Writing a Biography
The writing of a biography can be problematic. First, it is impossible to ever fully understand the interior life of another individual. Biographers will inevitably put their own interpretations upon events and decisions, and multiple biographies will have multiple interpretations. Second, the further away the subject is historically, the harder it becomes to reconstruct a life in its entirety. Records become lost, and historical accounts from antiquity or the medieval period are notorious for their lack of what modern scholars call objectivity. Fantastic details are often accepted as fact.
With all these problems in mind, it is clear that when writing a biography, the source of your information must be credible and objective. The best source of non-bias biographical information can be found in primary sources such as news accounts that were written while the person was alive. Biographical facts in primary sources are certain to be accurate, as the person was still alive to verify and protest if information was inaccurately published about him/her.
Writing a biography can be a very gratifying form of academic assignment. It calls for investigative skills and allows one to reveal the life of an individual beyond what the common person may know. The hurdles one encounters in gathering information for a written biography can actually be catalysts for outstanding research and new discoveries.
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