Building a Persona

[johan_steele]

THis is a thread intended to point people towards creating a believable and accurate persona, so any ideas or suggestions... put them here.

The Importance of a good Persona

The importance of a well-researched and well-constructed persona is vital to creating a believable impression. Everyone has a past but what we need to know is what kind of past do we wish to portray? Many re-enactors decide to portray a farmer, but to portray a farmer basic knowledge about 19th Century farming techniques are necessary. A farmer would know when to plant and harvest different crops. How to work a horse or a team of horses. It is important to know good arable soil from poor soil. There is much more to being a farmer than just saying you were a farmer in civilian life.

How about being a blacksmith? All a re-enactor needs to know is how to beat iron into horseshoes right. Not even remotely. A 19th century Blacksmith was an artisan of the highest order capable of making everything from oxen shoes to iron hinges. A working knowledge of the color of iron when it is ready to be worked, how to use different types of hammers and other tools is vital. How about portraying a carpenter? That should be easy. Again: not even remotely. Again, a working knowledge of the tools of the trade is necessary. Do you know the difference between a Trying Plane and a Hollow Plane, a Bow saw and a Ripsaw or an Ax and an Adz? In other words, some research is not only necessary; it is vital to making a believable persona.

Research into what skills were utilized by a 19th century citizen is vital. John Seymour's excellent book <u>The Forgotten Arts &amp; Crafts</u> is an excellent start for garnering the knowledge necessary to portray a period skill. There are other books out there and visiting places like Kelly Farm in Elk River Minnesota and seeing and touching period tools and crops is yet another place to learn a bit about your period skills and profession.

There is much more to a persona than a set of skills that help to flesh out a profession. Every man has a family. Who are they and where are they? How many relatives and how close are they? Has the family been afflicted by disease and wiped out? Are they desperately waiting for you to send some of your pay home so that they can fight off creditors? How often do they write, are they educated? Are you or they first generation immigrants? What do they think of the current (1860's) political situation and the War itself? There are hosts of questions that need to be asked and answered. To understand the men who fought and died in the Civil War we have to be able to realize that they were men with lives beyond those of a Volunteer soldier.

The more we learn about accurately portraying a person of the times the more we realize how little we actually know.

[jenna]

I would like to add that you need to decide whether you will be doing a first person impression or a living history impression.

With a first person there are two different aspects ( I would say) one being a prominant figure, i.e.: Grant, Lee and Lincoln for starters, and you do not deviate from characture. And then the other would be a lesser known person that you made up, or that really did exsit. Someone in your family history would be a great example. Live their life for a weekend and see how your family became to be.

I personally do living history. I would rather teach people then be someone else. It is easier for me to interact with people when I do living history and be myself but teach what I am wearing, why they wore what they wore, and why they did what they did.

As for the blacksmith, that is near and dear to my heart since my husband is one. He is completely self taught, and for anyone wanting to get into it he recommends a book called: The Art of Blacksmithing, which can be had at Barnes and Nobles or Amazon.com. And yes, he gets everyweekend he goes out someone who says that they are a blacksmith. They have a forge, they have an anvil, they have this and that. But as he put, that's ownership. Now, the question would be do they use it. He constantly has people who say "Oh I can do that!" He will put the hammer down and welcome them to try. None of them do. He talks about being a blacksmith and the importance of the profession at that time. Blacksmiths were needed for everything, since they didn't exactly have Wal-Marts back then to go and get nails from. So yes, it is very important to have your information when getting into blacksmithing. He has an original late 1860's to very very early 1870's forge. He's been asked by other blacksmiths whey doesn't he use the bigger ones, and his responce is always: now, would that be period correct or convienance correct?

On the same subject, I am very pround of my hubby in the fact that he has been asked, not only by local events, but by Old World Wisconsin ( our large living history museum located in Eagle, WI.) to teach their blacksmiths, but also by The Grove, in Glenview, Il. to teach their blacksmiths, which have been doing the trade for years. That I think speaks volumes in terms of what a persona can do for you.

Jenna

[raywilson]

I agree with Shane and Jenna. The more you know about the person you're attempting to portray, the more believable you will be.

Think about the things you know about yourself. Who are you? What do you do for a living? What are your political, social, economic, religious, and cultural beliefs?

Now ask yourself questions about your persona like these:
How old am I?
Am I married and what is my spouse like?
Do I have children? What are their names?
Where do I live and why do I Iive there?
How did I come to America? or how did my parents/ancestors arrive?
How much education do I have?
What is my religion and how does it influence my worldview?
What are my political beliefs?
How do I travel from one place to another? How far is too far to travel?
What do I do as a civilian? Do I know something about this line of work or lifestyle?
Why did I become a soldier, or if not a soldier, what do I think and know of them?
What is my daily routine like?
Why do I wear the clothes that I do? Where did I get them?
What is going on in the country and the world besides the Civil War? How do I know of these things?

These are just a few of the questions you can ask yourself. The point is that you need to get to know your persona. This is important not just so that you can teach people about the person you are portraying, but so that you can be confident about who you are when you put your outfit on and step out into the public eye. George C. Scott read all he could about General George Patton when he starred in the movie, "Patton." He "became" Patton and won an Oscar.

Don't feel that you have to be a walking encyclopedia, though. Learn a little about your persona and go out and have a good time. Each time you do, you can learn something new about "yourself" and add to your knowledge.

[dawna]

Shane, Jenna &amp; Raymond:

Thank you for this excellent advice and information.

Dawna

[thea_447]

Thanks for this excellent information. And I'd like to add something to this.
If you are making up an individual try to make him/her as close to someone perhaps in your family as possible so that you can draw traits from that "live" person. (For instance, Alethea is a family name, but in this case, I've nicknamed her "Ailey".)

But when you start out I found that I had to keep the time period completely left out at the beginning because I knew that I would be communicating with another character, namely, Dawna's character, Mattie. In this way we could establish a time frame together on when the two characters get together, so to speak.

And always leave room for your character to perhaps write to someone else, maybe even another character that you make up! <grin>

I do wish others on this board would try their hand at this. It's lots of fun!

[cal_100]

I just joined Co. C 1st USSS here in California. At our last meeting, it was suggested that we come up with a persona for our next living history event. Unfortunetly no advise was given to me on this point. Thank you for this very timely info!!!!!


Ernie Manzo
Pvt. Co. C, 1st USSS

[gary]

Co. C? Why, Pvt. Manzo, you should protray Truman Head, aka: California Joe. Your fiance's father rejected you as a suitor. You left Philadelphia and became a hunter of grizzly bears. Hence your keen eye and steady hand. Not given to talk much, you go about quietly doing your business. You shun publicity but to those whom you allow into your inner circle, you are very friendly and open. The boys all love you and your fame is widespread. However, your service is limited and the glare hurts your eyes, you're going a bit senile (or faking it) and receive your discharge in '62. Under your wartime moniker, you return to San Francisco where you become a customs inspector. BTW, does this sound like a horoscope?

Carry a target rifle (32 pounds min.) that is equipped with a scope and wear a black beard. And yes, you can use your double trigger Sharps rifle if you choose. Yours was the first Sharps rifle in the regiment. You used both during the Siege of Yorktown.

BTW, do you know a Ted S.? We belong to the same CWRT.

[Capt Coxetter]

Lots of great ideas here, reenactors! I too want to recreate the persona of an historical personage - Captain Louis M. Coxetter of the privateer JEFFERSON DAVIS. There's not a great deal of info on him, but I plan to have enough prepared to be able to portray him by August, at the Mobile Bay event on Dauphin Island.

Capt. Coxetter

[ole]

Go for it Capt. Make up what you don't know. Just make it convincing.
Ole

[ole]

Go for it Capt. Make up what you don't know. Just make it convincing.
Ole