The Art of Biography

Background

Roald Dahl (The Writer and the Text)

The beloved children's writer Roald Dahl is both the subject and the author of the primary text for my unit. Dahl himself experienced many rather ordinary events in his childhood, but he tells his story in a very colorful way. He was born in Britain to Norwegian parents in 1916. In Dahl's biography, Storyteller: The Life of Roald Dahl, his biographer Donald Sturrock remarks that Dahl was often regarded as an outsider and seen as a foreigner because he was born to immigrant parents. ² Nevertheless, Dahl was proud of his Norwegian heritage. He spent most of his childhood growing up in Wales. His mother taught him to speak Norwegian and would often tell him stories from her native country that would later influence him as a writer. Dahl's father, Harald Dahl, was a self-made man who left Norway early in his life to make a living for himself. At the age of fourteen, Dahl's father lost an arm after falling off the roof of a house. Despite this hardship, Dahl's mother always portrayed Harald as one who persevered, met adversity, and overcame obstacles. Harald died when Dahl was just three years old. As Dahl described it, Harald was grieving over the recent death of Dahl's older sister. When Harald contracted a case of pneumonia in 1919, he simply refused to fight against the illness and chose instead to join his daughter in death. This moment would later prove to be a significant event for Dahl. He, too, would lose a daughter later in life and many speculate that the loss of his parent influenced the structure of many of his children's stories.

Dahl's mother, Sofie Magdalene, single-handedly raised Dahl, his two stepsiblings from his father's previous marriage, and Dahl's three sisters on her own. Dahl was Sofie's only son, and as Sturrock writes, "he was his mother's pride and joy." ³ She dedicated her life to her children, and Dahl described her as highly influential in his life. He was just as fond of his mother as she was of him.

When Dahl was seven years old, He attended Llandaff Cathedral School. It was there that he received his first beating by the school's headmaster. Corporal punishment in school was not unusual in Dahl's day. In fact, the beating he received at Llandaff would not be his last. Dahl was punished for pulling a prank on the owner of the local candy shop. Dahl and his friends placed a dead rat that they found into one of the shop's sweets jars. When the terrified female shop owner discovered it, she went to Dahl's school and demanded that the boys be found and punished. Indeed they were. While the story is adventurous and rather comical, the beating that Dahl and his friends received for their actions was not. It was harsh, so much so that Dahl's mother was deeply disturbed by it. She came to the rescue of her son and after giving the headmaster a piece of her mind, removed Dahl from the school at the end of the next term.

Boy: Tales of Childhood covers Dahl's earliest years. Comical, adventurous, and cringing tales like the one above fill the pages of the book. Dahl writes mainly about his experiences in Welsh and English boys' preparatory and boarding schools in the 1920s and 30s and about the adults and unforgettable people he encounters while there.

Some of his experiences are very common, like crying on the first day of school, feeling homesick while away from his mother, and enjoying sports. Other experiences are rather characteristic to the time and characterize Dahl's life as out of the ordinary for our time, like serving as a Fag, or as Dahl puts it, "the servant of the study holder in whose study I had my little desk," ⁴ at his final school, Repton. As a Fag, he was made to pre-heat the frosty wooden seat of the outhouse lavatory with his bare buttocks on winter nights whenever the study holder wished to use the restroom. He writes about pranks he played as a boy, such as filling his half-sister's fiancé's pipe with goat droppings. Dahl got into his fair share of trouble as a boy and recounts those memories with striking detail. He tells of the trouble he gets into for receiving a stripe for talking during Prep when he needed to ask for a nib for his pen. With the grandeur and nostalgia associated with a child's magical place, Dahl writes about the summer holidays he spent in Norway. He writes about the traumatic accidents he incurred as a child, like nearly losing his nose in a car crash. He ends the autobiography at the completion of his secondary schooling having obtained a much-coveted job at the Shell Oil Company in East Africa at the age of 20 in 1936.

The Text

I chose to use Dahl's autobiography for several reasons. I found it quite accessible for the students in my classroom. The book as a whole is short. There are 176 pages and almost every page has an accompanying illustration, photograph, or excerpt from a letter written by Dahl to visualize what is being said or to simply present an artifact from Dahl's life. The length and the pictures are significant for my students, who often are not readers outside of the classroom and many of whom read below grade level, because they will no longer view the text as intimidating or as an impossible feat to finish before they even begin. The chapters are also fairly short, meaning my students can read portions of the book in class, and still have additional time to discuss the content, apply skills, and engage in related activities all on the same day. The book lends itself well to largely independent reading within the classroom. Though the Flesch Kincaid Reading Level Scale registers the text at a 7.7 reading level, as a teacher, I found the book to be manageable reading material for my students. The language was not terribly complicated, nor does it impede comprehension. I feel comfortable allowing my students to read the text on their own without feeling the need to stop and explain or check for understanding at every third paragraph, page, or end of a chapter.

Even though the book is set throughout the early 20 ^th century (1920s-1930s) and in the United Kingdom, a territory largely unfamiliar to my students, I don't find the historical context of the book to be a great hindrance to students' comprehension of the material either. In the context of my unit it was important to me that my students not spend a significant amount of time on acquiring historical knowledge of an unfamiliar time period or place. There is some background knowledge that will need to be introduced like showing my students where the United Kingdom and Norway are and making sure they understand the difference between our schools today and the English schools of Dahl's time. Dahl, himself, also includes necessary background information in his writing, such as explaining the school roles of headmasters, Boazers, and Fags or letting the reader know about the difference in medical practices during his day.

Children love Dahl's stories and his writing style. Dahl's biographer attributes the popularity of his stories with children to two factors, his ability to easily recall his own childhood and his capacity to relate to children while still an adult ⁵. "His seductive voice, the subversive twinkle in his eye, and his sense of the comic and curious gave him an ability to mesmerize almost every child who crossed his path—yet he could also remember and reimagine his own childhood with astonishing sharpness. The detail might sometimes be unreliable, but what never failed him was an ability instinctively to recreate and understand the child's point of view." ⁶

Roald Dahl is a pied piper of children's literature, and in choosing his autobiography it is my hope that my students will be lured into his writing as well. The events that he writes about are relatable across time and space. The chapter in which Dahl receives a stripe when he is caught talking during Prep as he asks the boy beside him for a nib for his pen reminds me at once of my students. When they are caught talking in class at times when they should be working, the excuse I always hear often involves "but I was asking . . ." some variation of somebody for something extremely vital. They know what it is like to feel like they are in a critical predicament and solved it the best way they knew how—"There was still another half-hour of Prep to go and I couldn't sit there doing nothing all that time. Nor could I put up my hand and tell Captain Hardcastle I had broken my nib. I simply didn't dare. And as a matter of fact, I really wanted to finish that essay." ⁷ They know how they slyly talk in class as if it is unbeknownst to supervising adults—"Dobson's desk was almost touching mine. I thought I would risk it. I kept my head lowered but watched Captain Hardcastle very carefully. When I was fairly sure he was looking the other way, I put a hand in front of my mouth and whispered, 'Dobson . . . Dobson . . . Could you lend me a nib?'" ⁸

And then there is that but. They know what it is like to be caught doing something wrong, but, for lack of a better word, from their point of view it was for an inherently "good" reason—"Suddenly there was an explosion up on the dais. Captain Hardcastle had leapt to his feet and was pointing at me and shouting, 'You're talking! I saw you talking! Don't try to deny it! I distinctly saw you talking behind your hand!' I sat there frozen with terror. 'Do you deny you were talking?' he shouted. 'No, sir, no, b-but . . .'" ⁹ My students can connect to this event in Dahl's life, and because they can connect to it, they can bring experience and feeling to the text as well.

Autobiography

When I teach autobiography, I teach it as the story of a person's life told by that person. We talk about the fact that an autobiography is written in first person. We examine the prefixes and root words auto- (self), -bio- (life), and -graph- (write). If there is time, we may read a short excerpt from an autobiography. At times, I have had students compare an autobiographical account of an event to the same biographical account so that they can see the difference in the first person and third person point of view and the amount of personal detail a writer can include in an autobiography. And then we move on in the curriculum. All in all, the information I give on autobiography is basic and brief, and in reality the amount of information I give is often seen as enough in my school district. Autobiography is not really valued in the sixth grade English class as part of a literary genre. We shy away from it in the classroom, but the genre should truly be considered for its wealth of literary worth.

Autobiography exposes students to nonfiction writing and also can be manipulated for the use of teaching fiction standards as well. Quite a few autobiographies are written by children's and young adult authors. I find that these autobiographies not only work well for teaching the principles of the genre, but, because of the quality of writing, can also be used to teach literary techniques. Dahl's autobiography reads very much like one of his children's stories and therefore includes fictional literary techniques. It is because of this similarity that I can use his work to teach characterization so fully and in a way that is applicable across genres.

The Principles of Autobiography

Autobiography, like biography, has several common and loose-fitting defining principles or characteristics. Hermione Lee in her book Biography: A Very Short Introduction coins ten rules that biography must follow. ¹⁰ Borrowing from Lee, I will suggest to my students that autobiography follows many of the same principles as biography and adapt those principles for use in my classroom. Rather than list these principles for my students, as an introduction into the genre I will ask them to explore the principles by reading Dahl's autobiography and writing an informal version of their own autobiographies without much initial guidance. After sharing some of the autobiographies in class, I will ask students to discuss a few of the common principle ideas that were inherent in almost everyone's writing.

For instance, most students will begin their autobiographies with their birthdate. Principle One: Autobiographies typically start at the beginning of a person's life and work their way up. I am sure they will list most of the following information in their writing, their name, the names of their parents, where they live and go to school, their current age, and their grade. Principle Two: An autobiography tells who a person is; it establishes a sense of identity. Many students will share significant events in their autobiography. Principle Three: Autobiographies include significant events and the author selects which events to include. At some point, one student may ask another, "that really happened to you?" Principle Four: Autobiographies are intended to be true accounts of a person's life; it is a nonfiction form of writing. And in the same respect, students should note that some experiences are subjective to the writer's point of view.

Finally, and more so perhaps in the autobiographies that we read, students should note that autobiographies have an element of reflection and highlight a sense of value in a person's life. This is Principle Five. Lee ascertains in her ninth rule for biography that biography should have value for the reader, "a recurring argument is made for the usefulness of the genre. If biography can teach us how to live our lives, or can open our minds to lives very unlike our own, then it has an educational purpose: it is a branch of history and of knowledge." ¹¹ One of the earliest autobiographies published, Saint Augustine's Confessions mirrors this principle. At the time the book was published, Augustine was a bishop in the Christian church, yet there seems to be no omission of even the most lurid of sins in his writing. Augustine shares the stories of his life, exposing his imperfections, because we as readers stand to gain and learn from the example of how he lived his life.

Autobiography as a Portrait

In my unit I want my students to understand autobiography as a nonfiction work of art that paints a detailed picture of the character of its subject through the careful and deliberate telling of life experiences. Lee shares the long-standing analogy of a biography as a portrait. She writes, "the subject of a biography, like that of a portrait, should seem to be alive, breathing, present in all the totality, there-ness and authenticity of their being." ¹² The same idea is true in autobiography.

Biographies and autobiographies use words to paint pictures of their subjects. And like Lee suggests, the subject comes alive. There is not just a visualization of a face; there is a depiction of character in the autobiographical portrait. The inner character further shapes the face we see in our mind's eye. In Robert Caro's biography of President Lyndon B. Johnson, The Years of Lyndon Johnson: Means of Ascent, a portrait of a man before becoming president, before signing one of the greatest civil rights bills into history, is painted in full detail ¹³. As a reader, it is not just a distinguished face that I see. Hidden in the lines of Johnson's face is the slightest trace of a hardened wince that comes from trying to hide the pain caused by a rogue kidney stone during his election for the Senate seat in 1948. In his eyes, there is determination to win that election at all costs. His eyes are not kind. They suggest that he is willing to do whatever it takes to win, even if his actions are unethical. In my mental portrait, Johnson stands erect reaching the full height of his impressive stature. His size and stance suggest that he is formidable. One arm is slightly bent in front of him and the hand forms a fist, which shows that he is not in the least bit afraid of the hard work that will be necessary to achieve his goals. He wears a neat suit of the times, with a fresh crisp shirt. He does not smile. The Johnson I see depicted in Caro's biography would not smile for a still portrait. There is very little that is nice or especially cheerful about him at this time in his life. He is deceitful, dirty, driven, a strategist in every way, and the look on his face suggest these qualities in the slightest of ways. After all, Johnson was a master at projecting only what he wanted prospective voters to know.

As I read Caro's biography, Johnson came alive. I felt like I came to truly know who Johnson was, and I could see a clear image of him in my mind's eye. Caro's attention to detail, selection of stories to share, inclusion of other's reactions to Johnson, and speculation or uncovering of his thoughts created a picture of a full man whose character was as round and multi-faceted as any person I know. Caro's book is an excellent example of biography as portrait at its best.

Like Caro, Dahl creates portraits with his words when he writes. In my unit, my students will consider the idea of an autobiography as a portrait in both the autobiography that they read and in the autobiographies that they will write. Students will examine the parts of Dahl's autobiography that reveals character, and they will write their autobiographies with the intention to reveal a certain facet of their own character. My goal is for my students to "show" with their words. In addition, students will be exposed to actual portraits during the reading of Dahl's autobiography to introduce the idea of characterization. They will work with portraits and decide what a picture and its details can say about the subject's character.

Character and Characterization as a Skill

When Roald Dhal writes, his characters literally leap off of the page in a very imaginable way. Readers can picture the person he is describing. Take for instance the character of Mrs. Pratchett, the owner of the sweet shop that Dahl and his friends like to visit in Llandaff

Her name was Mrs. Pratchett. She was a small skinny old hag with a moustache on her upper lip and a mouth as sour as a green gooseberry. She never smiled. She never welcomed us when we went in, and the only times she spoke were when she said things like, 'I'm watchin' you so keep yer thievin' fingers off them chocolates!' Or 'I don't want you in 'ere just to look around! Either you forks out or you gets out!' But by far the most loathsome thing about Mrs. Pratchett was the filth that clung around her. Her apron was grey and greasy. Her blouse had bits of breakfast all over it, toast-crumbs and tea stains and splotches of dried egg-yolk. It was her hands, however, that disturbed us most. They were disgusting. They were black with dirt and grime. They looked as though they had been putting lumps of coal on the fire all day long. And do not forget please that it was these very hands and fingers that she plunged into the sweet-jars when we asked for a pennyworth of Treacle Toffee [. . .]" ¹⁴

Before Dahl even allows Mrs. Pratchett to speak, we know she is, at least from a child's point of view, pure evil. The moustache on her lip does not categorize her as a beautiful woman. She is ugly, never smiles, and always has a sour expression on her face. These details are all characteristics associated with meanness. And the description of the minute detail of her hands, only serves to further this idea. Dahl zooms in on Mrs. Pratchett's hands, writing her as a character that no one would want to touch let alone like. Mrs. Pratchett makes us cringe, as she should. It is clear from what she says that even though she runs a sweet shop she doesn't particularly care for the company of children. And her speech—words and expressions like yer, them chocolates, 'ere, forks out—gives the idea that she is not part of a particularly high class. This is the process of characterization, the revelation of a character's personality through the details a writer provides in the character's physical description, speech, thoughts, effects on others, and actions.

In order for students to really go in depth in the process of characterization, they must be able to infer. Authors can and do explicitly state character traits in their writing, but often the traits are implied. Making an inference is the process of combining evidence from a text with information acquired through personal experience to read in between the lines and fill in information that the writer may have left out. For instance, Dahl doesn't have to say that Mrs. Pratchett does not like children, we can infer it from how she speaks and looks at them and from how Dahl writes about her— he writes from a child's point of view, and his word choice does not paint her in a favorable light. Inferring is an important piece of successful reading comprehension. As Kathryn S. Carr states in the article "The Importance of Inference Skills in the Primary Grades," "an author never states everything that happened in a story; information that can be logically assumed may be omitted [. . .] the reader, therefore, constructs inferences in order to make sense of the story." ¹⁵

My students find it difficult to make correct inferences in their reading, and they struggle with reading comprehension as a result. I have found that it is easier to teach inferences when I make it relevant to my students. After all, making inferences is something that we do in our everyday lives, too, outside of the written text. I point this out to my students when I teach inferences, and I point it out to them when I teach characterization as well. We make judgments about people based on what we see, even before we truly know a person. For example, students feel that they know whether a teacher is nice or mean even if they don't have a class taught by that particular teacher themselves. When asked how they know, they point to evidence that can be used to infer a character trait like the fact that the teacher talks in a stern way, that she does not smile or has a mean look on her face all the time, that she stares at them in the hall. This process is natural to students. It is not a foolproof system for judging character and may not always be accurate, but it can serve as a starting point for showing students that they do know how to make inferences and that they do use this skill in their lives.