BIOGRAPHY BOOK REPORT
Final Copy Due: Friday, April 25, 2014
I. After reading your biography / autobiography, create an interview between yourself as
a newspaper reporter and the person whom you have read about in your book. As the
reporter, you will come up with 10 open-ended questions to ask this person. These
questions should address the significant details of your subject: Who? What? When?
Where? Why? How? Be sure to include their claim to fame in the questions! After
writing a question for your subject, you will assume the role of that person and answer
the question you created using information from your biography/autobiography. Avoid
questions that can be answered with simple one-word answers!
Interview Example:
BEN FRANKLIN – A MAN OF MANY TALENTS!
QUESTION: Mr. Franklin, can you tell me what your first job was?
ANSWER: I began life as a printer, first as an apprentice to my brother, James, who ran a newspaper in Boston, and
then on my own in Philadelphia. There I filled my newspaper with many of my own writings. Every year I published
an almanac (Poor Richard’s Almanac) which I enlivened with homespun proverbs. (NOTE THE
CONVERSATIONAL STYLE)
QUESTION: I understand, Mr. Franklin, that you were very athletic when you were young. What sorts of activities
did you enjoy?
ANSWER: Oh, I always enjoyed physical activities. In the London print shop I kept in shape by carrying a double
weight of type forms up and down stairs. In my leisure time I loved to swim and spent many hours swimming in the
Thames River. Hiking was something I did too when I was in the countryside. Now I eat too much and don’t exercise
enough, and I am plump!
II. When you have finished all ten of the questions and answers, you will incorporate the
interview into a final copy article for a magazine. The article should include an
introduction where you create the “setting” for the interview (time and place), the
interview itself, and the following text features:
 Title
 Caption(s)
 Subheadings
 Boldface or Italics
 Bulleted Text
 Map, Chart, or Diagram (extra
 Visual(s)
credit)
III. The article should adhere to the following criteria:
 Typed or written with blue/black ink
 Visuals, maps, charts, or diagrams computer generated or hand-drawn
 Proper grammar, spelling, capitalization, punctuation
Interview Questions and Answers in Composition Book Due: Wednesday, April 23,
2014
Final Copy Due: Friday, April 25, 2014