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Author Biographies
Author Biographies
Shakespeare, Arthur Miller, Harper Lee, F. Scott Fitzgerald, George Orwell, S.E. Hinton, and John Steinbeck
Author Biographies
on George Orwell, Shakespeare, John Steinbeck, Arthur Miller, Harper Lee, S.E. Hinton, and F. Scott Fitzgerald
from Secondary Solutions Literature Guides: 1984 Literature Guide A Midsummer Nights Dream Literature Guide Of Mice and Men Literature Guide The Crucible Literature Guide To Kill a Mockingbird Literature Guide The Outsiders Literature Guide The Great Gatsby Literature Guide on TeachersPayTeachers
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the British Broadcasting Company (BBC) working as a producer for its Indian division. Some believe that Orwells stint with the BBC may have inspired the newspeak language he employs in 1984. In 1943, Orwell resigned from the BBC and went to work as a literary editor for the Tribune and began writing Animal Farm (1945), a modern fable which speaks out against Stalinist Russia and the Communist Regime. Later in 1945, the author relocated to the Scottish island of Jura where he composed 1984 (1949). When Orwell wrote 1984, the world was recovering from World War II and the issues it raised concerning fascism. This same time period also marks the beginning of the Cold War and democratic countries reckoning with rising communist states. This masterpiece portrays Orwells fear of mankind evolving into an overly bureaucratized state and reflects the pain the author suffered as he continued to cope with tuberculosis. George Orwell, ne Eric Arthur Blair, died on January 21, 1950, in London, England.
2010 Secondary Solutions from 1984 Literature Guide by Angela F. Antrim for Secondary Solutions
Men, who were great favorites of King James I. The latter performed in the Globe, a theater they built themselves on the south bank of the Thames, and eventually were renamed The Kings Men. Shakespeare was eventually able to purchase the second largest home in Stratford, suggesting that he had at least earned a comfortable living. Shakespeare continued to write and act, though less and less, until he retired to Stratford in 1613. He died on April 23, 1616.
2008 Secondary Solutions from A Midsummer Nights Dream Literature Guide by Kathleen Duncan for Secondary Solutions
of Our Discontent (1961), were a few of the most acclaimed novels of his later years. After receiving numerous nominations throughout the 1950s and 1960s, Steinbeck was finally awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1962. Steinbeck died in New York, December 20, 1968, at the age of 66. Steinbecks empathy with life during the Depression and his ability to capture human existence in all of its harsh cruelty and captivating glory, made his novels a powerful platform for social and political issues and established Steinbeck as one of the most effective and brilliant writers of his time.
2008 Secondary Solutions from Of Mice and Men Literature Guide by Kristen Bowers for Secondary Solutions
Standards Focus: Exploring Expository Writing Author Biography: Harper Lee (1926- )
Nelle Harper Lee was born in the small town Monroeville, Alabama on April 26, 1926 to Amasa Coleman Lee, a lawyer and former newspaper editor, and Frances Finch Lee. The youngest of four, Harper Lee was a self-confessed tomboy who enjoyed reading and writing at a very young age. She went to the local grammar school and high school in Monroeville with author Truman Capote (In Cold Blood), upon whom the character Dill is said to be based. After high school, Lee attended Huntingdon College in Montgomery, then transferred to the University of Alabama to study law. After three years, Lee realized her passion was not law, but writing, and she quit school to move to New York just one semester short of receiving her law degree. After moving to New York, Lee supported herself by working as an airline reservation clerk while writing short stories about her life in the South. In 1957, she submitted her short stories to the J.B. Lippincott publishing company. Agents of the firm encouraged her to take a year to string her short stories into one major work. After two and a half years, Lee completed the novel and in 1960, To Kill a Mockingbird was published. To Kill a Mockingbird became an international success, and was eventually translated into over thirty languages. It won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 1961 and was adapted for screen in 1962. The film, starring Gregory Peck, was nominated for eight Academy Awards, including Best Picture. Peck received the Academy Award for Best Actor. In 1966, Lee was appointed to the National Council of Arts by then President Lyndon B. Johnson, and has received several honorary doctorates from universities such as the University of Alabama, Sewanee University, and Spring Hill College in Mobile, Alabama. Today, Lee prefers a private existence, giving few interviews and speeches. After decades of silence, Lee was prompted by Oprah Winfrey to put pen to paper yet again, writing a letter which appeared in the July 2006 issue of Oprahs O magazine. The letter describes a time in Lees life in which books were scarce, and there were no public libraries, yet her parents continued to read anything they could get their hands on to the young Lee. She lamented our modern-day lack of attraction to books, asking Oprah, Can you imagine curling up in bed to read a computer? and declaring I still plod along with books. I prefer to search library stacks because when I work to learn something, I remember it." Lee has also been recently seen at the annual essay writing contest for high school students, held for the last six years at the University of Alabama. In January of 2006, she gave her first interview since 1964 to the New York Times at the essay contest award ceremony. "They always see new things in it," she said of the student essays about To Kill a Mockingbird." And the way they relate it to their lives now is really quite incredible." To date, To Kill a Mockingbird has remained her only published novel.
2007 Secondary Solutions from To Kill a Mockingbird Literature Guide by Kristen Bowers for Secondary Solutions
Directions: After reading the article about S.E. Hinton, answer the following questions on the lines provided. Be sure to use complete sentences. 1. What does it mean to be a self-confessed tomboy? 2. Why did Hinton use only the initials of her first and middle names when publishing The Outsiders? 3. Explain why it took Hinton so long to write and publish another book after The Outsiders.
5. In the following sentence, In 1988, she wrote Taming the Star Runner and in 1995, deviated from writing for young adults and wrote two childrens books, The Puppy Sister and Big David, Little David, what does the word deviated mean?
6. What is Hintons most recent novel and how is it different from her other novels?
7. What 2-3 questions would you ask if you were granted a personal interview with Hinton?
8. In your opinion, why do you think there isnt much personal information about Hinton in this short biography?
9. On a large sheet of paper, use the information in this biography to help you draw a timeline of Hintons life and works. Be sure to include important dates, showing her literary accomplishments and major events in her life. Illustrate with pictures and include a colorful key.
3. What kind of school experience did Fitzgerald have? 4. Explain why the author of this article considered Fitzgeralds life to be chaotic.
7. About what kinds of characters and situations can you conclude Fitzgerald wrote? Explain your response.
9. From the information given in the article, what conclusion could be drawn about American society during Fitzgeralds time? ________ a. b. c. d. Americans were motivated and philosophical. Americans were interested in art and science. Americans were very religious and devoted. Americans were restless and reckless.
10. Using the information in the article, create a timeline of 5-7 important dates and events in Fitzgeralds life on a separate piece of paper.
ANSWER KEYS
Comprehension Check: Author BiographyGeorge Orwell 1. Orwell wanted to spend more time writing and he felt that working as a policeman supported a political structure that he did not believe in. 2. Orwell wrote to enlighten people about painful truths and to place himself in the position of being an arbiter of moral conscience. 3. Burmese Days (1934), Down and Out in Paris and London (1933), The Road to Wigan Pier (1937), Homage to Catalonia (1938), Animal Farm (1945), 1984 (1949) 4. Orwell was enamored with his first vision of a society without class distinctions. Witnessing the Spanish Civil War showed him that socialism was truly possible, but also forced him to realize that class differences, as well as violence, conflict, and power struggles will always exist. 5. Orwell wrote Animal Farm to speak out against the Stalinist Russia of the 1940s. 1984, in which a governmental system controls every aspect of its citizens lives, brings to life Orwells fears a bout the fascism which gripped Italy, Spain, and Germany in the 1940s. 6. Answers will vary. Since students may believe that Orwell changed his opinion about the role of government over the course of his lifetime, while others may believe that he held both ideas throughout his life. By definition, socialism depends on governmental structure and oversight to create and maintain an egalitarian society which many people equate with bureaucracy and governmental control. Comprehension Check: Author Biography--Shakespeare 1. The date of his birth and the date of his death are the same date 52 years apart. April 23, 1564 and April 23, 1616. 2. Though we are not exactly sure of the day, we can place it with relative confidence due to the records of the Church. Baptism was given when a baby was 3 days old and Church records indicate that Shakespeare was baptized April 20, 1564. 3. Answers will vary. 4. Answers will vary. 5. Answers will vary. 6. Answers will vary. Comprehension Check: Author BiographyJohn Steinbeck 1. Cup of Gold (1929), Tortilla Flat (1935), Of Mice and Men (1937), The Grapes of Wrath (1939), Sea of Cortez (1941), The Forgotten Village (1941), Cannery Row, (1945), East of Eden (1951), The Winter of Our Discontent (1961) 2. Of Mice and Men was conceived as a play; won the Drama Critics Circle Award and the Pulitzer Prize in 1937. The Grapes of Wrath received harsh criticism, but the general public loved it; won the Pulitzer in 1940. 3. Born in 1902 in Salinas, CA. FatherJohn Ernst, MotherOlive Hamilton; He liked to read and write; at 14 tried to translate Le Morte dArthur; went to Stanford, but did not graduate; married Carol in 1930; had friend Ed Ricketts; divorced Carol in 1943, married Gwendolyn; had two sons; divorced in 1948; married Elaine Scott in 1950. 4. Ability to capture the human spirit; captured the bleak, but realistic side of life; empathetic with life during the Depression; captured all the glory and cruelty of life; platform for social and political issues. Answers will vary. 5. Answers will vary. 6. Timelines will vary. Standards Focus: Exploring Expository WritingArthur Miller Biography 1. c. to inform the reader about Millers life and works 2. a. Miller was a talented and respected writer. 3. c. Miller married Marilyn Monroe. 4. d. paragraph 4 5. c. fell into poverty 6. b. a paragraph about Marilyn Monroes movies 7. a. How did your Jewish upbringing influence your work?
Exploring Expository WritingS.E. Hinton Answers may vary 1. She thinks of herself as a tomboy, enjoying the activities boys usually do. 2. The publishers thought that having a womans name would not sell the book to the target audience: boys. 3. She had writers block, depression. 4. The Outsiders; Rumble Fish; Tex; That Was Then, This is Now 5. veered away from the usual 6. Hawkes Harbor, adult novel, more mature, complex 7. Answers will vary. 8. Answers will vary. Comprehension Check: Exploring Expository WritingF. Scott Fitzgerald 1. St. Paul, Minnesota on Sept. 24, 1896 2. Frances Scott Key; writing the Star Spangled Banner 3. Attended the St. Paul Academy, Newman School, and Princeton; dropped out of Princeton to join the Army in 1917. 4. He was an alcoholic who suffered from depression and self-doubt; his wife was unfaithful, had mental breakdowns, and was in and out of hospitals 5. 1919, This Side of Paradise; 1922, The Beautiful and the Damned and Tales of the Jazz Age; 1925, The Great Gatsby; 1934, Tender is the Night; 1941, The Last Tycoon 6. She was a Southern socialite who cheated on her husband, had mental and physical breakdowns, was extremely unstable, and died in 1948 in a hospital fire. 7. Answers will vary. Student answers may include that he wrote about people like himself and his wife, since that is what he knew best. 8. Answers will vary. Student answers may include that since she had such a turbulent family life, she may have turned out to have some problems of her own. She did not have a stable home to grow up in, so she may have suffered in some ways. 9. d. Americans were restless and reckless. 10. Timelines will vary in size, style, and quality