I have listed below the entire prompt that the professor has given out word by word, based on the biography: Ruth Bader Ginsburg- A Life.
We have notes that in writing about Ginsburg’s life, De Hart tends to highlight the cases in which Ginsburg is often the lead attorney in the cases. When Ginsburg moves to the supreme court, however, she’s only one of nine. And this introduces a particular problem for the biographer, I think. When writing about Ginsburg’s time on the supreme court, De Hart addresses Ginsburg’s participation in three hot-button legal issues that are major legal issues in American Life: abortion, race, and affirmative action, and same sex marriage. And inevitably, De Hart must be something of a Historian on these issues to deliver to the reader a good sense of the complexity of these issues; but doing so may well weaken the emphasis on Ginsburg herself, and how these issues relate to her life. Choose one or more of these three legal issues, and comment on how well you think De Hart relates the issue(s) to Ginsburg’s own life. Obviously, feel free to refer to any aspects of the entire biography that you think relevant.
Audience:
First and foremost, imagince the audience to consist of people who have read the book and are interested in the nature of biography. As well, think of your readership as made up of practicing writers who are professors, journalists, free-lance writers, and students. Imagine, too, that your readership includes people who may well be especially involved in or interested in the law- lawyers, law professors, journalists who write on the law, supreme court afficionados, judges, ect. Also Imagine that your readers may very well have a heightened interest in gender and women’s history, or contemporary politics.
Also give it a good title!
