My Written Migrant Biography Checklist
This is a checklist for you to use to check that you have included all of the necessary elements in your written
migrant biography. These do not need to be separate paragraphs or chapters or slides, but you need to make sure
you have included information on each of these elements.
Element
Yes/No/Needs Improvement
An interesting title that captures my reader’s
attention
Introduction using sizzling start elements
Some back ground information on my migrant.
For example, date of birth, home town,
education, likes/dislikes, hobbies.
Information on the historical event or period of
history. For example, some information on the
second world war and how this impacted on my
migrant.
Push/Pull factors that led to my migrant deciding
to migrate.
Information on my migrant’s journey, including
where possible: dates, the route, type of
transport and travel experiences.
Information on the difficulties that my migrant
faced during their journey AND when they
arrived and settled in Australia. (You may have to
infer these.)
Information on the impact that my migrant has
had, if any after arriving in Australia.
Appropriate pictures of my migrant, including a
map.
Bibliography of where I got my information from.
Include the title of the book and the author and
the name of the website and the URL.
I have edited to ensure:
 1 idea per paragraph
 Paragraphs have an interesting start
 I have used show don’t tell to describe
events and feelings
 My sentences make sense
 Paragraphs have sensible endings
 I have used Red Pen Edit guidelines to
check my work (capitals, full stops,
commas, spelling and grammar)
 I have used headings and sub headings
where appropriate
It’s a good idea to leave your written biography for a day before you decide to edit and revise it. This means you will
be fresh when you read over your biography and you will be more likely to pick up on mistakes. Another good trick is
to read your biography out loud. When you read out loud, you notice where you need to add punctuation or when
sentences don’t really make sense.
Once you have read through it, ask someone else to read over it as well.