Creating a Biopoem on Presidential Candidates
 By Patricia Penrose

Overview

As an alternative to the standard biographical report, a biopoem would work well in any 8-12 social sciences classroom, where a careful study of an historical figure is part of the curriculum.  Choosing a specific historical or contemporary personage, students would approach the assignment in the same manner that they would use for any research project.  However, the product of this assignment would be a distillation of the most noteworthy aspects of that individual's life, condensed to eleven lines of succinct interpretation.

Objectives

 Students will:

  • Design and implement a research plan
  • Collect, collate and evaluate information gathered
  • Synthesize and distill the information
  • Write a coherent, cohesive poem following the model, faithful to the individual studied

Time Required

Research time will depend on the ability level of your students.  The teacher can decide whether to have research days during class time.  Of course, this depends on the resources at your school.  The biopoem itself can be constructed in one class period.

Materials

Initial Motivation

The teacher may ask the class to compile a list of all the ways to describe themselves.  The teacher can model this by saying woman/man, tall/short, daughter/son, etc.  Then ask the students to begin thinking of the many ways to describe the people running for president other than, "he's running for president."  Instruct students that just as they have many facets that make up who they are, candidates have many different parts of their "being" as well.  Tell the students that they are going to do an untraditional report on the people running for president.

Procedures

This assignment allows a teacher to adjust the traditional biographical research paper, giving students an opportunity to work in a different genre while still demonstrating the requisite knowledge.

  1. Students select or receive a presidential candidate that will be the focus of their research.  The teacher goes over the structure of the biopoem so that the students understand the information they will need to complete the assignment.  They will be looking for concepts, personality traits, as well as, evidence of accomplishment.
  2. The next step is to organize a formal research plan, listing what resources they will need, where they will find these resources.  Once they have organized their research strategy, the next step is to do the research, locating the necessary information, completing bibliographic cards for each source and taking notes, using note cards to simplify the organization process.
  3. After completing their research and studying the example, students will organize their material, using the key concepts from each line of the biopoem's structure , e.g., four character traits, three relatives,  three needs, three fears, etc.  The structure is there as a guide; students needn't follow it slavishly, however.

Example of Biopoem

Francois Marie
By Voltaire

Talented, satiric, argumentative, impassioned.

Who was the son of Francois Arouet, related to the Marquis de Chtequnera,
Lover of the Marchioness of Chatelet.

Who loved religious freedom, the power of satire, and crusades for justice.

Who felt that all men are equal, monarchs should be enlightened and religion free
from constrictions.

Who needed freedom to write, an audience for his work and a return from exile.

Who feared a weak, autocratic monarch, religious tyranny, and unenlightened
superstition.

Who gave us Candide, Micromegas and Zadig.

Who wanted to see an end to tyranny of the church, of autocratic monarchies, and
of religious prejudice.

Who lived in Paris, was imprisoned in the Bastille, was exiled to England and
finally settled in Switzerland.

Structure of Biopoem

Line 1:  First name
 Line 2:  Character traits (4 items of descriptions)
Line 3:  Relative of (3 items or people)
Line 4:  Lover of (3 items)
Line 5:  Who feels (3 items)
Line 6:  Who needs (3 items)
Line 7:  Who fears (3 items)
Line 8:  Who gives (3 items)
Line 9:  Who would like to see (3 items)
Line 10: Resident of  (3 items, dates, etc.)
Line 11: Last Name

Assessment

 Students will be assessed on the following criteria:

  • Completeness of their bibliography cards
  • Depth of their notecards
  • Understanding of their historical figure
  • Accuracy of information
  • Quality of language
  • Inclusion of a "works cited" page
  • Style of writing

Interdisciplinary Links

There is an obvious link to many English courses such as creative writing.  This lesson also could be used in a psychology or self-awareness class if the students created a biopoem about themselves.

Patricia Penrose is the librarian at Nogales High School in California.