Is Biography Fiction?

Having spent the last few weeks reading your chosen biography or autobiography, you have accumulated a deep knowledge of your subject's life. But you have also observed how that life was told.

Now, you will synthesize your observations into a Self-Debate. You will tackle the core question of this unit from two opposing perspectives: Is biography a form of fiction?

Consider Both Sides

To construct a strong debate, you must first deeply understand the main intellectual arguments on both sides. Your job is not to choose one side and ignore the other, but to build the most persuasive, well-supported arguments possible for both perspectives.

Perspective A: Biography is Non-Fiction (The Objective Record)

This school of thought argues that biography belongs strictly in the realm of factual history:

• Adherence to Evidence: A biographer's work is entirely constrained by verifiable facts, public records, diaries, letters, and interviews. They cannot make up events, invent dialogue, or alter outcomes.
• The Intent of Truth: Unlike novelists, biographers make a promise to the reader that what they are writing actually happened. To call it fiction is to degrade its historical value and accuse the author of fabrication.
• Scientific Reconstruction: Modern biographers use rigorous archival research methods, cross-referencing sources to eliminate bias and isolate objective truth.

Perspective B: Biography is a Form of Fiction (The Crafted Portrait)

This school of thought argues that the act of writing a life makes it a work of literary construction:

• Inevitable Selection: No book can record every minute of a person's life. The biographer must choose what to tell and what to ignore. This process of selection is inherently subjective and constructs a biased portrait.
• Imposition of Narrative: Lived lives are chaotic, boring, and lack structure. Biographers shape this chaos into a narrative arc with a beginning, middle, and end, using literary tropes (e.g., "the hero's journey," "the tragic downfall"). This is the same process a novelist uses to write a plot.
• Psychological Speculation: A biographer can never truly know what was inside a subject's head during a critical decision. Describing a subject's "motives," "fears," or "inner feelings" requires a leap of creative imagination.
• The Medium of Language: The moment a lived life is translated into words and sentences, it ceases to be "reality" and becomes a representation—a crafted text.

Annotated Bibliography

An annotated bibliography is a list of formal citations to your sources. Underneath each citation, you will write a brief paragraph (about 100 to 150 words) called an annotation.

For this assignment, your annotations must do three things:

1. Summarize: What are the key points of the source?
2. Evaluate: Assess the reliability, bias, and authority of the source.
3. Reflect: Explain how you will use this source in your debate. Does it support the objective record (Side A) or the crafted portrait (Side B)?

Requirements

Your bibliography must include:

• Your chosen biography/autobiography as the primary case study.
• At least two secondary sources (such as book reviews, academic journals, author interviews, or literary criticism on life-writing) for each side.

MLA Citation & Annotation Example

The most convenient way to get a formatted bibliography entry these days is to just ask Gemini to do it for you: "Please respond with the data for this book in MLA format. [your book data]"

Here is how your Google Doc entries should be formatted:

Brainstorming & Researching with AI

You are encouraged to use Gemini to help generate debate points, outline arguments, and brainstorm potential angles for both Side A and Side B. However, remember that AI is a brainstorming partner, not a researcher. You must support any ideas or arguments generated by finding reliable, verifiable evidence in your primary text (the biography) and secondary sources.

Deliverables:

Self-Debate

Instead of a traditional essay, you will plan and deliver a two-part self-debate. Your goal is to make the absolute strongest case possible for both sides of the argument, using the biography or autobiography you read during this unit as your primary case study, and then film a video for each perspective.

In each video, you must argue passionately and persuasively for that specific side, representing its viewpoints as if they are absolute truth. You don't have to hold back: feel free to act like a person who cares way too much about biographies.

Your debate videos should address:

1. Selectivity and Focus: How did your author's selection of events shape your perception of the subject? What did they emphasize, and what was minimized or omitted?
2. Narrative Framing: What "story arc" did the author impose on the subject's life? How did they use literary elements (like pacing, foreshadowing, or character archetypes) to make the life read like a book?
3. Handling the Gaps: How did the author handle moments where historical evidence was missing or contradictory? Did they speculate on the subject's thoughts or feelings, and did that speculation feel like "fiction"?
4. The Biographer's Shadow: How did the biographer's relationship to the subject (or the autobiographer's natural desire to protect their own legacy) affect the objective truth of the book?

Pro-Tips: Filming & Editing a Self-Debate

Since you are playing both sides of the debate, you'll need to use some creative filming and editing techniques to make the transition between "Debater A" and "Debater B" seamless and engaging:

• Visual Styling: Wear a slightly different outfit, shirt color, or accessory (like glasses or a blazer) for each side. This helps the viewer instantly distinguish which side of the argument is speaking.
• Vocal Contrast & Tone: Give each speaker a distinct persona. For Side A (Non-fiction), you might speak with a measured, authoritative, academic tone. For Side B (Fiction), you could speak with a more expressive, passionate, literary flair. You don't have to hold back—act like a person who cares passionately about the definition of biography!

Deliverables: