Bio Boards

AP US History

 

      Assignment—to put together an illustrated biography of a reformer with data in a number of categories.

 

      Here is a menu of ideas. You need to cover at least five of these categories including the three marked with asterisks.

·         key accomplishments * (These are specific details; for example, Martin Luther King led the Birmingham Bus Boycott and gave the “I Have a Dream” speech at the March on Washington.)

·         impact this person had on society * (These are the broader results of the person’s efforts; for example, Martin Luther King helped to desegregate public facilities in the South and encouraged the use of nonviolent protest to achieve racial equality.)

·         representative quotation from this person *

·         fascinating facts or interesting anecdotes about this person

·         photograph or painting of the reformer

·         illustrations to indicate the person’s work and accomplishments

·         important dates

·         major failures

·         quotations from contemporaries about this person

·         timeline of highlights from this person’s life

·         awards and recognition

 

      The bio board should be thin enough so that it can be thumb-tacked to a bulletin board. (It’s hard to do this with foam core.)

 

      Points—25

 

      Criteria

·         Quality of information (must go beyond common textbook information)

·         Gives a clear sense of the nature and the importance of this individual’s work

·         Thoroughness (covers at least the minimum number of categories)

·         Engaging and interesting to read (this is often the difference between A's and B's on this assignment)

·         Uses 16-point type so others can easily read the information

·         Neatness (though I don’t expect professional production values)

·         No errors in grammar, usage, or mechanics (this is an area where many people lose points)

·         Size and shape may vary, but this should be about the size of a standard sheet of posterboard.

·         Your name on the back of bio board

·         I encourage you to reuse posterboard from previous assignments.

 

 

Suggestions

·         Use a bulleted list rather than long paragraphs of text. This will make it easier for readers to pick out key information quickly.

·         Use parallel structure.

·         For the first reference to the reformer, use the first and last name. For subsequent references, use the last name. E.g., “Dix was successful…,” not “Dorothea was successful….”

·         Don’t repeat the same information under Key Accomplishments, Impact on Society, Timeline, etc.

·         Explain any references or allusions that are not clear to the average, intelligent reader. For example, if you refer to Robert Owen’s purchase of mules for his factory, make clear that these are spinning machines, not the farm animals.

·         Focus on the reforms this person made, not on the number of children he or she had or the jobs he or she held.

 

Reformers

1.      Peter Cartwright

2.      Charles Grandison Finney

3.      Joseph Smith

4.      Brigham Young

5.      Horace Mann

6.      Noah Webster

7.      William H. McGuffey

8.      Emma Willard

9.      Mary Lyon

10.  Dorothea Dix

11.  Neal S. Dow

12.  Lucretia Mott

13.  Elizabeth Cady Stanton

14.  Elizabeth Blackwell

15.  Susan B. Anthony

16.  Amelia Bloomer

17.  Robert Owen

18.  John Noyes

19.  Mother Ann Lee

20.  Sarah Grimke

21.  Theodore Dwight Weld

22.  William Lloyd Garrison

23.  Wendell Phillips

24.  Frederick Douglass

25.  Sojourner Truth