Option 1: Find three Americans who have something in common and read their biographies or autobiographies. As you focus on the commonalities, you will probably notice some differences. In what ways does looking at things from different viewpoints enhance your understanding?

Option 2: Read 3 biographies about the same person. What do the similarities and differences in the biographies reveal about the person?

Examples:

• Auto/Biographies of the Reagan family: President Ronald, First Lady Nancy, children Patti Davis, Ron Reagan
• Three biographies of President Ronald Reagan (or 1 auto and 2 bio) -- or another president
• Auto/Biographies from World War II: Generals Eisenhower, Patton, and Bradley
• Auto/Biographies of civil rights leaders Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, Jesse Jackson, Rev. Ralph Abernathy, Rosa Parks (and others)
• Auto/Biographies of First Ladies: Eleanor Roosevelt, Jackie Kennedy, Hillary Clinton (and others)
• Auto/Biographies of writers from the late 1800s: Mark Twain, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Sarah Orne Jewett, Mary E. Wilkins Freeman (and others)
• Auto/Biographies of writers from the early 1900s: F. Scott Fitzgerald, Zelda Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway (and others)
• Auto/Biographies of African-American Congressional Leaders: Barbara Jordon, Shirley Chisholm, Edward Brooke (and others)
• Auto/Biographies of famous comedians: Lucille Ball, Carol Burnett, and Roseann Barr (and others)
• Slave narratives: Frederick Douglass, Harriet Jacobs, Booker T. Washington (and others)

Many other possibilities exist. If you have a proposal, let's talk!

Updated August 14, 2011.