Pennsylvania Literary Map Biographies Style Manual

Basic Format | Style Guidelines | Writing Tips | Sample Biography

Tips for Writing a PACFTB Biography

Research

Two web sites which may help you get started on your research:

• Biography.com
• Yahoo! Directory
  NOTE—this is not the popular Yahoo! search engine, but a directory that organizes web sites into specific categories.

Do not rely solely on Google or Yahoo! search engines for all of your information. Many of the authors on our list are relatively obscure, and chances are that using an internet search engine as your primary resource will be insufficient or frustrating or both.

Databases found on the Libraries' E-Resource List that may be useful:

• Dictionary of Literary Biography
• Contemporary Authors
• Biographical and Genealogical Master Index
• MLA Bibliography
• World Biographical Index
• American National Biography Online
• African American Biographical Database
• Lexis Nexis Academic Universe
• ProQuest
• NewsBank Full-text Newspapers
• New York Times Historical
• WorldCAT

To log into any E-Resource List databases from home, you MUST access them through the Penn State Libraries website. After selecting the database you want to use, you will be redirected to the web site of the publisher or corporation that controls that database; then you will be prompted to enter your Penn State access id and password. You cannot log into the web sites with your Penn State access id directly, you MUST go through the library's web page. If you still cannot gain entry to these databases, you can access them through any LIAS terminal in the library or in any PSU computer lab. A complete explanation can be found here: http://www.lias.psu.edu/helps/dcetext.html.

Vertical Files

If your author is a graduate of Penn State, there is a 99.99% chance that the Special Collections Library on the 1st floor of Paterno Library has a vertical file on them with biographical information. Vertical files are not cataloged electronically; you must ask a librarian on the first floor of Paterno. Special Collections is open only on weekdays from 8:00 to 5:00.

Reference Librarians

If you have worked your way through many of the research sources and suggestions listed above and are having trouble finding information on your assigned author, contact Alan Jalowitz for assistance. The best way to get in touch with Alan is via email at acj2@psu.edu.

If Alan is unavailable, the Arts & Humanities Library, located on the second floor of Pattee Library, is an excellent place to go for help researching your assigned author.

Footnotes and Citations in Resources

Gale sources, and many "literary encyclopedias" or similar reference resources contain a source list of their own. Finding the sources they used is a great way to jump start your own research.

Correspondence

If the author you're writing about is still living, it's possible that they would be willing to send information to the university for you to include in the biography. The Center for the Book is pleased to have developed relationships with several PA Authors this way. However, you MUST speak with Alan before attempting to contact an author and you MAY NOT CALL ANYONE ON THE PHONE. The Center for the Book seeks to promote writing and writers; we do not wish to become an intrusive presence in the lives of the individuals we are trying to support.

Developing Your Biography

You may find yourself hard pressed for the type of information found in a "traditional" biography. Because you're writing about literary figures, it's acceptable to include information on their works, although plot summaries of fiction works should be avoided and the focus of the bio should not remain on a single work by any figure for more than a paragraph. Many figures are connected to social or artistic movements that may merit mention or explanation. However, the figure should never become incidental to the information being presented.

Before relying on such information to fill the body of the bio, you should be absolutely certain that more information about the events and circumstances of the life is unavailable.

Consider these:

• Connecting your figure to another, more famous figure.
  
  • PA author James Dugan spent the better part of his career working with Jacques Cousteau, and with him wrote a documentary that won an Academy Award.
• Connecting your figure to a social or artistic movement or milieu.
  
  • Dorothy Parker, who spent summers in Bucks county, was the only female member of the Algonquin Round Table. (Although, biographical info of Parker is not difficult to come by.)
  • Bobby Seale, who grew up in Philadelphia, founded the Black Panthers.
  • Thomas Paine was instrumental in mobilizing colonists against the British during the American Revolution.
  • Charles Brockden Brown lived in Philadelphia and wrote seminal novels on Republican America. He was the first American to earn a living as a writer.
• Using information from critical responses to the figure or her/his most famous work.
  
  • Book reviews are also often excellent sources of anecdotal information about an author's life
• Connecting the figure's work to another medium (perhaps a more popular one).
  
  • Michael Chabon's Pulitzer winning The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, has been sold to a film studio and Chabon is writing the screenplay.
• Integrating several of these approaches at once.
  
  • Jean Toomer wrote only one novel, Cane, but it included poetry that has influenced generations of African American poets and established him as an important precursor to Ralph Ellison, James Baldwin and Richard Wright, and a significant contributor to the Harlem Renaissance.

Use these questions to stimulate your thinking:

• Why is this individual connected to the literary map and how can I emphasize that connection?
  
  • Your author may have a tenuous connection to the state, or may have a literary vocation that's not traditionally thought of as an author. How can you make their connection to the map seem appropriate to the reader?
• Was this author influenced by a specific historic event or a pivotal moment in his/her own life? How can I use that event to illuminate the figure's work for the reader, or to spark greater interest in the life or career of my author.
• What have I learned about this author that will be interesting to students and researchers? What have I learned that would be interesting to someone browsing the website, possibly looking specifically at their home county?

If you're still having difficulty developing your bio, you can make an appointment with Alan by contacting him at acj2@psu.edu