Name:

Section: ________ Date: __________

Visual Biography Project

What is a visual biography?

A biography is an account of a persons life written by someone else. For this project, you will be creating a
visual biography for the character of your choice. This means that you will show your characters
experience/journey in a visual way.
The purpose behind creating this visual biography is to allow you to take a deep look at a protagonist from one
of the independent reading books you read during this unit. You will need to gather all of your observations,
theories, and evidence about a character and synthesize it so that others will be able to understand it easily.
What should be included?
Your project should show the life (the biography) of the protagonist of your choice. After viewing your project,
readers should have an extremely strong idea of who the character is, what he/she has gone through, how he/she
has changed, and any lessons the protagonist learned. Therefore, you MUST include the following on the visual
biography:

The name of the character

The title of the book
The characters personality traits
The characters conflicts & how they were resolved
Any character change that occurred throughout the course of the book
A theme in the book

HOW should all of this be represented?

You can include all of the above information in a number of ways! You can:

Use visual symbols/objects. Visual symbols can represent character traits and significant
moments/events in the characters life. For example, you might use a light bulb to show that the
character has good ideas, or you might show a picture of a grave to represent a death in the
characters family.

Use quotes directly from the text. Direct quotes are a great way to reveal character traits and
character change. They can also show the impact of specific moments/events on a character. If you
choose this option, you MUST include the page on which you found the quote.
Authors Note
You will also be required to submit an authors note for this project, which is a written explanation of the
artistic decisions you made. This part will NOT be on the visual; it will be attached separately to the back. In
this note, you should:

Choose AT LEAST THREE symbols/objects and write one paragraph for each that explains what
they represent.
Choose AT LEAST TWO quotations and write at least one paragraph that explains why you chose
it (2 paragraphs total). What does it reveal? If you chose to put it in a significant spot, you should
explain that as well.

The authors note is a chance for you to explain all of the decisions you made in creating the visual biography
that may not be obvious to your audience. If you make a claim (e.g. This character is curious), you should
explain what evidence you have from the text that made you come to that conclusion.
Name: __________________________________

Section: ________

Date: _________

Visual Biography Rubric

Outcome
Plan
Make
deliberate
plans, reflect,
and
perseverance
in order to
achieve goals

Conclude
Infer
meanings,
analyze
information
and develop
valid ideas
based on
evidence and
analysis.

Not Yet
___ During class work
period, student is off task.
___ Student hands in the
assignment late.
___ The project is messy,
looks like it was put together
in a rush, and/or is
incomplete.

Meets Standards
___ During class work period,
student is on task most of the
time, but may need some
teacher redirection.
___ Student hands in the
assignment on time.
___ The project has a neat and
clean appearance.

Exceeds Standards
___ During class work period,
student is on task and requires
no teacher redirection.
___ Student hands in the
assignment on time.
___ Student puts extra effort
into the appearance of the
assignment; it is extremely
creative.

___ The characters name

___ The characters name and
and/or the name of the book is the name of the book is
not included.
included.

___ The characters name and

the name of the book is
included.

___ There are fewer than 2

personality traits present on
the visual.

___ At least two personality

traits are present on the visual
through symbols and/or
quotes. The traits chosen show
basic understanding of the
character.

___ At least two personality

traits are present on the visual
through creative use of symbols
and/or quotes. The traits chosen
show a complex understanding
of the character.

___ The visual does not

represent any conflicts in the
characters life and/or does
not show how it was resolved.

___ The visual represents the

conflict(s) the character faced
and how it was resolved.

___ The visual represents the

conflict(s) the character faced
and how it was resolved. It also
shows other significant events
in the characters life and how it
affected him/her.

___ There is no evidence of

character change in the
biography.

___ The visual shows

character change.

___ The visual shows character

change, along with what caused
the character to change.

___ A theme in the book is

not represented and/or it is
inaccurate.

___ A theme in the book is

___ The most important theme
represented. although it may be in the book is represented and is
minor theme. It is supported
well supported by evidence.
by evidence in the text.

___ Authors note is

incomplete or missing.

___ Authors note is complete.

She adequately explains all
artistic decisions made and is
able to support her conclusions
with evidence from the text.

___ Authors note is complete

and thorough. All artistic
decisions are fully explained,
purposeful, and demonstrate
evidence of deep thinking. She

is able to support her

conclusions with patterns of
evidence from the text.