biographical essay example pdf

Biographical Essay

How it works

My life has been characterised by some factors and challenges that have shaped my aspirations and personal life. All over my life, I have always aspired to be better than all people since I had it harder than everyone within my proximity.

Being from a poor household with both of my parents unemployed presented me with many challenges. However, my parents imparted to me at childhood that college was the best choice to make something for myself. I continuously desired to be prosperous in life.

Due to this fact, that one piece of advice caught in my head from the first day I was admitted in elementary school up until my present days in high school.

My life has often been a struggle from not being able to pay for school materials one year, to not being able to have the funds for school clothes the subsequent. I did not allow my shortcomings prevent me from attaining my future goals attainment of a scholarship from my dream college. As I made the next step into middle school, I ensured that all the moves that I made would lead me towards the right path.

On a daily basis, I studied hard to prepare me for high school and elsewhere. Due to this, I attained excellent grades, and I had the feeling that nothing could hinder me. Up to one day when I received a phone call that my dad had passed on. Again a hard obstacle in my path, although I preserved. I allowed the life of my father to lead me through in the remaining years of my middle school, and I completed strong.

My dad would not have the wish to see me fail rather continue working hard towards my goals. The death of my dad at my tender age at 12 moulded me into a stronger person. This challenge, yet very frightening gave me that additional inspiration I desired to reassure me that I was ordained for better things. Arriving at the high school was a change I thought that I was ready for, and I was miserably wrong.

The curriculum was too hard for me and also the independence. I started to realise I could not be able to get the 4.0 I had attained in middle school. After that I began to think of my family and how dissatisfied they would be to see me come this far and fail to achieve my goals. I knew I was able. From this time I worked harder to retain good grades and also kept involved in school activities.

At the beginning of my high school life, I got involved in opportunities that would help improve myself. I gained the opportunity to attend the Diversity Conference in New Orleans which was a major success. In that conference I interacted with many people with similar interests as mine, people struggling not to be a figure, however a successful member of the community. I learned that students from a poor background like myself could indeed excel and succeed above anything when they put their focus on it.

This conference brought me closer to several other minorities like myself who struggle on a daily basis. Hearing everybody’s story enlightened me about the world we are living in. This involvement shaped me into a courageous woman and inspired me more. Looking back at all the experiences I underwent through the financial crisis, to my dad passing on, then problems in school made me understand exactly what I should do in life.

I found myself aspiring to be a child therapist. Considering all the stressful situations, I had to deal with on my own made me wish that I had someone to help and guide me through most of my problems. By becoming a child, the therapist will be a good way of giving back to the community and assisting children who aspire to become better. I am somebody who indeed has many flaws. However, I won’t allow them to define who I am as a person. I desire to get into my dream College and graduate. I also wish to advance in my career choice of becoming a child therapist.

I won’t allow anything to ruin my path in life. I often had doubts about getting into my dream college due to situations I experienced. My fighting spirit and ambition has kept me moving over the years. The desire I have to attain my goals has set me apart from everybody else. I could not be the average 4.0 student that most of the colleges look for. However, I am a strong person with great qualities. My parents have been my role model, who have inspired me. Anytime I think of quitting in my studies, I would remember their piece of advice and feel inspired to move on.

I am seeking to accomplish the American dream that I have confidence in I have gained. I have overcome a lot of challenges, and I learned from all of them. If given the opportunity at this occasion, I won’t be a disappointment since I will succeed despite the obstacle.`

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2 What Is Biographical Criticism?

This chapter will demonstrate how subsequent chapters will be organized throughout the book. 

At some point in your educational journey, you’ve probably been asked to write a book report. As part of that report, you probably did some brief research about the author’s life to better understand what factors influenced his/her/their work.

Critical Lens: Biographical Criticism

When we look at biographical or historical information to help us interpret the author’s intent in a text, we are practicing historical or biographical criticism . With this type of criticism, popular throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the author—and the author’s intent—are the targets of our analysis. We read the text in tandem with the author’s life, searching for clues about what the author meant within the words of the text and life events. Throughout most of literary history, this is what we meant when we talked about literary criticism or literary analysis.

Learning Objectives

• Using a literary theory, choose appropriate elements of literature (formal, content, or context) to focus on in support of an interpretation (CLO 2.3)
• Emphasize what the work does and how it does it with respect to form, content, and context (CLO 2.4)
• Provide a thoughtful, thorough, and convincing interpretation of a text in support of a well-crafted thesis statement (CLO 5.1)

Applying Biographical Criticism to a Text

As a refresher on how this type of criticism works, let’s look at a poem by African American poet Phyllis Wheatley written in 1772 and published in 1773.

To the Right Honorable William, Earl of Dartmouth

Hail, happy day, when, smiling like the morn, Fair Freedom rose New-England to adorn: The northern clime beneath her genial ray, Dartmouth, congratulates thy blissful sway: Elate with hope her race no longer mourns, Each soul expands, each grateful bosom burns, While in thine hand with pleasure we behold The silken reins, and Freedom’s charms unfold. Long lost to realms beneath the northern skies

She shines supreme, while hated faction dies: Soon as appear’d the Goddess long desir’d, Sick at the view, she languish’d and expir’d; Thus from the splendors of the morning light The owl in sadness seeks the caves of night. No more, America, in mournful strain Of wrongs, and grievance unredress’d complain, No longer shalt thou dread the iron chain, Which wanton Tyranny with lawless hand Had made, and with it meant t’ enslave the land.

Should you, my lord, while you peruse my song, Wonder from whence my love of Freedom sprung, Whence flow these wishes for the common good, By feeling hearts alone best understood, I, young in life, by seeming cruel fate Was snatch’d from Afric’s fancy’d happy seat: What pangs excruciating must molest, What sorrows labour in my parent’s breast? Steel’d was that soul and by no misery mov’d That from a father seiz’d his babe belov’d: Such, such my case. And can I then but pray Others may never feel tyrannic sway?

For favours past, great Sir, our thanks are due, And thee we ask thy favours to renew, Since in thy pow’r, as in thy will before, To sooth the griefs, which thou did’st once deplore. May heav’nly grace the sacred sanction give To all thy works, and thou for ever live Not only on the wings of fleeting Fame, Though praise immortal crowns the patriot’s name, But to conduct to heav’ns refulgent fane, May fiery coursers sweep th’ ethereal plain, And bear thee upwards to that blest abode, Where, like the prophet, thou shalt find thy God.

Wheatley’s literary talent was recognized and celebrated by her contemporaries. Here’s a brief biographical sketch written nearly 60 years after her death from Biographical Sketches and Interesting Anecdotes of Persons of Color   by A. Mott (1839):

A Short Account of Phillis Wheatley

1. Although the state of Massachusetts never was so deeply involved in the African slave trade as most of the other states, yet before the war which separated the United States of America from Great Britain, and gave us the title of a free and independent nation, there were many of the poor Africans brought into their ports and sold for slaves.

2. In the year 1761, a little girl about 7 or 8 years old was stolen from her parents in Africa, and being put on board a ship was brought to Boston, where she was sold for a slave to John Wheatley, a respectable inhabitant of that town. Her master giving her the name of Phillis, and she assuming that of her master, she was of course called Phillis Wheatley.

3. Being of an active disposition, and very attentive and industrious, she soon learned the English language, and in about sixteen months so perfectly, that she could read any of the most difficult parts of the Scriptures, to the great astonishment of those who heard her. And this she learned without any school instruction except what was taught her in the family.

4. The art of writing she obtained by her own industry and curiosity, and in so short a time that in the year 1765, when she was not more than twelve years of  age,she was capable of writing letters to her friends on various subjects. She also wrote to several persons in high stations. In one of her communications to the Earl of Dartmouth, on the subject of Freedom,  she has the following lines:

“Should you, my lord, while you pursue my song, Wonder from whence my love of  Freedom  sprung, Whence flow these wishes for the common good, By feeling hearts alone best understood— I, young in life, by seeming cruel fate, Was snatch’d from Afric’s fancy’d happy seat: What pangs excruciating must molest, What sorrows labour in my parent’s breast? Steel’d was that soul, and by no misery mov’d, That from a father seized the babe belov’d. Such, such my case—and can I then but pray, Others may never feel tyrannic sway?”

5. In her leisure moments she often indulged herself in writing poetry, and a small volume of her composition was published in 1773, when she was about nineteen years of age, attested by the Governor of Massachusetts, and a number of the most respectable inhabitants of Boston, in the following language:

6. “We, whose names are under-written, do assure the world that the Poems specified in the following pages were, (as we verily believe,) written by Phillis, a young negro girl, who was but a few years since, brought an uncultivated barbarian from Africa; and has ever since been, and now is, under the disadvantage of serving as a slave in a family in this town. She has been examined by some of the best judges, and is thought qualified to write them.”*

7. Her master says—”Having a great inclination to learn the Latin language, she has made some progress in it.”

8. After the publication of the little volume mentioned, and about the 21st year of her age, she was liberated; but she continued in her master’s family, where she was much respected for her good conduct. Many of the most respectable inhabitants of Boston and its vicinity, visiting at the house, were pleased with an opportunity of conversing with Phillis, and observing her modest deportment, and the cultivation of her mind.

9. When about 23, she was married to a person of her own colour, who having also obtained considerable learning, kept a grocery, and officiated as a lawyer, under the title of Doctor Peters, pleading the cause of his brethren the Africans, before the tribunals of the state.

10. The reputation he enjoyed, with his industry, procured him a fortune; but Phillis being much indulged, had not acquired sufficient knowledge of domestic concerns; and her friends continuing their particular attention to her, gave him uneasiness, which operating on a disposition that was not willing to have her more respected than himself—which first manifested itself by reproaches; which were followed by harsh treatment. The continuance thereof affecting her susceptible mind, and delicate constitution, she soon went into a decline, and died in 1780, about the 26th year of her age, much lamented by those who knew her worth. She had one child, which died very young; and her husband survived her only three years.

*Most of her poetical productions have a religious or moral cast; all breathe a soft and sentimental feeling. Twelve related to the death of friends. Others on the works of Providence; on virtue, humanity and freedom; with one to a young painter of her own colour. On seeing his works, she vented her grief for the sorrows of her country men, in a pathetic strain.

Biographical Criticism Applied

You read the poem by Phyllis Wheatley before you learned more about the poet’s life. Now that we have both the text and the biographical information about Wheatley, consider the following questions:

• What literary elements of the poem stand out to you?
• How would you describe the author’s intent?
• How does reading the poet’s biography change or impact your understanding of the poem?

When writing an analysis using this lens, you’ll want to start by sharing a brief biography of the text’s author, including anything relevant to your understanding of the poem. A thesis statement might look something like this:

In her poem “To the Right Honorable William, Earl of Dartmouth,” Phyllis Wheatley’s childhood experiences with slavery impact the choice of imagery and metaphor, focusing on ideas of freedom and democracy that were denied to many contempory eighteenth century African Americans.

This thesis statement would then be supported from the text. Some examples of things you might use for support include the following:

• The description of freedom (capitalized) in the first stanza.
• The imagery of the goddess Athena, associated with the birthplace of democracy, in the second stanza.
• The description of slavery and the author’s appreciation for freedom in the third stanza.

Using this evidence along with biographical information about Phyllis Wheatley, including her education and her experiences, you could write an essay showing how the author’s intent, to celebrate freedom, is supported by her life history.

What Are the Limitations of Biographical Criticism?

While it can be interesting and fun to speculate about how the Bronte sisters’ real lives influenced their sometimes uncanny plots, there are several limitations and drawbacks to this kind of criticism.

• History is unreliable . With the Phyllis Wheatley poem and biography above, I provided you with one of the earliest known examples of a biography about this influential African American poet. Because she was enslaved, the lens through which her contemporaries and subsequent biographers viewed her was shaped by prejudice and bias. When we do biographical criticism, we have to assume that there are stable facts about history—and as we will learn later in this book, that’s a pretty big assumption.

Does this guessing game mostly evidence: A     the literacy mastery of the student? B     the competency of the student’s teacher? C     the absurdity of the questions? D     the fact that the poet, although she has never put her head in an oven, definitely has issues. Let’s go with  D since I definitely have issues, including issues with these ridiculous test questions (Holbrook).

Ascribing authorial intent where it does not exist is sometimes referred to in later forms of literary criticism as the “ intentional fallacy. ”

3. Literature has universal meaning. Focusing on the author’s history or biography detracts from the idea that a text can mean something to anyone from any time or place.

Consider this English translation of a poem from the Tang Dynesty (701-762 CE) Chinese poet Li Bai (also known as Li Po):

Your grasses up north are as blue as jade, Our mulberries here curve green-threaded branches; And at last you think of returning home, Now when my heart is almost broken…. O breeze of the spring, since I dare not know you, Why part the silk curtains by my bed?

We don’t have to know anything about the author or his cultural context to understand that this poem is about loss of a loved one. The poem speaks to us at a universal level about an emotion we can all recognize, using powerful imagery to convey a sense of loss.

Practicing Biographical Criticism

You’ll have the opportunity to practice biographical criticism with your first week writing assessment. I recommend that you review the Model AI Essay in the next chapter and also review MLA style requirements prior to submitting your response. This will be the only time we use biographical criticism in the course.

Biographical Criticism: Natasha Tretheway’s “Theories of Time and Space”

Further Reading

• Aristotle,  Poetics, translated by S.H. Butcher. https://classics.mit.edu/Aristotle/poetics.1.1.html
• Arnold, Matthew , Ricks, Christopher  (ed.),  Selected Criticism of Matthew Arnold, New York: New American Library, 1972. OCLC 6338231
• Benson, Jackson J. “Steinbeck: A Defense of Biographical Criticism”. College Literature . Vol. 16, No. 2: 107–116, 1989. JSTOR   25111810 .
• Frye, Herman Northrop (1947)  Fearful Symmetry: A Study of William Blake Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey, OCLC   560970612
• Johnson, Samuel.  Lives of the Poets Volume 1  at  Project Gutenberg
• Lynn, Stephen. Texts and Contexts.  2007.
• Stuart, Duane Reed. “Biographical Criticism of Vergil since the Renaissance.” Studies in Philology. Vol. 19, No. 1: 1–30, 1922. JSTOR 4171815 .

Critical Worlds Copyright © 2024 by Liza Long is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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