Profile

Part 2: Inquiry Projects
Chapter Four
Writing a Profile
PowerPoint by Michelle Payne, PhD
Boise State University
Copyright © 2014 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
The Curious Writer
Fourth Edition
by Bruce Ballenger

Chapter Four
Writing a Profile
In this chapter, you will learn how to
Goal 1
• Use a profile of a person as a way to focus on an
idea, a personality trait, or a situation.
Goal 2
• Identify some of the academic applications of
profiles.
Goal 3
• Identify the characteristics of profiles in different
forms.
Goal 4
• Use invention strategies, including interviews, to
discover and develop a profile of someone.
Goal 5
• Apply revision strategies that are effective for
shaping profiles.

“There may be no better way of dramatizing the
impact of a problem, the importance of a question,
or the significance of an idea than showing how it
presents itself in the life of one person.”
Page 159
Dorthea Lange/ Library of Congress, Prints &
Photographs Division, FSA/OWI Collection

MOTIVES FOR WRITING A PROFILE
“The most important motive behind composing a profile—whether it’s a
conventional written essay, a photo essay, an ‘infographic’ . . . or any
other mode—is that the subject is interesting.”
Ice Climber, Image from Microsoft Clip Art

Use a profile of a person as a way to focus
on an idea, a personality trait,
or a situation.
Goal 1
Ideal if
– Want to preserve family history
– Want to dramatize the impact of
a problem, importance of a
question, or the significance of
an idea
– Find someone particularly
interesting
If I look closely
at this one
person, might I
gain insight
about people,
and particularly
about people
like him or her?

Common Pitfalls of Early Profile Drafts
Focus too much on
the relationship
between the
writer and the
interview subject
Focus mostly on
the writer’s
feelings and
judgments about
the person rather
than on the person
him/herself
Rely too much on
the interview and
don’t offer much
interpretation

THE PROFILE AND
ACADEMIC WRITING
“The profile is closely related to the case study, a common academic
form, especially in the social sciences. The case study, like the profile,
takes a close look at the life of a person who is interesting and in some
way representative of a group, in order to arrive at a fuller picture of
that group.”

Identify some of the academic
applications of profiles.
Case Studies
• Social Sciences
• A close look at the life of a
person who is in some way
representative of a group, in
order to arrive at a fuller
picture of that group.
Example: “Learning About Work from
Joe Cool,” published in the Journal of
Management Inquiry as part of a larger
article that asked, “What is the
meaning of work?”
Ethnography
• Anthropology, Social
Sciences
• Fieldwork, interviews
• Document the customs,
rituals, and behaviors of
cultural groups in the
locations where members
live, work, or play.
Goal 2
Interviews are central to case studies, ethnographies,
and other qualitative research methods.

DISCUSSING THE READINGS:
EXAMPLES OF THE FORM
“The profile can, like good fiction, provide insight into the complexities of
the human mind and soul.”

“Museum Missionary”
Bruce Ballenger
1) Explore:
– Writing about people you have know whom you can’t
forget
2) Explain:
– How does “Museum Missionary” exemplify the
features of the profile essay?
3) Evaluate:
– Argument for your understanding of the meaning of
the essay, using passages
4) Reflect:
– Presence of the writer in a profile

“Passengers”
Ian Frazier
1) Explore:
– Write a one-sentence description of three people you
know; discuss what makes an effective description.
2) Explain:
– How is Salvatore’s unique experience a better way of
understanding the 9/11 attack than explanations about
its effect on people?
3) Evaluate:
– Compare and contrast the different choices the writers
make in this and the previous profile essay.
4) Reflect:
– What are the ethics of writing about someone?

“Learning About Work from Joe Cool”
Gib Aikin
1) Explore:
– What does knowing Joe Cool through this profile tell me
about the nature of some workers and workplaces?
2) Explain:
– Choose a segment of the essay and explain its purpose in
the profile.
3) Evaluate:
– Evaluate the effectiveness of “Joe Cool” as research.
4) Reflect:
– Reflect on what you would do if you were Gib Akin, asked
to write this story.

“Number 6 Orchard”
Micaela Fisher
1) In your own words, what do you understand
“Number 6 Orchard” to be saying in the last
paragraph?
2) Analyze how Micaela uses the categories of
information typical of a profile: anecdote, scene,
description, background, and comment.
3) What is the one thing that you might take away
from this reading and apply to your own
writing?

THE WRITING PROCESS
“One of the great profile writers, John McPhee, wrote recently that promising
subjects for profiles ‘are everywhere. They just go by in a ceaseless stream.’
But McPhee also observed that the great majority of people he chose to
write about were those who knew something about a topic he had long been
interested in. Begin there. What have you wondered about for a while, and is
there a person who might teach you more about it?”

Inquiry Project: Writing a Profile
Use one of
the four
frames to
focus your
profile:
Group
Ideas about
Event
Quality
Focus
Be
organized
around a
theme.
What one
main thing
are you
trying to
say about
or through
your profile
subject?
Theme
Include
several
revealing
anecdotes
about your
profile
subject.
Anecdote
Include a
physical
description
of the
person
you’re
writing
about.
Description
Incorporate
the voice of
your
subject
through
interesting
and telling
quotes.
Quotes

Identify the characteristics of profiles
in different forms.
Inquiry Questions
Does this one person’s story tell
us anything about the perspective
of others who belong to a group
and about people in general?
What does this person’s story say
about social situations, trends,
or problems?
Motives
More than an objective picture
of someone
Writer uses the portrait to
say something
Profile is in the service of ideas
Goal 3

Features of the Form
• Interview
• Observation
• Research
•Language: sensory
details; exact, precise
•Narrative structure
•Use of anecdotes,
dialogue, scenes, details
• Detailed look at
an individual
• Person is both
unique and typical
• In-depth study of
interesting individual
• Speaks to larger
themes
• “Why this person?”
Purpose Subject
SourcesForm

Type Questions Genre
Question of Fact or
Definition
What is it? What is known
about it?
Beginning of inquiry
Question of Value Which is better/worse? Is
it good/bad
Review, Argument,
Research Essay
Hypothesis Question Might this be true? Research Essay, Personal
Essay
Policy Question What should be done? Argument, Proposal
Interpretation Question What does it mean? Literary Essay, Personal
Essay, Ethnography, Profile
Relationship Question Does ___ cause ___? Is
__similar or dissimilar to
___?
Research Essay, Literary
Essay, Ethnography
Types of Questions Types of Genres

Critically Reading Profiles:
Visual Anthropology
Page 127
National Archives ARC Identifier 518917

WHO ARE YOU GOING TO
WRITE ABOUT?
“What have you wondered about for a while, and is there a person who
might teach you more about it?”

Use invention strategies, including
interviews, to discover and develop a
profile of someone.
Opening up (generating):
• What have you wondered about for a while, and
is there a person who might teach you about it?
Narrowing down (judging):
• Which of these raise the most interesting
questions to explore?
Trying out (generating, then judging):
• What patterns do you notice in your interviews?
What “frame” might best suit the patterns?
Goal 4

Opening Up: Generating Ideas
• Journal prompts
– Listing
– Fastwriting
– Visual prompts
– Research prompts
What do I want to
know more about?
Which snapshot seems most
compelling to me?

Narrowing Down: Judging

What’s Promising Material and What Isn’t?
• Assignment. Which subjects best fit the
requirements of the assignment?
• Accessibility. Is he or she accessible?
• Unfamiliarity. A stranger is often a better choice
than a family member or friend.
• Background. Might you have access to
information about the subject?
• Typicality. Is the subject representative in some
way of an aspect of a topic you’d like to
investigate?

What’s Promising Material and What Isn’t?
• Extremity. Someone who represents the extreme
may be promising.
• Spontaneity. Less experienced subjects can be
appealing because they aren’t practiced at talking
about themselves.
• Quotability. If you know beforehand that
someone speaks in an interesting way, he/she
might be a great profile subject.
• Willingness: Is the subject willing?

Questions About Purpose
and Audience
• Key question:
– Why would someone be
interested in your subject?
• Connecting purpose and
audience:
– What “frames” might you use
(see next slide)?
– What key anecdotes illustrate
your point?
“When you
interview, a key
question will be
Can you tell me
the story behind
that?”

Profile
Subject
1.
Group
2.
Event
3. Ideas
About
4.
Quality
Understand a
group of people
by examining
one person
Individual might
exemplify
something about
an issue, a
problem, a place
Individual might have
been part of an event
and indicate
something about it
Trying Out: Possible Frames for Profile
Your
dominant
impression
of the
subject

Example:Interviewing

Interviewing:
What happened? . . . And then what happened?
Other questions:
• In all your experience with ________, what
has most surprised you?
• What has been the most difficult aspect of
your work?
• If you had the chance to change something
about how you approached_______, what
would it be?

Interviewing:
• Can you remember a significant moment in
your work on ________? Is there an
experience with ________ that stands out in
your mind?
• What do you think is the most common
misconception about ________? Why?

Interviewing:
• What are significant trends in ________?
• Who or what has most influenced you? Who
are your heroes?
• If you had to summarize the most important
thing you’ve learned about________, what
would you say? What is the most important
thing that people should know or understand?

Knowing When It’s a Good Interview
Stories
Interesting
anecdotes from
subject
Narrative
backbone of
profile
Memorable
quotations
Distinctive quotes
Reveal something
about subject’s
character
Background
information
Age
Place of birth
History with
relevant issues
Feeling
What really
matters to
subject?
Moments when
subject expresses
deep feelings
about something

What should a profile essay do?
So why this person?
Rich
details
Dialogue
from
interview
Anecdotes

Sketch: What Is It?
• A way to try out your angle on the profile.
• A brief treatment of a promising subject,
written with readers in mind.
• Will help you to test your profile idea to see if
it is worth developing into a draft.

Sketch: What Elements Should
You Include?
• At least two potentially revealing anecdotes
about your profile subject
• At least two strong quotations from your subject
• A title
• A paragraph of background information, including
your informant’s age, a physical description, and
perhaps relevant job or personal history
• A strong lead (perhaps one of the anecdotes)

The Process
So Far…
Narrowing Trying Out
“Frames”
PatternsInterviews
Brain-
storming
Clustering
Prompts
Sketch
Generating
• What patterns do you notice?
• What is the “story” here?
• Why would readers care about this
person?
Now what?

DRAFTING
“Why this person? Of the many things one might say about
someone, what is the one thing you want to say about your
subject? Choose a lead that establishes the frame for your subject
(quality, idea about, event, or group), and follow it and see where
it goes.”

From Sketch to Draft
Frame
• What exactly am I
trying to show—or
might I show in the
next draft—about my
subject’s connection
to an idea, an event,
or a group?
• Or is the sketch
focusing on a quality
of my subject—a
personality trait or
belief?
Theme
• What would I say if
someone were to ask
this question: “What
do you want readers
of your profile to
understand most
about your subject?”
Information
• If I’ve tentatively
decided on the frame
and theme for the
profile, what
questions should I ask
in my next interview
to develop them
further?
Evaluate Your Sketch:
Based on what I’ve learned so far about my profile subject, the main thing I seem to
be trying to show is____________________.

Apply revision strategies that are effective
for shaping profiles.
Goal 5
Group workshop on drafts:
Purpose
What seems to be the frame for this
profile?
Why does the writer seem to think this
person is interesting?
When in the draft do you know that? Is
it early enough?
Meaning
(What’s the S.O.F.T.?)
If it is focused on a quality of its subject,
what is it?
If it is saying something about an idea,
what is it?
If it’s focused on how the subject represents a
larger group, what is it saying about that
group?
If it is using its subject to illuminate a public
event, what is it saying about that event?

Shaping: Information and Organization
Group your
information
into categories
Consider how Ballenger organized “Museum Missionary” using
categories of information.

Strategies for Revision
Analyzing the
information
• How might I group
the information
into categories ?
“Frankenstein
Draft”
• Revision Strategy
13.18
• Cut up draft into
categories
• Play with the order
Research
• Background
• Facts
• Other information
Image from Microsoft Clip Art

Revision: Typical Problems in
Profile Drafts
• The frame needs refining or
clarifying.
• There isn’t enough material
for the frame to work.
• The profile subject is obscured by the
writer’s intrusions into the text, or too
much telling and not enough showing.
Image from Microsoft Clip Art

Unclear Purpose
•Not sure what the essay
is about? Fails to answer
the So what question?
Unclear thesis, theme or
main idea
•Not sure what you’re
trying to say?
Lack of information or
development
•Needs more details?
More showing, less
telling?
Disorganized
•Doesn’t move logically
or smoothly from
paragraph to paragraph?
Unclear or awkward at
the level of sentences
and paragraphs
•Seems choppy or hard to
follow at the level of
sentences or
paragraphs?
Chapter 13:
Revision
Strategies
1 to 4
Chapter 13:
Revision
Strategies
5 to 10
Chapter 13:
Revision
Strategies
11 to 14
Chapter 13:
Revision
Strategies
15 to 18
Chapter 13:
Revision
Strategies
20 to 26
Guide to Revision Strategies

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