Profiles are written portraits—of people, places, events, or other things. A profile presents a subject in an entertaining way, showing us something or someone that we may not have known existed or that we see every day but don’t know much about. This assignment will help you to bridge the descriptive writing skills you developed in the first unit with researched-based writing.

For your profile, you will choose a person of interest to write about and then, through primary observations/interviews and secondary/research sources, create a portrait of that person. Because you must include primary research, a historical figure is not an acceptable person to profile (unless you are Bill and Ted and can go back in time to conduct interviews/observations). Your profile should evidence the key features of a profile:

• An interesting subject: The subject may be someone unusual, or it may be someone ordinary shown in an intriguing way.
• Any necessary background: Include just enough information to let readers know something about the subject’s larger context. The goal of the assignment is NOT to write a summary, so don’t get side-tracked.
  • Specific information
  • Sensory images
  • Figurative language
  • Dialogue
  • Anecdotes
  • Choose details that show rather than tell—and be sure all the details create some dominant impression of your subject.

An interesting angle: A good profile captures its subject from a particular angle. Do not try to cover every aspect of your subject; choose one specific angle to approach it from.

A firsthand account: Spend time observing and interacting with your subject. With a person, interacting means watching and conversing.

Engaging details: Include details that bring your subject to life:

Must be 4-6 pages of 1,450 words.