through their career and achievements. This approach clarifies how the person’s life unfolded and how they accomplished their goals.

A biography should be written in a narrative style , capturing the essence of the person’s life through vivid descriptions, anecdotes, and quotes. Avoid dry, factual writing and focus on creating a compelling narrative that engages the reader.

Adding personal insights and opinions can enhance the biography’s overall impact, providing a unique perspective on the person’s achievements, legacy, and impact on society.

Editing and proofreading are vital elements of the writing process. Thoroughly reviewing your biography ensures that the writing is clear, concise, and error-free. You can even request feedback from someone else to ensure that it is engaging and well-written.

Finally, including a bibliography at the end of your biography is essential. It gives credit to the sources that were used during research, such as books, articles, interviews, and websites.

Tips for Writing a Brilliant Biography

Biography writing tip #1: choose your subject wisely.

There are several points for students to reflect on when deciding on a subject for their biography. Let’s take a look at the most essential points to consider when deciding on the subject for a biography:

Interest: To produce a biography will require sustained writing from the student. That’s why students must choose their subject well. After all, a biography is an account of someone’s entire life to date. Students must ensure they choose a subject that will sustain their interest throughout the research, writing, and editing processes.

Merit: Closely related to the previous point, students must consider whether the subject merits the reader’s interest. Aside from pure labors of love, writing should be undertaken with the reader in mind. While producing a biography demands sustained writing from the author, it also demands sustained reading from the reader.

Therefore, students should ask themselves if their chosen subject has had a life worthy of the reader’s interest and the time they’d need to invest in reading their biography.

Information: Is there enough information available on the subject to fuel the writing of an entire biography? While it might be a tempting idea to write about a great-great-grandfather’s experience in the war. There would be enough interest there to sustain the author’s and the reader’s interest, but do you have enough access to information about their early childhood to do the subject justice in the form of a biography?

Biography Writing Tip #2: R esearch ! Research! Research!

While the chances are good that the student already knows quite a bit about the subject they’ve chosen. Chances are 100% that they’ll still need to undertake considerable research to write their biography.

As with many types of writing , research is an essential part of the planning process that shouldn’t be overlooked. If students wish to give as complete an account of their subject’s life as possible, they’ll need to put in the time at the research stage.

An effective way to approach the research process is to:

1. Compile a chronological timeline of the central facts, dates, and events of the subject’s life

2. Compile detailed descriptions of the following personal traits:

•      Physical looks
•      Character traits
•      Values and beliefs

3. Compile some research questions based on different topics to provide a focus for the research:

• Childhood : Where and when were they born? Who were their parents? Who were the other family members? What education did they receive?
• Obstacles: What challenges did they have to overcome? How did these challenges shape them as individuals?
• Legacy: What impact did this person have on the world and/or the people around them?
• Dialogue & Quotes: Dialogue and quotations by and about the subject are a great way to bring color and life to a biography. Students should keep an eagle eye out for the gems that hide amid their sources.

As the student gets deeper into their research, new questions will arise that can further fuel the research process and help to shape the direction the biography will ultimately go in.

Likewise, during the research, themes will often begin to suggest themselves. Exploring these themes is essential to bring depth to biography, but we’ll discuss this later in this article.

Research Skills:

Researching for biography writing is an excellent way for students to hone their research skills in general. Developing good research skills is essential for future academic success. Students will have opportunities to learn how to:

• Gather relevant information
• Evaluate different information sources
• Select suitable information
• Organize information into a text.

Students will have access to print and online information sources, and, in some cases, they may also have access to people who knew or know the subject (e.g. biography of a family member).

These days, much of the research will likely take place online. It’s crucial, therefore, to provide your students with guidance on how to use the internet safely and evaluate online sources for reliability. This is the era of ‘ fake news ’ and misinformation after all!

COMPLETE TEACHING UNIT ON INTERNET RESEARCH SKILLS USING GOOGLE SEARCH

Teach your students ESSENTIAL SKILLS OF THE INFORMATION ERA to become expert DIGITAL RESEARCHERS.

⭐How to correctly ask questions to search engines on all devices.

⭐ How to filter and refine your results to find exactly what you want every time.

⭐ Essential Research and critical thinking skills for students.

⭐ Plagiarism, Citing and acknowledging other people’s work.

⭐ How to query, synthesize and record your findings logically.

BIOGRAPHY WRITING Tip #3: Find Your Themes In Biography Writing

Though predominantly a nonfiction genre, the story still plays a significant role in good biography writing. The skills of characterization and plot structuring are transferable here. And, just like in fiction, exploring themes in a biographical work helps connect the personal to the universal. Of course, these shouldn’t be forced; this will make the work seem contrived, and the reader may lose faith in the truthfulness of the account. A biographer needs to gain and maintain the trust of the reader.

Fortunately, themes shouldn’t need to be forced. A life well-lived is full of meaning, and the themes the student writer is looking for will emerge effortlessly from the actions and events of the subject’s life. It’s just a case of learning how to spot them.

One way to identify the themes in a life is to look for recurring events or situations in a person’s life. These should be apparent from the research completed previously. The students should seek to identify these patterns that emerge in the subject’s life. For example, perhaps they’ve had to overcome various obstacles throughout different periods of their life. In that case, the theme of overcoming adversity is present and has been identified.

Usually, a biography has several themes running throughout, so be sure your students work to identify more than one theme in their subject’s life.

BIOGRAPHY WRITING Tip: #4 Put Something of Yourself into the Writing

While the defining feature of a biography is that it gives an account of a person’s life, students must understand that this is not all a biography does. Relating the facts and details of a subject’s life is not enough. The student biographer should not be afraid to share their thoughts and feelings with the reader throughout their account of their subject’s life.

The student can weave some of their personality into the fabric of the text by providing commentary and opinion as they relate the events of the person’s life and the wider social context at the time. Unlike the detached and objective approach we’d expect to find in a history textbook, in a biography, student-writers should communicate their enthusiasm for their subject in their writing.

This makes for a more intimate experience for the reader, as they get a sense of getting to know the author and the subject they are writing about.

Biography Examples For Students

• Year 5 Example
• Year 7 Example
• Year 9 Example

“The Rock ‘n’ Roll King: Elvis Presley”

Elvis Aaron Presley, born on January 8, 1935, was an amazing singer and actor known as the “King of Rock ‘n’ Roll.” Even though he’s been dead for nearly 50 years, I can’t help but be fascinated by his incredible life!

Elvis grew up in Tupelo, Mississippi, in a tiny house with his parents and twin brother. His family didn’t have much money, but they shared a love for music. Little did they know Elvis would become a music legend!

When he was only 11 years old, Elvis got his first guitar. He taught himself to play and loved singing gospel songs. As he got older, he started combining different music styles like country, blues, and gospel to create a whole new sound – that’s Rock ‘n’ Roll!

In 1954, at the age of 19, Elvis recorded his first song, “That’s All Right.” People couldn’t believe how unique and exciting his music was. His famous hip-swinging dance moves also made him a sensation!

Elvis didn’t just rock the music scene; he also starred in movies like “Love Me Tender” and “Jailhouse Rock.” But fame came with challenges. Despite facing ups and downs, Elvis kept spreading happiness through his music.

Tragically, Elvis passed away in 1977, but his music and charisma live on. Even today, people worldwide still enjoy his songs like “Hound Dog” and “Can’t Help Falling in Love.” Elvis Presley’s legacy as the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll will live forever.

Long Live the King: I wish I’d seen him.

Elvis Presley, the Rock ‘n’ Roll legend born on January 8, 1935, is a captivating figure that even a modern-day teen like me can’t help but admire. As I delve into his life, I wish I could have experienced the magic of his live performances.

Growing up in Tupelo, Mississippi, Elvis faced challenges but found solace in music. At 11, he got his first guitar, a symbol of his journey into the world of sound. His fusion of gospel, country, and blues into Rock ‘n’ Roll became a cultural phenomenon.

The thought of being in the audience during his early performances, especially when he recorded “That’s All Right” at 19, sends shivers down my spine. Imagining the crowd’s uproar and feeling the revolutionary energy of that moment is a dream I wish I could have lived.

Elvis wasn’t just a musical prodigy; he was a dynamic performer. His dance moves, the embodiment of rebellion, and his roles in films like “Love Me Tender” and “Jailhouse Rock” made him a true icon.

After watching him on YouTube, I can’t help but feel a little sad that I’ll never witness the King’s live performances. The idea of swaying to “Hound Dog” or being enchanted by “Can’t Help Falling in Love” in person is a missed opportunity. Elvis may have left us in 1977, but he was the king of rock n’ roll. Long live the King!

Elvis Presley: A Teen’s Take on the Rock ‘n’ Roll Icon”

Elvis Presley, born January 8, 1935, was a revolutionary force in the music world, earning his title as the “King of Rock ‘n’ Roll.” Exploring his life, even as a 16-year-old today, I’m captivated by the impact he made.

Hailing from Tupelo, Mississippi, Elvis grew up in humble beginnings, surrounded by the love of his parents and twin brother. It’s inspiring to think that, despite financial challenges, this young man would redefine the music scene.

At 11, Elvis got his first guitar, sparking a self-taught journey into music. His early gospel influences evolved into a unique fusion of country, blues, and gospel, creating the electrifying genre of Rock ‘n’ Roll. In 1954, at only 19, he recorded “That’s All Right,” marking the birth of a musical legend.

Elvis wasn’t just a musical innovator; he was a cultural phenomenon. His rebellious dance moves and magnetic stage presence challenged the norms. He transitioned seamlessly into acting, starring in iconic films like “Love Me Tender” and “Jailhouse Rock.”

However, fame came at a cost, and Elvis faced personal struggles. Despite the challenges, his music continued to resonate. Even now, classics like “Hound Dog” and “Can’t Help Falling in Love” transcend generations.

Elvis Presley’s impact on music and culture is undeniable. He was known for his unique voice, charismatic persona, and electrifying performances. He sold over one billion records worldwide, making him one of the best-selling solo artists in history. He received numerous awards throughout his career, including three Grammy Awards and the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.

Elvis’s influence can still be seen in today’s music. Many contemporary artists, such as Bruno Mars, Lady Gaga, and Justin Timberlake, have cited Elvis as an inspiration. His music continues to be featured in movies, TV shows, and commercials.

Elvis left us in 1977, but his legacy lives on. I appreciate his breaking barriers and fearlessly embracing his artistic vision. Elvis Presley’s impact on music and culture is timeless, a testament to the enduring power of his artistry. His music has inspired generations and will continue to do so for many years to come.

Teaching Resources

Use our resources and tools to improve your student’s writing skills through proven teaching strategies.

BIOGRAPHY WRITING TEACHING IDEAS AND LESSONS

We have compiled a sequence of biography-related lessons or teaching ideas that you can follow as you please. They are straightforward enough for most students to follow without further instruction.

BIOGRAPHY LESSON IDEA # 1:

This session aims to give students a broader understanding of what makes a good biography.

Once your students have compiled a comprehensive checklist of the main features of a biography, allow them to use it to assess some biographies from your school library or on the internet using the feature checklist.

When students have assessed a selection of biographies, take some time as a class to discuss them. You can base the discussion around the following prompts:

• Which biographies covered all the criteria from their checklist?
• Which biographies didn’t?
• Which biography was the most readable in terms of structure?
• Which biography do you think was the least well-structured? How would you improve this?

Looking at how other writers have interpreted the form will help students internalize the necessary criteria before attempting to produce a biography. Once students have a clear understanding of the main features of the biography, they’re ready to begin work on writing a biography.

When the time does come to put pen to paper, be sure they’re armed with the following top tips to help ensure they’re as well prepared as possible.

BIOGRAPHY LESSON IDEA # 2:

This session aims to guide students through the process of selecting the perfect biography subject.

Instruct students to draw up a shortlist of three potential subjects for the biography they’ll write.

Using the three criteria mentioned in the writing guide (Interest, Merit, and Information), students award each potential subject a mark out of 5 for each of the criteria. In this manner, students can select the most suitable subject for their biography.

BIOGRAPHY LESSON IDEA # 3:

This session aims to get students into the researching phase, then prioritise and organise events chronologically.

Students begin by making a timeline of their subject’s life, starting with their birth and ending with their death or the present day. If the student has yet to make a final decision on the subject of their biography, a family member will often serve well for this exercise as a practice exercise.

Students should research and gather the key events of the person’s life, covering each period of their life from when they were a baby, through childhood and adolescence, right up to adulthood and old age. They should then organize these onto a timeline. Students can include photographs with captions if they have them.

They can present these to the class when they have finished their timelines.

BIOGRAPHY LESSON IDEA # 4:

Instruct students to look over their timeline, notes, and other research. Challenge them to identify three patterns that repeat throughout the subject’s life and sort all the related events and incidents into specific categories.

Students should then label each category with a single word. This is the thematic concept or the broad general underlying idea. After that, students should write a sentence or two expressing what the subject’s life ‘says’ about that concept.

This is known as the thematic statement . With the thematic concepts and thematic statements identified, the student now has some substantial ideas to explore that will help bring more profound meaning and wider resonance to their biography.

BIOGRAPHY LESSON IDEA # 5:

Instruct students to write a short objective account of an event in their own life. They can write about anyone from their past. It needn’t be more than a couple of paragraphs, but the writing should be strictly factual, focusing only on the objective details of what happened.

Once they have completed this, it’s time to rewrite the paragraph, but they should include some opinion and personal commentary this time.

The student here aims to inject some color and personality into their writing, to transform a detached, factual account into a warm, engaging story.

A COMPLETE UNIT ON TEACHING BIOGRAPHIES

Teach your students to write AMAZING BIOGRAPHIES & AUTOBIOGRAPHIES using proven RESEARCH SKILLS and WRITING STRATEGIES .

• Understand the purpose of both forms of biography.
• Explore the language and perspective of both.
• Prompts and Challenges to engage students in writing a biography.
• Dedicated lessons for both forms of biography.
• Biographical Projects can expand students’ understanding of reading and writing a biography.
• A COMPLETE 82-PAGE UNIT – NO PREPARATION REQUIRED.

FREE Biography Writing Graphic Organizer

Use this valuable tool in the research and writing phases to keep your students on track and engaged.

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To Conclude

By this stage, your students should have an excellent technical overview of a biography’s essential elements.

They should be able to choose their subject in light of how interesting and worthy they are, as well as give consideration to the availability of information out there. They should be able to research effectively and identify emerging themes in their research notes. And finally, they should be able to bring some of their personality and uniqueness into their retelling of the life of another.

Remember that writing a biography is not only a great way to develop a student’s writing skills; it can be used in almost all curriculum areas. For example, to find out more about a historical figure in History, to investigate scientific contributions to Science, or to celebrate a hero from everyday life.

Biography is an excellent genre for students to develop their writing skills and to find inspiration in the lives of others in the world around them.

HOW TO WRITE A BIOGRAPHY TUTORIAL VIDEO

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How to Write a Biography Essay

You have likely composed tens, if not hundreds, of essays of various varieties as a high school or college learner. However, a biographical essay is unlike anything else you may have ever authored. Even though it can seem simple, writing a biography essay can be pretty challenging for newbie writers.

Nevertheless, what constitutes a good biography essay? What is the process of composing a factual but engaging biography? If you have such questions, you are in the right place. Please keep scrolling and learn how to write a biography essay.

Before understanding how to compose a biography essay, you must first discover what it is. In a biographical paper, you describe the course of someone’s life. You strive to establish a picture of the person by providing details than just their background, occupation, and important dates. Your essay should discuss the person’s goals, achievements, values, and philosophy of life.

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That person might be a famous actor, politician, musician, author, or entrepreneur, among other historical figures. The purpose of the biographical essay is to describe the individual in question and their impact on society.

Also see: Personal essay vs autobiography essay 

Below is a guide containing some of the most vital steps to follow when writing a biography essay.

Identify the Subject and Scope of Your Essay

You need to choose your audience, consider your views, and, most importantly, consider a solid subject when getting ready to write your biography essay. You may believe that the simplest task is identifying a person to write about the cover. However, it is one of the most challenging parts of the composition process.

The subject for your biography essay will be the individual whose existence you will be detailing. You must choose an intriguing, significant, or eligible subject to be the focus of a biography essay if you want your article to be successful. Select a subject from which you can quickly learn a vast amount of information from books, articles, periodicals, newspapers, and personal interviews.

The ideal candidate is someone you are personally interested in. In this manner, you will be inspired to investigate more about their life story and write passionately about them. Ask yourself, why pick the individual, and what have they accomplished that ought to be documented and commemorated?

Remember, after picking a subject of your choice, you are a step closer to authoring an excellent biography essay. You are now ready to proceed to the next step.

Establish Authentic Sources and Conduct a Thorough Research

You should devote enough time to researching. Sufficient research is the basis of any well-written paper. Your essay will appear more competent the more references you consult. Therefore, endeavor to locate as many books and articles that discuss them to get a comprehensive vision of the person’s story.

Below is a list of key points to consider when conducting your research. They will help you identify the correct sources and study the right information.

• Do not wait until the last moment to commence your research; give yourself enough time.
• Assess the essay’s topic to help you determine which part of the essay you should concentrate your research on.
• List all information you currently know, pinpoint your information gap, and make a strategy of the information to study and improve on.
• Set some time to read the books on your reading list and research the literature for your essay.
• Contact your instructor or the library for help locating relevant sources, and utilize the index rather than reading the entire book.
• Use caution while using internet resources because they could not be dependable or competent in their academic standards.
• Prepare your findings, then create an opinion. After doing so, you can formulate your essay’s structure.

Create Your Essay’s Outline

It’s time to organize the facts you’ve gathered after doing your research to create a compelling story. Therefore, it’s critical to consider the essay structure and create its outline. Typically, an outline will serve as the conceptual framework for organizing your article. The main objective here is to list the essential points you wish to make in the essay.

Create a five-paragraph structure for your essay, with an introduction, at least two body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Keep your writing within the allotted word count. The easiest method is to write the facts chronologically, focusing on each rubric’s major life events.

Below is a possible outline of a basic five-paragraph biography essay outline that you could use.

• Introduction:  Identify your subject in the introduction and declare the thesis statement you will sustain in the body paragraphs.
• Body Paragraph I:  Create a topic sentence that advocates for the thesis, then use illustrations and facts to support it while describing how they relate to the thesis.
• Body paragraph II : Here, you could add a new aspect or rationale about the
• person’s life, bolster it, and establish the connection.
• Body paragraph III : This paragraph has a similar form as paragraph two. However, it ought to make a distinct point and explain it.
• Conclusion:  Here, you restate the thesis statement, and you might include a call to action at this point if you like.

After coming up with a suitable outline, you are ready to get into the actual writing.

Write Your Draft

Always remember that when writing a biography essay, you are at least partially attempting to convince the reader of the subject’s interest and the deservingness of them being in a standalone essay. Your writing style should reflect how passionate you are about the subject. After all, why should anybody else give importance if you find your subject boring?

Your choice of language should be academic yet still evocative. However, you should also pay attention to changing up your sentence structures, making wise word choices, and other writing strategies that will help you tell your subject’s existence in a way that is captivating and accurate to its significance.

Below is a guide on how to maneuver the draft, starting with your introduction, the body, and finally, the conclusion.

• The Introduction

The introduction, which serves as the essay’s opening paragraph, should immediately grab the reader’s interest. You could begin by using a famous phrase or proverb said by your subject. This quote ought to give readers a clear picture of them and help them grasp their personality type.

Another choice is to use a personal tale or short story. This perfect narrative or anecdote should be brief, clear, and convey a strong message about the subject. This will retain the essay’s audience’s attention.

Proceed with the introduction by providing details on the individual’s basic identity. This includes their name, birthdate, birthplace, and information about their education, marriage, and occupation. Keep these details strictly on an introductory level. Finally, establish a thesis statement which is a one-liner that encapsulates the subject’s inherent character. It serves as the blueprint for the remainder of the essay.

You put the material from your study in the body paragraphs. Here, you must stay true to your essay’s core premise, expressed in the thesis statement. Remember to describe their childhood to adulthood information in chronological order. Furthermore, include fascinating details such as what their relatives, friends, and coworkers thought of them and what sort of effect they left on others.

Use a chronology to explain their achievements and the effects they have had or are still having on modern society. Furthermore, include memories from their pasts that affected the actions they made afterward to retain the reader’s curiosity peaked.

Any significant incident that significantly altered the course of their lives should be recounted in the body. Similarly, it is vital to discuss topics like how they addressed challenges. Remember, the included information must accurately reflect the complexity of their existence.

The essay’s conclusion is where you present your findings on the subject. You need your essay to conclude strongly. Simply restating your thesis or the ideas you stated in your body paragraphs is insufficient. Instead, surpass that by connecting their legacy to the present.

• You could ask yourself the following questions;
• What kind of impact did they have on their specialized field?
• How does their work still hold up today?
• What is left behind?
• How do people remember them?
• What or who did they significantly influence?

Completing the draft is a great achievement in writing a biography essay. However, it is not the last step.

Conclude the Composition Process

After authoring your essay’s draft, there are some vital requirements that you should complete before you submit the essay. They include;

• Proofread and edit your work to correct any errors.
• Cite your references and create a reference list.
• Request feedback from colleagues or other professional writers.

After completing these steps, your biography essay should be ready for submission.

As mentioned earlier, composing an excellent biography essay is not a walk in the park. The task calls for the writer to have the necessary basic writing skills and, even more, a passion for their subject. This article has taken you through how to write a biography essay. Please utilize this information to help you write factual and captivating biography essays.

All the best!

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How to Write Biographical Essay: About Yourself or Other Person

Writing an essay is a usual task students are assigned on a daily basis. Since there are multiple types of essays, they differ in their structure, purpose, and requirements. A biographical essay is not a very common type of academic writing. Hence, not every student is aware of how to write it. Should I write about facts from a person’s life? How do I write an autobiography essay? If these and more questions bother you when you think about composing a bio essay, then you should definitely read our guide below on how to write a biography essay.

What Is a Biographical Essay?

Before you start writing an introduction to the biographical essay, you have to learn what it is. A biography essay is a type of academic writing in which a writer should tell the audience about a certain person’s life.

The main difference between a bio essay and other types of essays is that the author should provide an in-depth overview of someone’s history of life including much more facts than just the date of birth, childhood, and occupation.

When writing this type of essay, it is essential to analyze a person’s life, not just state the events in chronological order. Otherwise, it will be an informative type of academic writing that just states the information.

The Main Purpose of a Bio Essay

The goal of writing a biographical essay is to tell a story about a person’s life and highlight the significant achievements she or he did during the lifespan. Special attention should be given to the things that the subject is popular for. However, the writer should also focus on analyzing the facts, providing personal thoughts on what the person did right or wrong, and how the main character reached the results he is famous for.

Biography Essay About Yourself

It is also very common to be assigned to compose an essay about yourself. This type of academic piece of paper is called an autobiography. And while writing information about someone else sounds pretty easy, analyzing your own life might be more complicated.

An autobiography essay is always required when applying for college, different courses, or competitions. And the procedure of writing it is the same as writing a biographical essay but in this case, you become the main character of the story.

Biography Essay About a Person

The peculiarities of writing about someone else in the first place are hidden in making a choice on whom to tell about. Depending on the topic of your essay, this can be a famous person or someone you know as a friend. So whether you write about a celebrity or your relative, the approach to writing will be different.

In the first case, you will have to gather a lot of information from trusted sources. The more fascinating facts you gain, the better as it will help you to compose a perfect essay. In the second case, your knowledge about a person will be your main source of information.

How to Plan a Biography Essay Writing

Before you get an answer to a question: “How to write biographical essay?”, you should definitely seek information on how to start a biography essay. Since you will have to write about a person’s life in a logical and coherent way, it is crucial to prepare for this creative process. Below you will find the description of the main steps that will help you to get yourself ready for the writing.

Choose Your Biographical Essay Topic

The first and most important step to take is to choose the right topic. Unless you are given a specific person to write about by your teacher, you should make this choice wisely. Always consider picking up a character you are interested in. Then narrow down your selection by the availability of information about the person. Before you consider choosing one topic, look for credible sources that provide truthful information about the subject of your work.

Also, here you can find some examples of topics for a biographical essay:

• Marilyn Monroe: a fashion icon of all times.
• The history of the life of Queen Elizabeth II.
• Donald Trump: successful businessman and politician.
• Mother Teresa and her mission in life.
• Pope Francis: first American pope.
• Ludwig Beethoven and his eternal music.
• Malcolm X: a racism fighter.
• Elon Musk: the king of space.
• Greta Thunberg: young ecoactivist.
• Pele: a star of football.
• Albert Einstein: a face of science.
• Biography of my friend.
• A person in my life who inspired me.
• A history of the life of a member of my family.
• My autobiography.

Create a Biography Essay Outline

When you have chosen a perfect topic for your essay, it is quite a time to go to the next step and create a biography essay outline. In your structure, you have to cover the following paragraphs:

• An introduction.
• 1st body paragraph.
• 2nd body paragraph.
• 3rd body paragraph.

As you see, a biographical essay outline is the same as any other type of essay. Depending on the amount of information and your arguments, you can add more paragraphs to the body of your essay.

Conduct an Informational Research

An essential step in creating an A+ biographical essay is gathering information. However, you should not trust every link on the Internet since especially about famous people there is numerous fake news.

So in order to gather only real facts, you should look for authoritative publications, magazines, and books about the person you are analyzing in your work. All sources should have a reference list from where the information was taken. You can also get useful pieces of info from interview videos of celebrities if there are ones.

How to Start a Biography Essay?

When the preparation procedure is done, you are ready to start writing your biographical essay. Whether you wonder how to write a biography essay about yourself or another person, the instructions will be the same. The introduction of a paper is where a reader forms the first impression. So it should be very captivating and engaging. Learn what your opening paragraph should include.

Biography Essay Hook

Inserting a hook at the beginning of the essay is the perfect tactic to keep the audience motivated to read your work. This can be a quote from the person you are describing, an anecdote from his life, or a shocking fact.

A hook should be moderately exciting. Don’t try to create something unbelievably fantastic. This opening sentence should be real and catchy.

Biography Thesis Statement

The main purpose of writing a biography essay is in the thesis statement. Whether you write biography essay topics about famous people or yourself, you have to make your personal thoughts of what you think the character is recognizable for. A statement should be placed at the end of the introductory paragraph.

The statement is the main idea of the essay. Whether it is a positive or a negative trait of a person, your next paragraphs should fit it. It is not acceptable just to write general information. The whole text should correspond with the thesis statement written in the introduction.

Biography Essay Body Paragraph

The main scope of information is described in the body paragraphs of the essay. When following a standard instruction on how to write an essay on a person, the main part of the work should consist of three body paragraphs. All the info you will be sharing should go in a chronological way. Include interesting facts, intriguing stories, and clear examples from the person’s life. Here is how you can build your essay body.

1st Body Paragraph About Childhood

Write some info about a person’s early years of living. Guide the audience through the place of birth of the person, his parents, and the moments that shaped him as the person he is or was in maturity.

2nd Body Paragraph About School and College Period

Education is the most essential factor that influences a person’s life. So in your second body paragraph, you should focus on providing the facts about the character’s school and college life. Most likely, the talent of a person was revealed exactly at school times, so you might explain to the audience what the first steps to success were.

3rd Body Paragraph About Maturity

The main discoveries happen in life when you become an adult. So that is where you should focus on providing interesting facts about the person’s achievements, turning points, and growth. If there were major accomplishments made by the character, it is important to analyze their connection and impact on the current state of things.

Biography Essay Conclusion

The wrapping-up paragraph is what gives readers an aftertaste after reading your biography essay. And you definitely want to leave a perfect note at the end of the story. That is why just restating the thesis statement will not be enough. In this part of the work, your main task will be to cover the following.

Relevance of the Person’s Work

Imagine reading several paragraphs about a famous character who made some incredible discoveries in his life. Surely, at the end of the story, you will want to find out how these accomplishments can be applied in today’s society. And that is what every reader would like to see in the concluding part.

If the person was so significant, what did he leave for our generations? If this is a scientist, then we can rely on their discoveries; if this is a singer, we can listen to their music; if this is a fashion model, we can get inspiration from his character. Demonstrate in such a way what can be useful for us to get from the person you described.

The Major Achievements

In conclusion, you can focus again on the major accomplishments of the person. Draw a parallel to how these achievements affect and will affect humanity. Write how it is influenced the most by the character of your story.

How to Write a Good Biography Essay: Advanced Tips

You already know the main steps on how to write an essay about a person. But there is always room for improvement especially if you don’t write everyday biography essays. Besides following the instructions on how to start biography essay and write body paragraphs, there are more tips that will help you in this process. Here they are.

• Rely only on facts. Even though in the biography essay you should state your personal opinion about the character you are describing, everything that is related to the person’s life should be 100% true. So never write any information without double-checking it in the sources.
• Don’t spare time for conducting research. A bio essay is a piece of academic writing, so you need to provide exclusive information about another person. Thus, you have to conduct thorough research on that person’s life and dig deeper.
• Create a strong personal statement. In fact, everyone can go to the Internet and read about a famous person’s life and major events. But if you want to make an authentic and outstanding paper, you should make a solid thesis statement and shape the rest of the essay to it.
• Provide evidence. Nothing can make a better impression on a reader than supporting facts with real examples. So if you want the audience to remember your essay, try methods of visualization.
• Make smooth transitions. When you are jumping from different time periods, it is important to make it as smooth as possible. Thus, you have to insert transition words and phrases that will make the overall text sound coherent.

Need Help Writing a Biography Essay?

If you don’t want to waste time learning how to start a biography essay about yourself or how to start an essay about a person, you can turn to our essay service. We can write you an academic paper of any type and complexity within the shortest deadline.

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How many paragraphs are in a biography essay?

If following a standard biography essay format, you will have to write five paragraphs: an introduction, three body paragraphs, and a conclusion.

What is a biography essay structure?

A biography essay structure relates to the parts your work should consist of. This is the number of paragraphs you should build your bio essay on.

How to write an introduction for a biography essay?

If you wonder how to start a biographical essay, make these steps of preparation: begin with the topic selection, then create the outline for your essay, and conduct research on the person you are to describe.

How do you write a biography essay?

If you want to know how to write a biography paper, make sure to follow these instructions: get ready for writing by doing research on the topic you have chosen; start your essay with a hook and thesis statement; provide information in chronological order; and then conclude what you have written.

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How to write a biography essay

The complete guide on biographical storytelling

Anyone can learn how to write a perfect biography essay about someone else’s life by making sure to focus on true, objective facts about a specific person. First, determine the scope of the person’s life (years), pick a central theme, and write out the biography using the classic narrative arc.

Many college courses include an essay writing component, and a biography essay is one of the types of essays that you may encounter, especially if you are taking courses in liberal arts disciplines such as history or cultural studies. This guide from Ultius will provide you with a thorough overview of how to write an effective biography essay. The guide will include the following sections:

• purpose of a biography essay
• biography and culture
• elements of a good biography essay
• how to write a great biography essay
• samples/examples
• additional information

After reading this guide, you should feel confident in your ability to write a strong biography essay, or at least in your ability to find the right kind of help to write such an essay.

Purpose of a biography essay

"Biography" literally means the story of a life. So, when you write a biography essay, what you are trying to do is to write the story of someone's life. ( Autobiography is a related concept that refers to the story of your own life.) If your biography essay is successful, then by the end of reading it, the reader should have a clear idea of what your subject did in his/her life and why his/her life was interesting and/or important enough to be the subject of a biography essay.

According to the Ultius glossary, a biography is a detailed descriptions of a famous person’s life and accomplishments (as a genre). Biographies typically contain intricate details of the subject’s personal life and sometimes include an analysis of the person’s personality and attributes.

A biography essay is similar to other forms of essays, such as the narrative essay, insofar as it involves telling a story. A biography essay, however, is supposed to be rooted in historical fact, and it should describe your subject using objective tone and language.

Narrative essay how-to guide. Click here is you are interested in learning how to write a narrative essay instead.

There are two important things to remember about a biography essay.

1. It is a true story that describes the life of your subject. You are not allowed to just make things up, and there should be scholarly documentation confirming that what you are writing is valid.

2. It is a story about someone else, generally a famous historical figure . If you were writing about yourself, that would be a memoir, which for present purposes should be considered as different from a biographical essay.

Only use details and facts that can be verified through documents or existing sources. An important hallmark of biography essays is that they are true.

The importance of biography essays

The English writer Samuel Johnson had this to say about biographies:

"No species of writing seems more worthy of cultivation than biography, since none can be more delightful or more useful, none can more certainly enchain the heart by irresistible interest, or more widely diffuse instruction to every diversity of condition.”

The main idea here is that my reading biographies, people can gain insight into the lives of other people who have done amazing things. This can be enchanting in its own right, and it can also provide the reader with inspiration for his own life and help the reader look at his own life with fresh eyes.

Stuck with writing? Essay services from Ultius can help with biography writing.

For example, are you interested in doing philosophy? If so, you may find it inspiring to read biographies such as:

• Ludwig Wittgenstein: The Duty of Genius , by Ray Monk
• Albert Camus: A Life , by Olivier Todd
• Søren Kierkegaard: A Biography , by Joakim Garff

A nice thing about the genre of biography is also that biographies are written about a huge range of different figures in different disciplines, meaning that you can find biographical subject that may specifically interest you or move your heart.

Biography and culture

Biographies play an important role in preserving human cultural memory: it is like history, except focused on the life of one person. People have been telling stories about heroes and other admirable figures since the beginning of the human species.

Modern biography, though, is somewhat different from the old heroic stories, in that modern biography is supposed to be objective and scholarly, and it is generally rooted in a secular view of time and history. In other words, modern biographies are based in reason more than imagination, and they are not supposed to include magical and/or irrational events.

Biography vs. legend

Biography is a modern scholarly discipline that has some similarities to the much older genre of the legend, but it is also different in some important ways.

So, the genre of biography carries on the old tradition of telling stories about the lives of admirable figures. But whereas the old legends were more imaginative and quasi-fictional in their tellings, modern biography is supposed to be based on reason and objective, verifiable facts about the life of the subject.

Elements of a good biography essay

In order to write a compelling biography essay, there are certain elements that you will have to include. Here are some of them.

Linear narrative arc

This may seem somewhat obvious, but a human life naturally resembles a story, starting with birth and ending in death, with various drama and events happening in between. This is the natural arc that you should follow when writing your biography essay. In general, you should begin your essay with the birth of your historical figure and then follow him/her through the events of his/her life until death.

Some biography essays might be able to get with innovations such as non-linear structure, but unless you really know what you are doing, that can get very confusing, and your biography essay would be difficult to follow. So, for all intent and purpose, we can say that following a linear narrative arc is a best practice for writing a biography essay.

Different types of narrative structures

These are some of the possible types of narrative structure. When writing a biography essay, you are strongly advised to stick to the linear structure.

The linear structure is the standard for most biographies; it starts at a specific point in the protagonist's life and moves forward in chronological order. Nonlinear structure is more complex as this style moves between time periods with time skips and flashbacks. Thematic structure strategically conveys given and new information to frame and insert specific themes.

Choose a compelling biography essay subject

For your biography essay, your subject will be the person whose life story you will be writing. In order for your biography essay to be effective, you will have to pick a subject who is interesting, important, or otherwise qualified to be the subject of a biography essay. You should ask yourself the question: why choose your subject, and what has your subject done that deserves to be recorded and remembered?

Of course, there's a sense in which every single human life is interesting and important. But for the purposes of your biography essay, you will want to dig deeper and consider why your subject is worthy of being remembered in the collective cultural memory.

An effective biography usually focuses on someone who has affected history, or someone who has achieved a high level of excellence within his/her discipline or field.

Søren Kierkegaard: A very important philosopher

Kierkegaard would be an example a good subject for a biography essay, because his works are generally considered a turning point in modern philosophy.

The subject of your biography essay does not necessarily need to be well-known. In fact, it can be a lot of fun to dig into the life of someone is not well known but should be. The important thing is that your subject must be compelling, and there must be a solid reason why his/her story should be told.

Also, when picking a subject, you may want to make sure that you actually like your subject. That can make writing a biography essay more fun, and your respect for the subject (or lack thereof) will also probably come across in your writing. If you want to convince others that your subject is compelling, then it would help if you find him/her compelling.

Choose biographical (life) events wisely

A lot can happen in a life, and it would probably be impossible for you to include everything there is to know about your subject within a single biography essay. So, you should choose the high point, or the most important points, and then focus on those.

Events in the life of Kierkegaard

These are key events that could be the focus of a biography essay on Kierkegaard.

Garff, Joakim. Søren Kierkegaard: A Biography. Princeton: Princeton U P, 2007.

How to write a great biography essay

Now that you know about the elements of a biography essay, you can follow these steps in order to ensure that your biography essay turns out to be a success.

Next, integrate the specific biography related aspects listed below.

Determine the scope of your biographical essay

Again, your biography essay won't be able to include everything there is to know about your subject. So, you will want to map out the scope of your biography essay before you get started. The birth and death of your subject are the logical starting and ending points for your essay. Then, you will want to select a few events or accomplishments in the life of your subject that are worthy of remembrance.

You can develop a full-fledged outline, or you can use a table like the one developed above. Either way, though, you will have to have a clear idea of where you will begin, where you will end, and the path that you will take from the beginning to the end.

Compile credible sources

Your biography essay has to be rooted in verifiable facts about the life of your subject. This means that it is important that you identify and document the sources of your information. The essay sources should generally be scholarly in nature, and you should avoid using websites to the greatest extent possible. This is because it is often difficult to tell whether the content on websites have been drawn from credible sources.

Questions to ask when compiling sources

If there are references listed on a website about your subject, then you should trace those references back to the original academic sources. Those are the sources you should use for your biography essay.

Write in a clear and compelling style

Remember: with your biography essay, you are at least partly trying to show your reader why your subject is interesting and why he/she deserves to have an essay written about him/her.

Your interest in your subject should come across in your writing style. After all, if you feel bored with your subject, then why should anyone else pay attention?

The language you use should be scholarly (but still filled with imagery ), but you should also focus on varying sentence structure, using excellent word choice, and other writing techniques that tell the life story of your subject in a compelling way that does justice to the importance of your subject.

Samples/examples

See the example biographical essay below for a clear example of how it needs to be written.

As the sample shows, it’s very important to be focused on true details. Please see the list of blog posts below for more examples of biography essays:

• Biography essay on Hillary Clinton
• Biography essay on Frank Rosolino
• Short essay on Edgar Allan Poe

If you need more help or would like something written for your own needs, consider buying custom essays from Ultius . Our talented writes can help you get something done in as fast as three hours.

Additional information

That brings us to the close of this guide on the biography essay. Here is a recapitulation of some of the best practices that have been covered here.

Develop a focused arc

You should use a linear narrative structure, starting with the birth of your subject, ending with their death, and focusing on selected key events and accomplishments in the subject's life.

Write in the scholarly mode

Although a biography essay is a kind of "story," it should still be written in a rational, scholarly way, and referencing in MLA or Chicago style is usually required for this kind of essay.

Love your subject

If you get to choose your subject, then you should pick a subject that you personally admire. This will make the writing process more fun, and your interest will also show in your writing and make the biography essay more enjoyable for the reader.

Find help if you need it

Finally, Ultius has plenty of resources that can help you write a successful biography essay and hone your skills as a writer. Please feel free to lean on us.

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Biography Outline Templates & Examples

Biography refers to the historical information about a subject that is written by a person other than the subject himself. Like any other piece of writing, an outline is needed to do a better job. The outline basically provides the step-by-step guidance that is to be followed from scratch through to the end result.

Biography outline templates

Other than saving time, the templates cut down the hassles that one may have to go through to deliver a final end. That is primarily because it seeks to break those difficult concepts into simpler and easy-to-understand narratives. This is not to mention also that it provides a framework that when followed diligently, solves all the mysteries.

How to write a biography outline

Step i: seek permission from the subject.

Start off by seeking the permission of the subject. You just cannot start writing about a person that way. You have to talk to him to ask him whether he is comfortable with that fact or not. This permission is also necessary to ward off any unnecessary legal tussles that are likely to emerge.

Step ii: search for the primary sources of information about the subject

Upon receiving permission, you should now search for the primary sources of information about the subject you are intent on writing about. These sources include first-hand narratives, past books written by the subject, and interviews with the persons concerned. Be fair and impartial to get both sides of the argument.

Step iii: pay personal visits to the relevant locations

As part of your effort to collect the relevant information, you should also pay personal visits to the relevant locations where those events supposedly took place. Take time yet again to speak to the persons at those scenes. This way, you will be able to corroborate the information you had received earlier on.

Step iv: study the place and time of the life of the subject

Do spend some time to study the place and the times of the life of the subject. This again will go a long way in furnishing you with the necessary pieces of information. Over and above that, it also serves as a way to corroborate the facts you will already have attained beforehand.

Step v: prepare a timeline of the person’s life

Finish off by preparing a timeline of the person’s life. We have already pointed out that the outline provides a framework against which other vital pieces of information are supplied. This timeline is the one in fact that provides this particular framework.

Tips for writing a biography outline

• Identify yourself as a writer. Even before commencing the writing exercise, you should identify yourself as a writer. State who you are, your background, and how qualified you are to draft the outline altogether. This will instill some confidence in the audience who will, later on, read the outline.
• Delineate your goal and audience. Move now to delineate your specific goal and target audience. Who exactly are you targeting and why? Having a specific goal and audience will help you to narrow your writing efforts accordingly. In this way, you will also avoid unnecessary language and facts that may not serve the purpose.
• Use the third person tone. Always use the third person tone when writing the article. This serves two purposes. For one, it distinguishes this one from the autobiography. Then, it makes it plain to the reader that the information provided does not concern you, the writer, but rather a third party.
• Highlights the main points and accomplishments. The core of the biography is to showcase the major accomplishments and feats of the subject. Thus, you should make it a matter of priority to highlight those very facts. It is only in this manner that you will be able to let the biography serve its intended purpose.
• Target your information accordingly. Throughout your writing undertaking, be sure to target the information to the specific audience you will have delineated beforehand. Do not stray from the main subject either as this might lead to unnecessary confusion and the possible loss of interest in the literature altogether. Do not forget to proof-read and edit if need be.

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How To Write A Biography Essay And Get An A+

As a high school or college student, you have probably written dozens, if not hundreds, of essays of all types. However, a biographical essay is nothing like you have written before. In fact, despite seeming relatively easy, the task of writing a biography essay can get very confusing to inexperienced students.

Instead of your ideas, a biography essay utilizes facts, but it takes a lot of research and writing skills to write a biography essay that will impress both your peers and your professor. Our  essay writing service has prepared a detailed guide on how to write a good biography essay, and here is everything you need to know.

What Is a Biographical Essay?

Before you can find out how to write a biography essay, you need to learn the answer to the essential question: what is a biography essay? A biographical essay is a type of academic paper where the author tells the story of someone’s life.

In some ways, biographical essays are similar to other types of essays, especially narrative papers. They both tell a story that should captivate and inform the readers. However, a biographical essay focuses solely on the story of one person and often includes an analysis of the person’s personality, not just a list of significant events from the subject’s life story.

Typically, the biography essay format deals with the life story of another person. In some cases, you may be tasked with writing a biography about yourself. In that case, your paper will be called an autobiography essay, and it’s a common assignment in high school and during the college application process.

At first glance, a biography essay may seem like just another type of written assignments that you simply have to do for a good grade. However, a bibliography essay is actually a very important piece of writing that allows you to tell a story of another person’s greatness, significance, or vulnerability through his life events.

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Biography essay outline.

Even though a biographical essay is a unique form of writing, it still requires you to follow a specific format and structure. The biography essay outline helps you keep your thoughts in order and never miss a single significant fact or quote.

So, how to write a biography essay outline? Unless otherwise specified by your professor, you should follow the standard five-paragraph essay structure. It means that your biography essay outline will include the following chapters:

Introduction

• Body paragraph #1
• Body paragraph #2
• Body paragraph #3

Now that you know what is biography essay and how to create a good biography essay outline, it is time to finally find out how to write a biography essay. In this part of our guide, we will focus on a personal biography essay, or autobiography.

Students are often wondering: how to start off a biography essay to make a good impression on the readers? The introduction is the first part of your paper the readers will encounter, and you should pay extra attention to what you write in this chapter.

How to write an introduction for a biography essay? Start with a hook — an attention-grabbing sentence that sets the tone for the paper. It can be a personal anecdote, a fact, or a quote from someone else describing you.

In the rest of the introduction, write a little about yourself without giving up any important facts —  save those for the upcoming chapters of the essay. Finish the introduction with a thesis statement, where you should describe the essence of your biography essay.

Body paragraphs

If you went for the classic five-paragraph structure with your biography, you will have three body paragraphs. There is no standard way to distribute your biography between those three paragraphs, but since you are writing about yourself — a young person whose later years are still ahead of them — you can use the following structure:

• Body paragraph #1: Childhood
• Body paragraph #2: School years
• Body paragraph #3: Current situation

Since it’s a personal essay, you probably won’t use too much research to support your claims, which will be based on your own life. However, you should carefully choose the wording, not to exaggerate your achievements. Be as close to your own life events as possible.

A conclusion is an essential part of any essay, and it’s equally true for a biography essay. Since you are retelling your own life story, and it’s difficult to assess your contribution to the society simply because you are only at the beginning of your own career, you should write about the way your life until this point impacted your development as a person.

How to Write a Biography Essay About Someone Else?

Our essay service has already covered how to write a personal biography essay, but in most cases, you will be tasked with writing a biography essay about a different person — usually, someone famous and significant in their own field. This person can be dead or alive, but they will likely have a rich biography that is relatively easy to write about.

The key to writing a strong biography essay is to rely strictly on facts, not on fiction. It doesn’t mean that you should simply list the facts from the person’s life story without any opinions of your own, but those opinions and assumptions must always be based on the official statements from the person’s biography.

Additional Tips on Writing a Biography

Wondering how to write a biography essay to make it absolutely flawless? Check out these extra writing tips from our expert team of authors that specialize in essay writing in the United States:

• Even though that might seem obvious, you should always use a chronological order when listing the events in a biography essay. There are a few situations where a reverse chronological order also works, but a standard chronological order is easier for the readers to comprehend.
• Not every event from the person’s life is worth mentioning in a biography essay. Before beginning to writing your essay, you need to study the person’s biography in detail. Then, write down the events and experiences that influenced their life and achievements, leaving behind the more insignificant facts.
• When you are writing a biography essay, your job is to give an impartial insight into the life of your subject and assess their contribution to the world. Your readers don’t want to see any generalizations or your own opinions, especially if they are negative — there are other genres of writing where you can do that.

Use Our Biography Essay Examples for Guidance 

Wise people say that a person is molded by all the positive and negative experiences they have had throughout their lifetime. When looking back at the relatively short lifetime I have, I can surely say that it is absolutely true. My secure and smooth childhood years, followed by the turbulent schooltime, have finally made me a resilient person enrolling in college this year. With so many sweet memories and life lessons behind me, I feel ready for a new page in my life. 

The biography of a 19-year-old is probably not that long, so I will start with the earliest memories I have. My childhood was serene and enjoyable, as I lived on a farm with my loving parents and siblings. We had so much fun outdoors, playing with the domestic animals and reaping the fruits of nature in the nearby forest. In the evening, we used to sit down at a large table, having dinner, laughing, and discussing the joys and sorrows of the day. My mother dealt with our early education; she was a kind and patient person, so I never felt it was hard or demanding to master reading, writing, and math. Life was fun, and I never thought that something would change in the relaxed lifestyle we all had on our farm. 

Yet, at the age of 6, I found out that we were moving to the nearby city, as my mother got sick and could not take care of the farm and three children with the previous ease and resilience. She needed medical care and rested most of the day, so my parents made a tough decision to sell the farm and purchase an apartment in Austin, where my two brothers and I went to the local public school. We understood that the decision was hard for parents, so we tried to cheer them up in every way, pretending that we were excited about the change. However, a public school was fundamentally different from the cozy and loving atmosphere of home studies, and the three of us soon realized the full depth of peer cruelty and indifference. 

As we were coping with the hardship of fitting into the public schooling system, our mother was having her own battle with a chronic disease. She won it, but the cost was too high, and she never recovered fully to be an active and merry participant in our home routines. Thus, we concentrated on helping our father and not failing the GPA, finally making it to high school (though not without hardship). 

Though I thought I would never study if I were given an option to choose, at present, I realize that college comes with a large number of unique benefits I cannot afford to miss. Looking at my elderly mother and father, whose happiest moments were on the family farm, I aim to study Agriculture and Biotechnology to connect my career with farming. I do believe that true happiness comes from human unity with nature, so my vocation is to preserve the land’s fertility and let it feed other people. Regardless of whether I will be able to buy a farm for myself and return to that sweet memory of family happiness, I want to make thousands of other households happy with well-established, working agricultural technologies and methods.

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How To Write A Biography Essay

Table of Contents

How to Write a Biography Essay (Writing Guide)

How to start a biography essay.

• How to write body for a biography essay
• How to conclude a biography essay
• Outline example

A biography is a short but elaborate description of a selected person’s life. It details and follows one’s journey from birth to the present time. An effective biography will be brief but it will also capture the most important aspects and experiences of one’s entire life. It is necessary for the biography writer to acknowledge whose life the biography is about, in the introductory part of the paper. The thesis statement will usually be in the introduction, and will summarize the individual’s ‘big picture’ and most important aspects of his or her life.

A biography is often not always about oneself. It can be about someone else. In the latter case, one needs to gather enough data about the person whose biography is to be written. Such data can come from newspapers, internet articles, existing biographies, autobiographies, and government documents other sources. Interviewing the person’s family members, friends, and can also be critical sources of information. Once one has already established sources, he can now settle down and summarize the information in an interesting manner, in an essay form.

How to write body paragraphs for a biography essay

The body paragraphs of the essay must capture four key elements relating to the individual. First, the chronological experiences of events in his or her life are arranged in a timeline. Each significant event in the person’s life will be highlighted in an interesting manner. Not all events will be highlighted but the key aspects must be pointed out including the date and place of birth, the names of parents, siblings and close friends. Additionally, the Alma Mata will also be noted, among many other critical elements touching on early life.

One of the other important parts that must be included in a biography is the subject’s work or career progress. If the subject’s life is closely connected to their career, the writer can break up the biography into sections such that the various job positions are clearly identified. An individual who has worked in many senior positions will imply a long and detailed description of such positions and the periods for which each of such positions were occupied.

It is of utmost importance, when writing a biography, to indicate one or two features that make the person to stand out, or interesting. A comedian for instance, will be noted for his or her comic skills. A politician, a law enforcer, a teacher, a polite individual, gambler, dictator, an activist, artist, irresponsible person, entrepreneur, a daredevil among others will be identified as such. An individual can be identified as being special by their profession, character, or contribution to society in various ways.

The accomplishments must also be outlined. The biographical events touching on major accomplishments such as academic, sports, career accomplishments, among others have to be arranged in such a way that they follow and mirror each other. For instance, the writer can recognize the subject’s accomplishments by age 15, then by 30, by age 40 and so on. This has to be arranged systematically and the accomplishments must be linked to how the person’s current life is. If the person is already dead, the roles that his or her accomplishments played in the person’s later life have to be identified.

It is often a good practice when writing a biography to include flashbacks in the subject’s life. If one has noted, in the timeline that the subject excelled at college games or became a prominent professor, it is important to link this to the person’s earlier sporting or academic performance at high school or elementary level. For example, if he became a professional footballer, one must connect this with the fact that the subject previously took active part in games at high school level, as a games captain or such other notable achievements.

Furthermore, any event that changed the person’s life in one way or the other must be noted. In some instances, the subject overcame obstacles such as coming from a poor family but ending up being wealthy, such as Oprah Winfrey, or being born with major disability such as Nick Vujicic but overcoming such disability to become an influential motivational speaker and entrepreneur. Other individuals took big risks or gambles which transformed their lives. This, too, has to be noted in the biography.

How to conclude a biography essay

In conclusion, a good biography essay will brief detail the events and experiences in a person’s life. Such details need to be detailed as a narration and in prose form. Any quotes used in the biography, such as interviews, must be cited appropriately. From the information contained in the body of the biography, it should be possible to draw conclusion on whether the world would be a better or worse place if the person had not been alive. A candid biography of Adolf Hitler, for instance, will likely conclude that the world would have been a better place without him. On the other hand, a biography on Nelson Mandela, Neil Armstrong, The Wright Brothers, among other notables would point to their great role and positive contribution to society.

Outline example for a biography essay about yourself

Introduction  – identification of the person whose biography is to be written.

• Chronology of key events
• Accomplishments
• Events that changed the person’s life
• Why the person is special or interesting

Conclusion – how the world benefited from the person.

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How to Write the University of Chicago Essays 2024-2025

The University of Chicago is famous for its unconventional supplemental essay prompts, and this year is no exception. While there is one traditional prompt that asks you to write about your interest in UChicago, the star of your essay package will be your response to one of six incredibly outside-the-box prompts (with the sixth being a choose your own adventure).

Because the brainstorming you’ve done for all your other college essays is unlikely to help much here, you want to make sure you leave yourself extra time to really give these prompts the attention they require. One thing you’ll quickly realize is there’s no way to “brute force” your answer—you just need to be patient and let your ideas develop.

In this post, we’ll break down each prompt for you, so that, while you’ll still have to harness your own creativity, you can be confident in your overall approach.

Read these UChicago essay examples written by real students to inspire your own writing!

Before You Begin Writing 

The University of Chicago’s prompts are famous (infamous? both?) for being different, quirky, and sometimes downright weird. Have you ever seen the word cheese or pie in a college essay prompt before? I’m guessing not. But don’t get discouraged or overwhelmed—the weirdness of the UChicago prompts makes them ripe with opportunity to explore your passions, interests, and personal oddities. 

You know that subject you avoid in casual conversation, because it turns you into a gushing ball of enthusiasm that could talk for hours ? UChicago wants to hear about it. Whether it’s feminist literature of Southeast Asia, modern perception of African art, or your job at Colonial Williamsburg, UChicago has happily passed you the mic. 

While your creative opportunity has few bounds, there are some key strategies to conquering the UChicago essays. Keep this checklist of things in mind as you write: 

Unconventional topics often require unconventional styles. 

UChicago essays should definitely be viewed as a piece of creative writing, rather than a dry analysis. When you are in college, you will be asked to write thesis-driven essays, but that’s not what the UChicago essays are asking for. You need to have a clear focus, but you should be comfortable disrupting the familiar rhythms of essay prose.

Strategies can include vivid (and we mean vivid ) imagery, addressing the reader directly, sentence fragments, CAPS, lists, and anything else! Toss in some wild jargon from your field, phrases from another language, anything you’ve got—as long as you explain them. You should try to be imaginative, engaging, and colorful while maintaining an authentic voice and staying focused with your subject matter.

Communicate who you are as an academic.

The point of your essay is still to tell admissions officers about yourself. Give them an image of how you will perform in and contribute to an academic environment. You can’t just gush about your topic—you have to prove that you can engage with it at a highly intellectual level. Explain research protocol, cite specific books you’ve read, mention your AP and IB classes, or give examples of how you’ve collaborated with others to produce results. 

UChicago admissions don’t want a student who says “I love physics”; they want a student who says “I love physics so much that I stayed up until 4 am reading Cosmos by Carl Sagan, and I use meatballs to diagram the moons of Jupiter to my friends, and I took Calc III because I plan on studying mechanical engineering with a focus on aerospace materials.” Be detailed about your studies; be explicit in your interests. 

Marry yourself to your topic.

Be sure to include the first person; you are the main character here, not whatever subject you’re writing about. The subject is an avenue to tell admissions officers about you. You aren’t trying to get your latest film, your famous lasagna, or your community service project into the university— you are trying to get in . Don’t be afraid to center yourself. How do these objects from your past illuminate facets of your personality? What do your interests say about you ?

And, as always, answer the prompt!

Print out the prompt, circle key words, hang it on your mirror. Read it, then read it again, and again . Sit with the prompt, get some (probably crazy!) ideas, then repeat the process! Many UChicago prompts are dense in their weirdness. Some of them take time to even understand. Many prompts will reveal themselves to you in your everyday life (after you’ve read them over and over again). Some of them just take deep thought. The key is to keep thinking and focus on what the prompt is asking. You’ve got this!

UChicago Supplemental Essay Prompts

Prompt 1: How does the University of Chicago, as you know it now, satisfy your desire for a particular kind of learning, community, and future? Please address with some specificity your own wishes and how they relate to UChicago.

Prompt 2:  Choose one of the six extended essay options below and upload a one- or two-page response. Please include the prompt at the top of the page. Past extended essay prompts can be found on our website .

Option A: We’re all familiar with green-eyed envy or feeling blue, but what about being “caught purple-handed”? Or “tickled orange”? Give an old color-infused expression a new hue and tell us what it represents. – Inspired by Ramsey Bottorff, Class of 2026

Option B: “Ah, but I was so much older then / I’m younger than that now” – Bob Dylan. In what ways do we become younger as we get older? – Inspired by Joshua Harris, Class of 2016

Option C: Pluto, the demoted planet. Ophiuchus, the thirteenth Zodiac. Andy Murray, the fourth to tennis’s Big Three. Every grouping has something that doesn’t quite fit in. Tell us about a group and its unofficial member, why (or why not) should it be excluded? – Inspired by Veronica Chang, Class of 2022

Option D: “Daddy-o”, “Far Out”, “Gnarly”: the list of slang terms goes on and on. Sadly, most of these aren’t so “fly” anymore – “as if!” Name an outdated slang from any decade or language that you’d bring back and explain why you totally “dig it.” – Inspired by Napat Sakdibhornssup, Class of 2028

Option E: How many piano tuners are there in Chicago? What is the total length of chalk used by UChicago professors in a year? How many pages of books are in the Regenstein Library? These questions are among a class of estimation problems named after University of Chicago physicist Enrico Fermi. Create your own Fermi estimation problem, give it your best answer, and show us how you got there. – Inspired by Malhar Manek, Class of 2028

Option F: And, as always… the classic choose your own adventure option! In the spirit of adventurous inquiry, choose one of our past prompts (or create a question of your own). Be original, creative, thought provoking. Draw on your best qualities as a writer, thinker, visionary, social critic, sage, citizen of the world, or future citizen of the University of Chicago; take a little risk, and have fun!

How does the University of Chicago, as you know it now, satisfy your desire for a particular kind of learning, community, and future? Please address with some specificity your own wishes and how they relate to UChicago.

The pressure’s on to be unique here, since EVERY SINGLE APPLICANT to UChicago will be answering this required “Why School?” question. Here’s what you need to do:

Provide a tangible connection to UChicago. 

This is composed of specific elements of the university that appeal to you, and UChicago’s website is a great place to delve into these. Be sure to be “particular,” as they stipulate, and give them the “specificity” they’re asking for. Examples include research opportunities at Argonne Labs, the marketing classes in the Business School, or an internship offered through the Creative Writing program. 

Don’t write about UChicago’s general attributes, like fame, prestige, or “intellectual rigor.” And please don’t try to be clever and refute the old canard that UChicago is the place “Where Fun Goes to Die.” Application readers have seen this hundreds, if not thousands of times. And besides, why talk about a tired UChicago stereotype when you can talk about something cool? 

Describe your intangible connection as well. 

How is UChicago a place that aligns with your values, dreams, and goals? How do you vibe with it? For example, if I wanted to write about the Creative Writing internship, I would state explicitly how it draws me in: 

“ I want to attend a college that values the innovative nature of indie comics publishing as much as I do. So, I’m impressed by UChicago’s commitment to providing internships in comics writing through Bult Publishing and The Artifice magazine. One of my goals as a writer is to gain firsthand experience in comics publishing, specifically small houses, and the Creative Writing program at UChicago hits the mark, resoundingly. ”

Engage with faculty and students, if possible. 

This is a perfect place to talk about specific interactions, like sitting in on an inspiring seminar during a campus visit, hearing a professor speak, or seeing how UChicago has prepared a friend for his career. 

However, always be sure to tie these experiences into your own goals and interests! For example, don’t just name-drop a certain Professor Smith. Instead, take the opportunity to find a personal connection to Smith’s research and how great UChicago is for supporting people like her. Your format should be

        Program/Individual/Major – UChicago’s Values – My values

If you want to learn more about a specific professor or their subject, don’t be afraid to politely email them or contact their department. Many love to talk about their work and their interests, or would love to put you in touch with current students. This will better inform you about the school and give you a great edge for this prompt. And, more importantly, you’ll probably get great advice for your higher education journey. Note: the earlier you prepare for this, the better!

It’s worth noting that there is no recommended essay length, but sticking to around 500 words should do the trick. It’s long enough to share the reasons you’ll thrive at UChicago, but not too long that the admissions officers will start to get bored.

Prompt 2, Option A

We’re all familiar with green-eyed envy or feeling blue, but what about being “caught purple-handed” or “tickled orange” give an old color-infused expression a new hue and tell us what it represents. – inspired by ramsey bottorff, class of 2026 .

Brainstorming Your Topic

Like many of UChicago’s prompts, while the topic here is incredibly quirky, you actually do have a clear anchor for your brainstorming: expressions that include a color. To start your brainstorming, you’ll want to generate a list of such expressions, but to do so, we’d advise against just sitting there and wracking your brain.

Instead, you’ll likely find that trying to think of these expressions using context will be more productive. For example, think about whether there are any phrases you use often that could work. Maybe you’ve described yourself as a black sheep before, or when you talk about your best friend, you say they have a heart of gold.

Or, just glance around wherever you’re sitting, and see if anything inspires you. Maybe your mom’s Halloween decorations remind you of “white as a ghost.” Or the nice china that’s out for your dad’s birthday makes you think of being “born with a silver spoon in your mouth.”

The main thing is to just give yourself time, and jot down any potential options as they come to you. If you think of something during soccer practice, make a note to yourself on your phone during your next water break, and add it to your running list later. Don’t count on remembering something the next day–there’s no guarantee it’ll stick in your brain, no matter how brilliant it is!

Try to come up with 5-10 possibilities. You can have more if you want (although at a certain point continuing to brainstorm likely won’t be particularly productive), but you don’t want to have fewer. If you only have two to choose from, you might find that neither is strong enough to support a whole essay.

Once you have those possibilities, think about which ones speak to you the most, and then think of how you’d want to revise them, and which revised versions are most compelling. Which new color you choose, and why, is entirely up to you–maybe you just want to swap in your favorite color, or maybe you think first of what you want your new expression to mean, and work from there. 

Either way, remember that you shouldn’t be afraid to get creative! If you want to talk about being a periwinkle sheep, or having a heart of vermillion, you can do so. Just make sure you’ll be able to show that you have a reason for choosing such an unusual, specific color–you don’t want to seem like you just cracked open the thesaurus for fun.

Tips for Writing Your Essay

Once you’ve chosen your “new hue,” your focus should shift to the second half of the prompt: what it represents, as that’s what you’re going to spend your essay explaining. There are two main things you want to keep in mind as you write:

Creativity 

You’re probably already sick of hearing this tip, but UChicago wouldn’t ask such unusual questions if they wanted ordinary responses. So, don’t have your new hue represent the same thing but with a different color swapped in. For example, being a periwinkle sheep shouldn’t just mean you’re the most whimsical person in a group. 

Rather, try to show off your ability to put your own spin on something. Being a periwinkle sheep could instead mean that you have a lot of friends, but also a strong sense of your own identity–periwinkle is close enough to white that such a sheep could fit in, but also distinct enough that it will be noticeably different from the rest of the flock.

Your Own Personality

As unconventional as UChicago’s prompts are, ultimately your goal is the same as in any other college essay–you want to teach admissions officers about who you are, and why you’d be an asset to their campus community. So, your explanation of your new hue should connect to your own life, not just talk about the expression you’ve created in an academic sense.

For example, maybe you use the idea of a periwinkle sheep to explain how you’ve struggled to find your own identity in high school, and often latched on to different hobbies or friend groups, but since you discovered how much you love cooking, you feel much more grounded.

The connection doesn’t have to be this direct–you can still demonstrate who you are even if you wouldn’t use your new expression to describe yourself. As an alternative, you could draw a comparison between being a periwinkle sheep and doing puzzles, one of your favorite hobbies, by explaining how in a periwinkle sheep, like in a puzzle, you can simultaneously see all the different pieces of who they are and the full picture. You could then talk about some of your favorite puzzles over the years, and what you learned about yourself from assembling them.

However direct or indirect your approach is, make sure that you incorporate plenty of specific anecdotes and experiences from your own life. In other words, show, don’t tell. Just stating that you struggled to find your identity doesn’t teach admissions officers much, because that’s true of many people in high school. Instead, describe some of the specific things you latched onto while trying to find yourself, and reflect on how you felt about them at the time, whether positive or negative, and how you’ve grown since then.

Prompt 2, Option B

“ah, but i was so much older then / i’m younger than that now” – bob dylan. in what ways do we become younger as we get older – inspired by joshua harris, class of 2016 .

This is the most open-ended of UChicago’s prompts this year, so if you’re a philosopher at heart, this could be the prompt for you! If, however, you want a little more structure to guide your thinking, you’ll likely want to choose one of the other options, which do more to provide you with a specific (if unconventional) topic.

If you do decide to tackle this one, you’ll want to start your brainstorming by asking yourself some broad questions, which will hopefully eventually lead you to a more focused idea that you can structure your essay around. For example:

• What do you associate with youth?
• What do you associate with growing older?
• Reflect on your own life: when you compare your childhood to today, how has the way you view the world changed or stayed the same?
• What are your goals for the future, and how do you see lessons from your past helping you achieve them?

Once you’re thinking generally about youth and aging, start trying to generate a list of memories or experiences you’ve had that reflect your thoughts about this topic. Grounding your ideas in specific examples will ensure that admissions officers can easily understand what you’re trying to say. 

Remember, they aren’t reading this essay by the fire at home–they’re reading dozens of essays a day. If there are any points they don’t immediately understand, they don’t have time to reflect on them, even if they’d like to, because they have so many applications to get through. So, clarity is absolutely essential.

For example, maybe you want to write about living in the moment. You might reflect on the happy summer afternoons you spent at your local playground as a kid, and how you could always find something to do. You could then think about how that connects to recent efforts you’ve made to spend less time on your phone, to encourage yourself to instead do things like play with your family dog, or help your parents with cooking dinner, that you won’t be able to do once you go to college.

This is the kind of prompt where brainstorming is more than half the battle. Before you actually start writing, make sure you have a comprehensive outline that includes your overarching point, examples that illustrate that point, and the connections between these examples.

The connections in particular are key. Since the topic of this essay is so abstract, you want to make sure that you concretely connect each anecdote to the next. If you leave the connections up to your reader, they might not have time to make them on their own, and even if they do, there’s no guarantee they fit the different pieces together correctly.

Additionally, do keep in mind that this is still a college essay, which should demonstrate who you are, and in particular your readiness for this next step in your educational journey. Since this prompt is centered around your thoughts on quite a personal topic, making the connection between your ideas on that topic and your identity as a whole should be easier than with some of the other options. 

Still, you want to make sure that your readers–who, remember, are complete strangers with only a small amount of background context on you from your common app info session–will be able to identify key personality traits from your essay that will help distinguish you from other applicants. You don’t want to just seem reflective, as all applicants who respond to this prompt will likely come across as reflective.

Instead, think of more distinctive traits that you pride yourself on in general, like your sense of humor, your love of giving thoughtful gifts, or your passion for ancient history. Choose 2-4–you don’t want to go overboard, as then your essay will be difficult to follow–and think about how you can incorporate those details into your essay. 

You can do so in big ways, by choosing anecdotes that clearly illustrate them, or small ones, like a quick line comparing something in your life to the Egyptian Empire. The key is just that, after finishing your essay, UChicago admissions officers will understand what makes you, you, not just what you think about aging.

Mistakes to Avoid

Again, this is the most philosophical prompt, so you’ll want to take care that your essay doesn’t accidentally become too academic. Your goal isn’t to provide a template for how people should live their lives, but to explain how your thoughts on aging reflect your intellect, curiosity, and overall potential as a UChicago student. 

If you’re unsure whether your essay is striking the right tone, asking friends, teachers, or family members to take a look is a great idea. Someone who doesn’t already know what you’re trying to say can usually give you a more objective sense of whether what you’re trying to communicate about yourself is coming across clearly.

Prompt 2, Option C

Pluto, the demoted planet. ophiuchus, the thirteenth zodiac. andy murray, the fourth to tennis’s big three. every grouping has something that doesn’t quite fit in. tell us about a group and its unofficial member, why (or why not) should it be excluded – inspired by veronica chang, class of 2022 .

Like the first prompt, and unlike Option B, this option gives you narrow parameters for your brainstorming, which is both helpful, as you know what to focus on, and difficult, since those parameters are around a topic that you’ve likely never spent much time thinking about.

You’ll likely find that trying to think of unofficial members right off the bat will be challenging. Instead, start a step further back, with just groups. These could be sports teams, musical bands, groups of fictional characters, categories like the colors of the rainbow, or just about anything you can think of that refers to a well-defined set. 

Ideally, you’ll also have some personal interest in the groups you consider. If you think of the Rolling Stones because they’re your dad’s favorite band, but you don’t know anything about them, you’ll likely struggle to write an effective essay.

As you consider different groups, think about whether there’s an unofficial member. For a lot of groups, there might not be. But, as always with a UChicago essay, being creative is the whole point, so don’t discard any of your options without first thinking a little more deeply about them.

For example, maybe you’re thinking about ingredients, and your mind goes to s’mores. Even though most people probably wouldn’t think beyond the classic marshmallow, chocolate, and graham cracker, maybe your family has always included bananas, so that’s the “unofficial member” you want to write about. That totally works! If anything, other people not thinking of this idea is a positive–this is your essay, after all.

Your unofficial member can also be more obvious. Maybe you’re a huge Star Wars fan, and have always thought the main trio of Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, and Princess Leia should in fact be a main quartet, and include Chewbacca. This being a more widespread inclusion/exclusion debate shouldn’t scare you off. So long as you feel a genuine personal investment in Chewbacca’s inclusion in the group, you’ll be able to write an excellent essay on this topic.

One last thing to note is that the group, and unofficial member, you choose doesn’t have to be famous. UChicago says explicitly that they want you to tell them about the group, so it’s okay if they don’t have prior knowledge of it. You could even choose one from your personal life–for example, maybe one of your cats is a dog at heart, and always joins your two dogs on their romps in the backyard. 

While that kind of topic might seem mundane or silly, in reality extremely personal topics can often stand out the most, as there’s a much lower chance of anyone writing about something similar. Plus, the whole point of college essays is to give admissions officers a sense of who you are on a daily basis, beyond the numbers in your transcript and activities list, and an “ordinary” topic is often a natural way to provide that information.

Of course, there are countless ways to write a strong essay, so if you can’t think of a highly personal topic, don’t panic! Our point is just to not rule out such topics as you brainstorm, as they can often be highly effective.

Like with many UChicago prompts, there are two prongs here: laying out an unusual topic for you, and then telling you what to do with that topic. Here, your task is to explain whether or not your unofficial member should be included, and why. Do remember, though, that your overarching goal is, as always, to use your justification to demonstrate something about who you are, and why you would be an asset to the UChicago community.

If, say, you’re using the s’mores example above, your argument for inclusion shouldn’t be based on the natural flavor of the banana balancing the other, processed ingredients. Instead, think about how your opinion connects to your values, or other key features of your identity.

For example, maybe you compare each ingredient to one of your core personality traits. The graham cracker could be your resilience, the chocolate your empathy, the marshmallow your love of daydreaming, and the banana your love of the outdoors. You could then justify your position by explaining how all four things are necessary to create a full picture of who you are.

Alternatively, for the Star Wars example, maybe you write about how, as a kid, you had a hard time making friends, and seeing a band of heroes which included a creature of another species was inspiring for you. You could talk about how Chewbacca gave you confidence that you could find belonging without changing who you are, and then describe how you carved out a key role for yourself on your high school volleyball team, despite not being tall.

If these justifications seem too personal, that’s actually a good sign! The point of this essay isn’t to convince the whole world to put bananas on their s’mores–the point is to convince UChicago admissions officers to accept you. So, the more personal, the better.

Along those same lines, you want to make sure to incorporate plenty of specific anecdotes. Don’t just say “I found belonging on my volleyball team.” Instead, describe how, at tryouts, you felt your familiar insecurity, until one of the coaches, who also wasn’t tall, took a personal interest in you and encouraged you to concentrate on your passing, with the goal of becoming a defensive specialist who wouldn’t need to play at the net.

The more you can let admissions officers live your experiences alongside you, and witness your thoughts and feelings firsthand, the more invested they will be in your candidacy.

The biggest potential pitfall with this essay is choosing a group that isn’t clearly defined. Since your goal is to use your opinion on this matter to showcase who you are more generally, you don’t want to have to spend a whole bunch of space explaining what your group, and unofficial member, even is. Creativity is a plus, but shouldn’t come at the expense of being efficient with your words.

Prompt 2, Option D

“daddy-o”, “far out”, “gnarly”: the list of slang terms goes on and on. sadly, most of these aren’t so “fly” anymore – “as if” name an outdated slang from any decade or language that you’d bring back and explain why you totally “dig it.” – inspired by napat sakdibhornssup, class of 2028 .

For the previous prompts, we’ve encouraged you to brainstorm your topic in an indirect way, because their focus is on such unusual things. For this prompt, however, just reflecting on your favorite slang expressions that have gone out of style will likely be effective, since slang by definition is something that you’re exposed to in everyday life.

You can also consider the following questions to further inspire you:

• Are there any books or movies from past generations that you enjoy? What kind of slang do they use?
• Are there any slang terms you’ve heard your parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, etc. use that you enjoy?
• Have you ever watched or read an interview with a celebrity from the past and enjoyed a slang expression they used?

Note that, while the examples listed are mainly from the 60s-80s, UChicago is allowing you to cast a broad net, over slang expressions from “any decade or language.” So, if there’s a term you remember from your childhood, that’s fair game! You could even go further back, to terms you may have heard in movies from the 1900s, or even further back than that, to terms that you may have read in, say, Shakespeare.

If you know any other languages, you can also draw on them, but do remember that the term you choose still needs to be outdated. If you learned the non-English language in school, rather than natively, you might not know much about past slang, but resist the temptation to look up terms just to write a standout essay. You’ll need to justify your desire to bring back this term, after all, which will be difficult to do if you don’t actually know anything about it.

Choosing a compelling slang term is key, but that’s just the first step to writing a strong essay. The bulk of your response will be dedicated to explaining “why you totally ‘dig it.’”

This explanation should go beyond just talking generally about liking the sound of the word, or feeling it picks out something distinctive that other words don’t quite capture. You can start there, but you should quickly get to making a connection between this word and your own personality. After all, the point of this essay isn’t to teach UChicago about a new piece of slang–it’s to teach them about you!

For example, say you choose the term “eighty-six,” which was used in the 1950s as a verb, which meant to throw someone out of a place. Maybe your elderly neighbor taught you this expression when you were helping him weed his garden as a kid, and you continued to weed together, “eighty-sixing” the invasive plants, all the way up until he passed away last year. You could talk about how he became a mentor for you during the time you spent with him in the garden, and 

The last thing you do want to make sure to do is actually answer the question, and explain why you want to bring this term back. Even if you tell a rich, captivating story, if you leave that element out, the essay will feel incomplete. You don’t have to spend a ton of space on it, but you do want to make sure your reasoning is connected to the story you’ve told. For the above example, a quick line in the conclusion would do the trick, along the lines of:

“By bringing ‘eighty-six’ back into common lingo, I hope that others find, like I did, that throwing something out can, paradoxically, lead to treasures boomeranging back to you: wisdom, connection, and a friend who I will remember for the rest of my life.”

You don’t necessarily have to have a preexisting personal connection to the term you choose, although that will streamline your writing process. But if you’re thoughtful about meaningful experiences you’ve had that could have some relation to your term, you can definitely use the essay itself to make that link.

For example, say you instead had heard the term “eighty-six” in a movie, and had looked up the definition, but hadn’t thought much more about it, even though you thought it was a fun expression. 

In this essay, perhaps you reflect on how your affinity for the term shouldn’t be surprising, as many of your favorite activities involve eighty-sixing: as a diver, you’re always throwing yourself off the board; as an older brother, you love picking up your much younger siblings and throwing them onto the bed; and a lifelong dream of yours is to go skydiving, which you have been trying to convince your parents to let you do for your 18th birthday.

This essay might conclude with something like: “When I one day convince people to start saying eighty-six again, perhaps it will be with a new connotation: not just throwing someone out of something, but also into something new, and potentially wonderful.”

One last note: while the bulk of your essay should be explaining the significance of the term, you still do need to introduce it and provide a definition. There are a lot of different ways you can do this effectively, but one thing you definitely don’t want to do is just say “The slang term I would bring back is [x], which means [y].” Such a dry approach is unlikely to do anything to grab admissions officers’ attention.

Instead, describe the moment when you first heard this term, or an experience you’ve had that illustrates its meaning. This kind of “in medias res” (Latin for “in the middle of things”) strategy does much more to immediately get admissions officers personally invested in your story and curious about your personal perspective, compared to a literal definition that they could find in any old textbook.

As always, creativity is of the essence. While the first terms that come to mind might be ones like “groovy” that are widely known as outdated, these likely won’t make as strong of an impression on admissions officers as ones that feel more distinct to you. As noted above, your ultimate goal is to use the term to illustrate something about yourself, and that will be easier if you choose a somewhat unique term.

Prompt 2, Option E

How many piano tuners are there in chicago what is the total length of chalk used by uchicago professors in a year how many pages of books are in the regenstein library these questions are among a class of estimation problems named after university of chicago physicist enrico fermi. create your own fermi estimation problem, give it your best answer, and show us how you got there. – inspired by malhar manek, class of 2028.

Like Option D, as far as UChicago prompts go, this is one of the more straightforward ones to brainstorm for, as estimations are likely something you have occasionally wondered about in your regular life. Maybe you’ve often looked at your family’s pet parrot and wanted to know how many feathers she has, or you’re a soccer fan and you’d love to know how many miles Lionel Messi has run in games across his career.

One piece of advice that will help once you get to actually writing your essay is to brainstorm estimations that, like the examples above, have some connection to your personal life. As always, your goal is to use your quirky topic to shine light on some key aspects of your personality, and that will be much harder to do if your estimation doesn’t have anything to do with your interests or who you are. In other words, if you don’t like soccer, the Lionel Messi example probably won’t lead to a good essay.

One last thing to keep in mind: you can get creative with the actual thing you’re estimating. The examples given by the prompt include a “how long” question, not just “how many” ones. Some other things you could measure include:

• Weight: What is the total weight of all the kebab carts in New York City?
• Sound: How loud would every cat in the world purring simultaneously be?
• Speed: How fast would a cart being pulled by every horse in the world go?
• Price: How much would it cost to buy every item ever signed by Paul McCartney?

And don’t be afraid to even go beyond these suggestions!

Once you’ve chosen a Fermi estimation problem, your task is twofold: answer it, and explain how you did so. But remember (especially if you’re a STEM person), this is a college essay, not a math problem. So, your goal actually isn’t to provide an accurate estimate, but to “solve” the problem in a way that shows UChicago how you think, and proves you have ability to get creative.

Your answer doesn’t even have to be an actual number. For example, you could “answer” the cats purring question poetically, by comparing the sound to other things–quieter than dogs barking, but louder than footsteps in fresh snow. You could also take a humorous approach, and say that Lionel Messi must have run at least 3 miles in his career.

Of course, you are also welcome to take an honest stab at the estimation. The specific approach you take is not what matters–what matters is that, in providing your answer, you teach admissions officers something about yourself. They aren’t reading this essay to actually learn how many feathers a parrot is, but to learn how well you would fit into the UChicago campus community, so that is the question that should be at the forefront of your mind as you write your essay–your answer should draw on your own experiences and background, not parrot feather density and your estimate for how many square inches of skin your bird has.

For example, maybe in justifying your earnest estimate of 2,318 feathers on your parrot, you talk about the summer you spent volunteering at a local owl rescue center, where you learned owls have around 10,000 feathers. You then talk about the yearly trips you have taken to visit your family in Puerto Rico, and how the drastic difference in climate between where you’re from and the tropics, your parrot’s native home, makes you think he would have about ¼ as many feathers as an owl.

Or, for one of the unconventional approaches, maybe in talking about all the world’s cats purring simultaneously, you contrast the comfort you got from your cat purring on your chest every morning with the motivation you got from your barking dog, which was abrasive enough to jolt you out of bed. You could then talk about losing your cat one snowy winter night, and how even though you were both soaked and freezing by the time you found her, and came down with pneumonia the day after, there was a peace in your reunion unlike anything you’ve ever experienced before.

The main thing you want to avoid with this prompt is forgetting to respond to some piece of it. Remember, you’ve been given three tasks:

• Create your own Fermi estimation problem
• Give it your best answer
• Show us how you got there

The thing you’re most likely to accidentally gloss over is giving your best answer to the problem. While “showing your work,” aka explaining your personal connection to this estimation problem, should absolutely be the main focus of your essay, and, as noted above, your answer doesn’t even have to be direct, you do want to make sure you provide an answer of some sort. Given how much thought UChicago puts into choosing their essay prompts, you never want to leave any element unaddressed. 

Prompt 2, Option F

And, as always… the classic choose your own adventure option in the spirit of adventurous inquiry, choose one of our past prompts (or create a question of your own). be original, creative, thought provoking. draw on your best qualities as a writer, thinker, visionary, social critic, sage, citizen of the world, or future citizen of the university of chicago; take a little risk, and have fun.

Again, this prompt is, on the surface, granting you a lot of leeway. UChicago even ends it with an exclamation point! But you should always remember: they expect a disciplined, thorough, rigorous essay. Don’t let your sense of fun and frolic drown out your serious intellectual ideas.

Pick a prompt that inspires you to write, and connects with your academic interests. If a prompt jumps out at you, and you’re immediately filled with ideas, it’s probably a good fit. Just take it slowly, jot your thoughts down, and get to work. 

Involve your personal connection to that prompt. If you’re not answering any of the 6 prompts UChicago has issued this year, the onus is on you to prove that you and the archival prompt you’ve picked are a match made in heaven. This means having a lot of knowledge and personal investment in your subject matter, and an angle/perspective totally unique to you. 

If making your own question, remember this: YOUR QUESTION IS YOUR HOOK. So make sure it’s not a question that could be found on a standard-issue application, like “When did I overcome a challenge?” or “What’s a place that feels like home?” These prompts are everywhere. They won’t get the job done, and they won’t make an unforgettable first impression. But “Why did I lock myself in the basement and watch The Bee Movie for eighteen hours?” That’s a different story. 

If you look at past UChicago prompts, they tend to be fond of certain things: numbered lists, fairy tales, common phrases, and items of pop culture that can be re-contextualized. They also like hearing your answers to famous questions, and you might have a unique answer to “Et tu, Brute?” or “Do you like pina coladas and getting caught in the rain?” Just remember that the novelty of the question, while the hook of your essay, is not its substance. If your biography and scholarly interests don’t involve pina coladas, or rain, you might just have to pick a different question to answer – as wonderful as that eternal question is.

UChicago essays take a lot of time and thought—but don’t overthink it. The university wants to hear what you have to say, in its full form. That’s why they give you a page limit, and not a word limit—no last minute cutting! Fully develop your ideas in a way that feels natural. If a paragraph needs to be a little thicker, or if you need to include a longer quote from your favorite author, don’t worry about it. These essays can be fun to write and extremely effective.

You can look up lots of examples of essays online, but try not to get intimidated. It’s the nature of the UChicago essays to encourage everyone to showcase their expertise—which is exactly what you should try to do! You may read sample essays and think, “Wow. I’ve never spent a month in Arizona digging up fossils. How can I ever compete?” Try to reframe the essays as a Giant Celebration of everyone’s achievements and interests not a Competition.

If you’ve written your UChicago essay and are looking for feedback, you might want to check out our free peer essay review . Since the UChicago essay prompts are weird, it’s important to get an extra set of eyes on them to make sure they are clear and engaging! You can also improve your own writing skills by editing other students’ essays.

If you need feedback even faster, you can get a free, nearly-instantaneous essay review  from Sage, our AI tutor and advisor. Sage will rate your essay, give you suggestions for improvement, and summarize what admissions officers would take away from your writing. Use these tools to improve your chances of acceptance to your dream school!

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