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Ask for help > The difference between a profile,a portrait and a biography
The difference between a profile,a portrait and a biography
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noura80
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The difference between a profile,a portrait and a biography
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Good morning friends,I hope You �re doing well.
What �s the difference between a person �s profile,a portait and biography?
What are the steps of writing each of them?
Thanks in advance! |
19 Sep 2018
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cunliffe
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A portrait is a painting of someone and it is full face on (facing forward). It can also be a photo, not a selfie but a carefully staged photo. In art terms, a profile is the person �s head, facing sideways. A profile is also a basic biographical account, DOB, place of birth, basic work details. A biography is a full account of their life. I �m not sure whether we use �portrait � in this context, I would expect a portrait to be a picture. |
19 Sep 2018
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noura80
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Thanks a lot for your replay .I just want to say that I found the term �portrait � used in some documents and it also refers to a piece of writing that includes personal information,appearance,personality,likes,
interests ,.....That �s why I want to know more about it. |
19 Sep 2018
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yanogator
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Yes, noura80, portrait can be used that way, but it isn �t very common. The 20th-century American composer Aaron Copland wrote a piece called A Lincoln Portrait, which includes a narration about our 16th president. You can click on the link to hear it, narrated by the famous actor Henry Fonda. Bruce |
20 Sep 2018
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noura80
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Thanks a lot.An other question about the portrait,is it a narrative or descriptive text? Or it can be both?
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20 Sep 2018
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cunliffe
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it still conjures up images rather than text. Here, you can see, it is interchangeable with �picture � or �snapshot � If you are going to use �portrait � in this way, then it will be descriptive, rather than narrative. Nothing is set in stone here and the etymology doesn �t help us, but I would say to most English speakers, �portrait � is a picture or photo, and profile is the narrative about the person. |
20 Sep 2018
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yanogator
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As you can see, Lynne �s example is a metaphorical use of "portrait", even using the word "paints" with it. I said that it isn �t very common, and Lynne clearly agrees with that. She is definitely right that a verbal portrait, like a visual one, is descriptive. It can include anecdotes about the person, but for the purpose of clarifying the "image" being presented, rather than as story-telling. It would be best to avoid using "portrait" for a verbal description of a person, because of the danger of using it more literally than is reasonable. Bruce |
20 Sep 2018
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noura80
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Thanks a bunch friends.You have really helped me. |
20 Sep 2018
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