History Biography

Biography Instructions

You will identify an important figure in American history from the American National Biography Online database, available through the Jerry Falwell Library, and write a 1-page biography of that individual.

·       Biography 1 must address an individual who was important in U.S. history between 1866 and 1945.

·       Biography 2 must address an individual who was important in U.S. history after 1945.

In the biography, you will properly cite the American National Biography Online at the top and write a full, 1-page summary. The summary must not include any footnotes or other citations.

After writing the summary, you will create a bibliography that identifies 3 scholarly books using the Jerry Falwell Library search engine and/or WorldCat (www.worldcat.org), 3 scholarly articles using JSTOR, Academic Search Complete, Academic OneFile, and/or Summon (found in Jerry Falwell Library databases), and 3 reputable websites to create a bibliography related to the subject of your biography. For an overview on choosing topics, visit Liberty’s Information Research Modules. The use of current Turabian formatting in your bibliography is required.

The purposes of this assignment are to teach you about important figures in U.S. history, introduce you to the process of finding different sources available through Liberty University, and help you learn the importance of proper formatting.

Specific Policies for the Biographies

A.    Include your name, date, and course on the upper right of your biography. Single space these items.

B.    The summary must be typed and doubled-spaced, have 1-inch margins, and be at least 1 page.

C.    The summary must have at least 3 paragraphs including an introduction, body, and conclusion. There must be no extra space between paragraphs.

D.    You must place page numbers at the bottom of each page of your summary and bibliography.

E.     Each source in the bibliography must be single-spaced with an extra space between the sources. The sources must be in alphabetical order by the author’s last name. See the sample citations below for guidance.

F.     Read and apply the “Tips for Reading and Writing in History” (found in the course’s Additional Information folder, under Course Guides and Assignment Instructions). With very few exceptions, the best biographies will be the ones that undergo several revisions. In your revisions, check for grammatical errors, organizational problems, and the clarity of your descriptions.

Submit Biography 1 via SafeAssign by 11:59 p.m. (ET) on Monday of Module/Week 2.

Submit Biography 2 via SafeAssign by 11:59 p.m. (ET) on Monday of Module/Week 7.

Proper Turabian Format for Biography

Citation for American National Biography Online (at top of summary):

Bruce, Robert V. “Bell, Alexander Graham.” American National Biography Online. Accessed on July 28, 2016.  http://ezproxy.liberty.edu/login?url=http://www.anb.org/articles/13/13-00115.html.   

Bibliography (in alphabetical order)

Books (3 books)

Gray, Charlotte. Reluctant Genius: Alexander Graham Bell and the Passion for Invention. New York: Arcade Publishing, 2006.

Articles (3 scholarly articles)

Beauchamp, Christopher. “Who Invented the Telephone?  Lawyers, Patents, and the Judgments of History.” Technology and Culture 51, no. 4 (October 2010):  854–78.

Websites (3 reputable websites)

Library of Congress. “The Alexander Graham Bell Family Papers.” Accessed on July 28, 2016.  http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/bellhtml/bellhome.html.