Academic writingLesson 1 of 2 in the course Profile: Telling a Rich and Compelling Story

Analyzing Angle, Evidence, and Organization in a Profile of John Lewis

5 flashcards · 5 quiz questions · 5 match pairs · 4 fill-in sentences · English

Save course
Lesson progress
0 / 5

Your progress is kept in this browser only.Sign up to save it

Summary

This lesson examines how Carla D. Hayden shapes her profile of John Lewis through its purpose, angle, writer’s voice, tone, and recurring themes. These choices help a profile communicate not only what a person did, but why that person matters to a particular audience.

Hayden published her profile just two days after Lewis’s death. The timing gives the piece an immediate occasion: it responds to a significant public event while remembering a person’s life and work. Profiles may be prompted by a death, anniversary, current event, or other moment that makes a person’s story especially relevant.

All flashcards

Profile angle
The focused perspective guiding which details a writer selects and how a subject’s story is presented.
Hayden’s profile angle
The power of John Lewis’s “good trouble” as a way to understand his life and legacy.
Voice and tone
Voice is a writer’s recognizable presence and manner; tone is the attitude conveyed by the writing.
Field research
Information gained through direct engagement with a subject, location, or event.
Audience and context
The intended readers and publication situation that help explain a writer’s choices.

Quiz questions

  1. What does chronological structure help readers do in a profile?Answer: Follow change over time and connect early experiences with later actions.
  2. What event became known as “Bloody Sunday”?Answer: Alabama State Troopers attacked peaceful marchers crossing the Edmund Pettus Bridge on March 7, 1965.
  3. What makes information field research?Answer: It comes from direct engagement with a subject, location, or event.
  4. What is secondary research in profile writing?Answer: Information gathered from sources that report or interpret events rather than from direct observation.
  5. Why can a profile’s conclusion return to its central concerns?Answer: It can connect the ending to ideas established earlier and create a sense of completion.

Based on Writing Guide with Handbook by Michelle Bachelor Robinson, Maria Jerskey, featuring Toby Fulwiler (OpenStax), licensed CC BY 4.0. Adapted into a summary, flashcards and quizzes.

More in Academic writing

All Academic writing lessons
Academic writingDecolonizing Identity and Reflecting on Academic Writing5 flashcards · 5 quiz questions · 4 gamesPlay free →Academic writingReflecting on Research and the Writing Process in Profile Writing5 flashcards · 5 quiz questions · 4 gamesPlay free →Academic writingSelf-Evaluating a Literacy Narrative with Rubric Criteria5 flashcards · 5 quiz questions · 4 gamesPlay free →Academic writingEditing Visual Descriptions with Concrete, Precise Diction5 flashcards · 5 quiz questions · 4 gamesPlay free →Academic writingAnalyzing Persuasion in Evicted: Claims, Appeals, Evidence, and Evaluation5 flashcards · 5 quiz questions · 4 gamesPlay free →Academic writingResearch Logs: Source Notes, Thesis Development, and Synthesis5 flashcards · 5 quiz questions · 4 gamesPlay free →