DISCUSS AUTHORS
The following information will add to students' understanding of the writing done by the authors whose biographical information appears on pages 418–419.
Narrative Nonfiction
- Writers of narrative nonfiction tell good stories with interesting characters, plots, and settings, but their stories are about real people, places, and events, not imaginary ones.
- Writers of narrative nonfiction must be good researchers. They must be able to dig into history, news reports, reference works, or journals to gather the details needed to make people and events come to life for the reader.
Biography
- Writers of biography are called biographers.
- Biographers can write about a person's entire life, part of the person's life, or a single incident in the person's life.
- Biographers must do a lot of research to recreate the life and times of the people about whom they write.
- Biographies are works of nonfiction. However, some writers include fictional elements, such as dialogue and details that make the subject "come alive." These fictional elements are based on research and evidence. Dialogue should include words or ideas that the person would likely have said in a given situation, and details should be true to the time and place of the story.
- A biography is usually written in the third person.
More About Susan Kuklin
Susan Kuklin majored in theater in college and worked as an actress. Soon she began to direct plays. "While acting taught me how to interpret a part, directing forced me to look at the theater's big picture." A director must think about how things look on the stage: the lighting, shapes, and how people move. Lighting, shapes, and movement are also important in Ms. Kuklin's work today as a photographer and nonfiction writer. She says that her books reflect the people she photographs. "The text is from the point of view of the people I interview. It's their thoughts, not mine; their opinions, not mine."
More About David M. Schwartz
As a boy, David Schwartz took long rides on his bicycle and thought about things. "I would try to figure out how long it would take to ride a magic bicycle all the way around the Earth." At night he would gaze at the stars and wonder, "Could someone count all the stars in the sky? How long would it take?" Mr. Schwartz still loves long bike rides. "My favorite way to spend a few days is to pack my car with a bicycle and head for the Sierra Mountains." At night, after biking around, he still gazes at the stars.
Students can use a student-friendly search engine to learn more about the authors and their subjects. Keywords might include authors' names; the names of the subjects of the biographies; or an event, place, or time period mentioned in the author information or in the stories.
