Writing the second half of a biography about Darwin and his theory of evolution | English

Starter quiz

Which of the following language features will we not find in a biography?
- formal tone
- informal language ✓
- third person
- first person ✓
What will each paragraph start with in our biography of Darwin?
- title
- subheading ✓
- introduction
- indent ✓
Which cohesive device is used in this sentence? 'The Beagle's voyage, which lasted five years, took it all the way around the world.'
- adverbial complex sentence
- relative complex sentence ✓
- compound sentence
- fronted adverbial
Which cohesive devices are used in this sentence? 'Darwin went to Edinburgh because his father sent him there; however, he did not enjoy it.'
- adverbial complex sentence ✓
- relative complex sentence
- colon
- semi-colon ✓
Which subordinating conjunction could work in the gap in this sentence? 'Darwin enjoyed Cambridge ______ he had the chance to explore his love of entomology.'
- as
- when
- so that
- because ✓
Which fronted adverbial could be used as a cohesive device in the gap in this sentence? 'Darwin left university in 1831; ______, he joined the voyage of the Beagle.'
- that day
- in the same year ✓
- due to this
- however

Match the cohesive devices to the examples.
- parenthesis
  
  ⇔
  
  Darwin collected finches (small birds) from each island. ✓
- fronted adverbial
  
  ⇔
  
  Years later, Darwin published his theory. ✓
- complex sentence
  
  ⇔
  
  When he got back from England, he threw himself into his work. ✓
Which sentence has brackets in the correct position to show parenthesis?
- He published his theory (natural selection in a famous book).
- He published his theory (natural selection) in a famous book. ✓
- He published (his theory natural selection) in a famous book.
Which relative complex sentence is punctuated correctly?
- The visit, which lasted 5 weeks, gave Darwin time to collect many specimens ✓
- The visit, which lasted 5 weeks gave Darwin time to collect many specimens
- The visit which lasted 5 weeks, gave Darwin time to collect many specimens
Which relative clause could complete this sentence? 'The crew captured a tortoise, ______.'
- who they ate in a soup
- which they ate in a soup ✓
- whose soup they ate
- where a soup was found
Which of these words can be considered 'subject-specific vocabulary'?
- specimens ✓
- island
- theory ✓
- animal
- observations ✓
Which sentence has the appropriate formal tone for a biography?
- Darwin suddenly realised - they'd evolved!
- Darwin realised the finches must have evolved to be well-adapted. ✓
- Darwin reckoned the finches had somehow adapted.

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In a biography, we write using a formal tone in the third person; our writing is mostly, but not all, in the past tense.
We use a range of cohesive devices to connect ideas together.
We orally rehearse our sentences before we write, using our notes.
We can include parenthesis to add extra details to a sentence, including using brackets and relative clauses.
We give a title for the biography as a whole and subheadings for each paragraph. Each paragraph is indented.

Pupils may believe that a relative clause can only be placed in the middle of a sentence.

Relative clauses can be placed after any noun or noun phrase that they refer to, including at the end of a sentence.

Formal tone - the effect created by choosing serious, factual language
Cohesive devices - language structures that develop text cohesion
Subject-specific vocabulary - vocabulary we use when writing about a particular subject
Parenthesis - extra information added into a sentence that can be removed