Life Study Project: Portrait of the Subject in Their Element

Overview Whether you are writing about Muhammed Ali or Mother Teresa, your grandfather or a cherished aunt, your subject is most alive, is their truest self in a particular situation. This is when you see what they are all about, what makes them unique or simply reveals their excellence. If it’s an artist, it is at some point during the creative process; for mathematicians or scientists, it might be at the chalkboard, or simply while thinking through an idea. Einstein, for example, used to write all over the table cloths while illustrating his ideas, moving plates and glasses to the side to make room. (Waiters would then fight over who got to keep the great scientist’s table cloth). Whatever the subject of your life study does, there is an element, a situation in which they are most at home. Your job is to figure out what that situation is and show them in it.

You are not writing a report or a summary; you are, instead, writing a word portrait, one that shows your subject doing what it is they do best. To write this portrait successfully, you must think carefully about the verbs and nouns needed to evoke them. How do you describe the wrist movements or hand gestures of a painter, sculptor, or composer so we can see them when we read? What words will capture the intensity of their eyes or the sound of their voice as they play out the drama of their life? Finally, what is that setting---and how can you help your reader see it---in which you must describe them at work if you are to be true to your subject?

Exemplars Consider this excerpt written by Paul Krupnov, a freshman writing about the mathematician John Nash. I have italicized Paul’s verbs to draw attention to them as they are the key to his successful writing about Nash:

…He [John Nash] scrambles through [his papers], searching for a specific one, the one where he made a rather important discovery. He picks up his pen, as if to start writing again, but instead scratches his relatively large ears, still staring at the many sheets of paper lying on the table. Finally, he finds it, and moving his eyes back and forth along the many lines, he finds his error. He quietly murmurs something to himself, reaches into the left pocket of his dark-colored jacket and takes out a tiny piece of chalk. He once again murmurs something to himself, something which obviously displeases him. Then, he stands up and turns around to face an open window, one that is almost entirely covered in white writing. He quickly erases the x² from a previous equation, and in its place writes x³. Seemingly pleased, he nods his head in contentment, and sits back down

Guidelines Your "portrait" should:

q Use active, precise verbs that help the reader see your subject;

q Use concrete, precise nouns so the reader can, again, see what you are describing;

q Include little or no exposition or background; save that for the full report or your presentation;

q Include dialogue so we can hear your subject speaking, unless part of their character is their silence, in which case you should find a way to represent that.

q Focus on a specific moment, in some cases only a minute long. Film them with words. Make sure that your portrait represents them, their character, the work and idea that made you want to study them in the first place.

q At least one page typed, double-spaced, 12-point font, serif font.