This document provides an overview of writing profiles. It begins by outlining the goals of the chapter, which are to use a profile to focus on an idea, personality trait, or situation; identify academic applications of profiles; identify characteristics of profiles in different forms; use interviews to develop a profile; and apply revision strategies. It then discusses various aspects of writing profiles, including defining what a profile is, common purposes and motives, developing content through interviews, drafting considerations, and revision techniques. Overall, the document serves as a guide for learning how to effectively write profiles by exploring their purposes and formats as well as techniques for developing and refining profile content and structure.
Before moving to the next slide, consider doing this quick writing activity in class:Brainstorm all the associations you have with the word “profile”—write down anything that comes to mind, and don’t worry if you’ve never read one or written one. Think of all the meanings the word might have. Then, finish this sentence: “If I had to guess what a ‘profile’ essay is, I’d say it most likely is ___________________.”Then connect student responses to what follows.
If you have had students do any of the pre-reading strategies from the Instructor’s Manual, you can have them discuss their responses in small groups at this point. The goal of the discussion is to develop a definition of an effective profile.PRE-READING ACTIVITIESIn your journal, make a list of the people you find most interesting—whether they’re celebrities, sports figures, artists, family, friends, politicians, or strangers. Then, circle the names of people you already know something about from books, magazines, TV programs or documentaries, films, or other media.Choose one of the names you circled and fastwrite for five minutes on what you learned about this person. What did you read/see about this person, and why were you interested? Write about everything you can remember about him/her, what you read, and/or what you viewed. Do this for at least one other person on your list, if not more.Lastly, skip a few lines and reflect on what makes an effective profile of a person: given what you wrote above, come to some conclusions about the ways writers can compose a compelling look at one individual.Find several examples of profiles in popular magazines or documentaries, such as Rolling Stone, People, Entertainment Weekly, The New Yorker, Harpers, The Atlantic, PBS’s Frontline, or A&E’s Biography. Choose two that you find the most interesting and well written. Then, in a letter to your group members or instructor, explain why you chose these profiles, what specific features make them interesting and effective, and what questions these raise for you about writing a profile yourself. What might be the most challenging part? How did these writers get their information? Choose at least two sections from each profile on which to focus as you discuss the essays.Brainstorm all the associations you have with the word “profile”—write down anything that comes to mind, and don’t worry if you’ve never read one or written one. Think of all the meanings the word might have. Then, finish this sentence: “If I had to guess what a ‘profile’ essay is, I’d say it most likely is ___________________.”
Teaching SuggestionsHave students write an essay that explores the connections between the profile essay and academic writing. Here’s one example of an assignment you might hand out to them: Begin by brainstorming all the connections you see before you do any more research.Then choose one of the academic indices from a field which interests you—such as business, sociology, history, English, etc.—and search with the phrase “case study.” What comes up? If that doesn’t work, try “profile” or even the name of someone you know who interests you.Choose two articles or more, read them, and take notes in your journal about the ways in which case studies/profiles are used in academic writing. How are they similar to and different from the profiles you read in this chapter? Are they the main focus of the essay? Why are they important in the writer’s argument and/or research study?Give students a mini-ethnography assignment. In this sequence of assignments, students first identify a subculture they want to study, and then they focus on a profile subject within that subculture. These activities can be easily linked to Chapter 9, “Writing an Ethnographic Essay,” so that the profile is one part of the larger ethnography that is assigned later in the term.As a class, brainstorm a list of subcultures in the local area: skateboarders, football fans, knitters, skiers, backcountry campers, and so on.Each student then needs to choose a subculture in which he/she is interested in but knows very little. In their journals, students need to write about:What they already know, believe, and suspect about this subculture: its values, its commonly held beliefs, its valued traditions, and its ways of speaking and behaving.What they’d like to know more about.Whom they might interview who would offer insight into the subculture. Interview this person, following the suggestions in Chapter 4, and compose a profile based on the guidelines and writing activities in Chapter 4.
This slide summarizes the questions at the end of the essay. Depending on which you ask students to respond to, you might consider putting them in groups for about 15 minutes to share and discuss their responses, then report back to the whole class 1) the three most significant insights that came from their writing and 2) one question they’d like to discuss as a class about the essay. If you ask them to respond to all the questions, consider groups according to the kind of question: that is, one group to share their responses to the “Explore” question, one for the “Explain” question, and so on. Then when the groups report back, they will be teaching the rest of the class about each approach to reading the essay.
This slide summarizes the questions at the end of the essay. Depending on which you ask students to respond to, you might consider putting them in groups for about 15 minutes to share and discuss their responses, then report back to the whole class 1) the three most significant insights that came from their writing and 2) one question they’d like to discuss as a class about the essay. If you ask them to respond to all the questions, consider groups according to the kind of question: that is, one group to share their responses to the “Explore” question, one for the “Explain” question, and so on. Then when the groups report back, they will be teaching the rest of the class about each approach to reading the essay.
This slide summarizes the questions at the end of the essay. Depending on which you ask students to respond to, you might consider putting them in groups for about 15 minutes to share and discuss their responses, then report back to the whole class 1) the three most significant insights that came from their writing and 2) one question they’d like to discuss as a class about the essay. If you ask them to respond to all the questions, consider groups according to the kind of question: that is, one group to share their responses to the “Explore” question, one for the “Explain” question, and so on. Then when the groups report back, they will be teaching the rest of the class about each approach to reading the essay.
This slide summarizes the questions at the end of the essay. Depending on which you ask students to respond to, you might consider putting them in groups for about 15 minutes to share and discuss their responses, then report back to the whole class 1) the three most significant insights that came from their writing and 2) one question they’d like to discuss as a class about the essay. If you ask them to respond to all the questions, consider groups according to the kind of question: that is, one group to share their responses to the “Explore” question, one for the “Explain” question, and so on. Then when the groups report back, they will be teaching the rest of the class about each approach to reading the essay.
Have students brainstorm concerns and questions that they have about the profile assignment. What is most likely to “go wrong” as they approach this essay? What might they struggle with the most and why? What seems like it will be fun and interesting? Why?Then, in groups or as a whole class, discuss responses to these questions and generate a list of strategies for dealing with the challenges they anticipate. You might even have them return to Chapter 4 and pull out suggestions from Ballenger, or places where he addresses the concerns that students have raised.
Refer back to the chapter readings as you present examples of how these characteristics are reflected in profiles.
A visual representation of what is in the textbook.
This slide can provide an overview of the course and illustrate the connections between types of inquiry questions and types of genres that are connected to them.
Refer to the sidebar, “Seeing the Form,” for a list of the cultural biases that permeated the time period. Consider, as well, bringing in photos or other representations of Native Americans from the 21st century and compare; what does each photo reveal about the perspectives of the photographer? About cultural biases?
Key strategies for students to learn.Emphasize that you will expect them to write with everything they read in this class, and they should use several of the strategies from this chapter.
This slide introduces the methods of generating ideas and emphasizes the key questions students need to ask themselves as they are generating ideas.
A visual representation of the tips for narrowing down ideas for the profile, which are presented in more detail in the next two slides. You can ask students to go through these questions in class so they can narrow their subject more effectively, possibly with a partner.
Now that students have a lot of material, they need guidance for narrowing down to a manageable topic. If you are having students write during class (the journal prompts, for example, or clustering), then you can use this slide to guide them as they narrow down to a promising subject. This point in the process is important to emphasize in class so that students choose subjects that are not only manageable, but ones about which they have not made up their mind or know much about.
Now that students have a lot of material, they need guidance for narrowing down to a manageable topic. If you are having students write during class (the journal prompts, for example, or clustering), then you can use this slide to guide them as they narrow down to a promotion subject. This point in the process is important to emphasize in class so that students choose subjects that are not only manageable, but ones about which they have not made up their mind or know much about.
Emphasize that it’s important to keep in mind how your subject speaks to a larger issue that others can understand, but also to be sure that you don’t squelch your writing by worrying about audience and purpose too soon.
The subject here is connected to ideas, groups, or events that are larger than just the individual being profiled. Consider bringing in a published profile that you’ve rewritten by taking out everything except what the interview subject says or by adding personal details and commentary from the writer about his/her feelings about the person. Then show students the original and ask them to reflect on how the essays change as a result of what was taken out or added in. Ask them, as well, to identify the kind of frame being used in the original.
Refer to the section on interviewing to illustrate how to generate ideas with this strategy. This approach might be time-consuming, but students could choose to interview two to three people in addition to their subject, rather than five.
Consider an in-class activity for students to practice developing interview questions and then actually interviewing a classmate:Interview Practice: One way of practicing interviewing is to have students interview each other and then present the material to the class. You might also ask students to bring in transcripts or notes from their first interview, share them with two other classmates, and begin speculating on what they’ve learned so far about their subject. What conclusions might they reach? What dominant impression do they have so far? What questions do they still have? If they had to repeat the interview, what would they do differently? Having students reflect on their interviews in the middle of the process gives you an opportunity to help them, and gives your students a chance to develop interesting angles on their subjects before they return for further interviewing.
Consider an in-class activity for students to practice developing interview questions and then actually interviewing a classmate:Interview Practice: One way of practicing interviewing is to have students interview each other and then present the material to the class. You might also ask students to bring in transcripts or notes from their first interview, share them with two other classmates, and begin speculating on what they’ve learned so far about their subject. What conclusions might they reach? What dominant impression do they have so far? What questions do they still have? If they had to repeat the interview, what would they do differently? Having students reflect on their interviews in the middle of the process gives you an opportunity to help them, and gives your students a chance to develop interesting angles on their subjects before they return for further interviewing.
Consider an in-class activity for students to practice developing interview questions and then actually interviewing a classmate:Interview Practice: One way of practicing interviewing is to have students interview each other and then present the material to the class. You might also ask students to bring in transcripts or notes from their first interview, share them with two other classmates, and begin speculating on what they’ve learned so far about their subject. What conclusions might they reach? What dominant impression do they have so far? What questions do they still have? If they had to repeat the interview, what would they do differently? Having students reflect on their interviews in the middle of the process gives you an opportunity to help them, and gives your students a chance to develop interesting angles on their subjects before they return for further interviewing.
Refer to Margaret Parker’s interview notes in this chapter and have students discuss 1) what they notice about how she took the notes and 2) which parts of the notes they might use to develop the profile, given the suggestions in this slide.
If you have permission from former students to use their sketches as examples, this is a good time to show them.
As noted in the textbook, these are some general guidelines for writing a sketch. Review these before students write one.
A way to recap what the process has been so far. This can help students see visually that there is a method to what might seem messy.
Students might go through these questions during class time or at home as they develop a draft. Prompt students to then make a list of the further research and interviewing they need to do, then refer to the section on leads and have students try (in class) the revision activities for leads.
A way to guide peer response to drafts during class workshop.
Visual image of shaping information into categories and then organizing the categories in a meaningful way.
Students might respond to these questions/do these activities during class, after they have workshopped their essay.