Order Description
Research and create an “autobiography” of an imaginary but typical Victorian. While it is potentially creative, your research in secondary and primary sources will inform the details of your character’s life.
Choose a character from the following list that interest you. Post your choice in the topic area in Communications/Discussions before Sept 24.. Read the posts – if someone else has chosen your character you will have to choose again. Only one student can do each character in order to produce a shared resource of student research. The sooner you respond the more likely it is that you will get your first choice.
create an authentic portrait of your character’s life course including their daily life: what is their routine? what does he/she eat? where do they sleep? who do they talk to? what are their fears and hopes? are they married, likely to marry, have children, lose children? You will also create a back story for your character – where they were born and how they got to where they were when you introduce them. The time period I indicate is often quite significant: it is your responsibility to discover how a particular person’s occupation is situated in time. For instance, agricultural prices were depressed in the 1870s – this would affect all of those engaged in rural livelihoods – even relatively rich landowners. Anyone who lived off street trade in a big city would be affected by an increasing police presence. Some of the characters listed below are obviously young, others maybe not – that is your choice.