Historical Fiction

In the first lesson a working definition of biography was established as follows. A biography is where an author writes about someone else, telling the story of that life. The author or biographer does not just recount a narrative; they make a judgement about what that individual was like and about their significance in history. Students were then given a short list of Emperors to choose from, Emperors on whom there is plenty of material, and then sent away to make their choice and begin their research for homework. To help them they were given the enquiry sheet, Appendix 1. Part of the problem with researching biography is that often the material is written for an adult audience. In many cases students will need considerable help to access and make sense of this material in order to avoid them falling back on just copying. A new series, ‘Who was …', may help here.

In the second lesson the students spent time studying the biography of the Emperor Trajan, see Appendix 2. The teacher followed the pattern of demonstrating the use of one technique in one paragraph and then the students looking for themselves in another paragraph. The language features of a biography they explored were: -

• the use of the past tense;
• the use of adjectives to signal opinion or judgements;
• good topic sentences;
• details listed to support judgement;
• connectives to join ideas;
• and quotations used to support judgements.

As neither overhead projector nor data projector was available this work was carried out as a paper exercise. This made the task more difficult but not impossible. The use of colour coding was again a helpful strategy. Figure 2 shows what was highlighted in one paragraph. The outcome of the lesson was students writing their own biographer's toolkit. They were then able to draw upon this in their own writing in the lesson and homework that followed.

Figure 2. Paragraph 3 annotated to show the use of judgement adjectives and quotation.

The pupil biographies were very good. The majority had been word-processed and reflected strong engagement with the task. They showed characteristics of attainment ranging from level 4 to level 7, with most grouped in the middle. They demonstrated good historical knowledge and understanding and good historical communication skills. Clearly recognisable in them were the biography features that had been explicitly taught. They were all well structured in paragraphs and all written in the past tense. They all reached a judgement and used suitable language features and historical detail to achieve that. The majority used topic sentences and connectives well. The most able pupils had also incorporated the technique of listing detail to add emphasis and support. The only feature that was missing was the use of quotations from the sources.

The technique of writing biography can be applied to any historical period but particularly lends itself to a study of the Twentieth Century. See also the curriculum advice given by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority, Key Stage 3 scheme of work Unit 22: The role of the individual: for good or ill.

Appendix 1. Researching for a biography.

• Chronology - the dates, places and people in your Emperor's life.
• The Roman world in which they lived - what sort of society did they grow up in? How might this have influenced their early life and thinking?
• Significant moments or actions in the life of your Emperor - e.g. the moment they first came to the attention of the public, the action they took in response to an event such as a rebellion or a war.
• The end of the Emperor's life
• Summary - what you think makes your chosen Emperor significant in history.

Appendix 2. Emperor Trajan (98-117 A.D.)

Trajan was born in Spain in 53 A.D. As a member of a patrician family he was expected to follow a political career. The first step in this was to become a soldier, which Trajan did. He was a good soldier and was promoted to lead armies in the wars against the Germans before he became governor of Germany. Then he was adopted as son and co ruler by the Emperor Nerva. In 98 A.D. Trajan succeeded Nerva as Emperor.

Trajan chose to stay in his German province and settle affairs on that frontier before returning to Rome. He continued the policies of previous emperors. His good nature and respect for those who had, until recently, been his equals made him very popular. He rewarded his associates with high office and promotions. The people called him optimus (the best). His good relations with the senate allowed him to do whatever he wanted without much opposition. He was married to Pompeia Plotina. She, his sister and his niece all played public roles. They travelled with Trajan on public business and were involved in major decisions.

Trajan fought two wars against the Dacians, defeated them and added Dacia as a new province to the Empire. Those Dacians who had survived the war were either killed or enslaved. Trajan celebrated a great triumph, which lasted 123 days. The people were entertained with a vast display of gladiators and animals. He also improved the grain supply to the city of Rome. The writer Juvenal complained that, “the citizen of Rome, once master of the world, is now content only with panem et circenses” (bread and circuses).

Trajan used the great wealth of the Dacian gold mines to support an extensive building program. He built Trajan's column, forum, baths, and market in Rome. He also built and improved roads, harbours and bridges to improve communications. As well as Dacia, Trajan added another new province, Arabia to the empire.

In 113 A.D, he began preparations for a decisive war against Parthia. He may have wanted a last, great military victory but there was tension between the two empires. He successfully won battles and captured cities and eventually reached the Persian Gulf. However, by now he was a sick and old man and had to turn back. There were revolts in the eastern lands he had just conquered. In 117 A.D, while still on his way back to Rome, Trajan died. His successor Hadrian, immediately, gave up all Trajan's eastern conquests.

Trajan kept his good reputation in spite of the ultimate failure of his last campaigns. Romans viewed his reign as a good time. Many years later new emperors were still being welcomed with the prayer, "may he be luckier than Augustus and better than Trajan." Trajan's good reputation still survives today.