Writing
Section Summary

Remember the questions, "Where do I look for information?" and "How do I approach my subject when writing?,"posed in the introduction as troublesome concerns for some people writing biographical essays?

The primary source documents in the exercises came from local libraries, a museum, a local archive, and websites. Some of the different records used in the Alonzo Bump and Albert S. Green essays included mid-to-late nineteenth century censes, city directories, and accounting ledgers as well as Civil War letters and muster records.

The approach suggested for a richer essay is to keep asking questions about the person under investigation and to keep looking for as many relevant primary source documents as possible. Become acquainted with the subject until you begin to feel a story unfold. Writing a short essay with available material sometimes helps identify where more research is needed. Important also to creating a good essay is to weave the person's story into historical events as possible. Secondary materials usually provide good sources for this background context.

The errors found in censes and information on websites enforce another important part of essay

writing: primary source documents and transcribed data need to be checked for accuracy. Consistent information, as when Alonzo Bump's mention of Albert's demotion corresponded to military records, is generally the most reliable.

What was the phrase following Alonzo's comment, "I have seen the eliphant?" Was it not, "and I am satisfied." Hopefully writing future biographical essays will now be a somewhat easier, richer, and more satisying experience.

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