1.
Biography text is a detailed description or account of a person’s life
and written by someone else, it is nonfiction text.
2.
Orientation : Nikola Tesla was a scientist whose inventions include the
Tesla coil, alternating-current (AC) electricity, and the discovery of the
rotating magnetic field. / Paragraph 1
Events:
-Nikola Tesla was an engineer and scientist known for designing the
alternating-current (AC) electric system, which is the predominant
electrical system used across the world today. He also created the
"Tesla coil," which is still used in radio technology. / Paragraph 2
-Born in modern-day Croatia, Tesla came to the United States in 1884
and briefly worked with Thomas Edison before the two parted ways. He
sold several patent rights, including those to his AC machinery, to
George Westinghouse. / Paragraph 3
-Tesla was born in Smiljan, Croatia, on July 10, 1856. / Paragraph 4
-Tesla was one of five children, including siblings Dane, Angelina, Milka
and Marica. Tesla's interest in electrical invention was spurred by his
mother, Djuka Mandic, who invented small household appliances in her
spare time while her son was growing up. / Paragraph 5
-Tesla's father, Milutin Tesla, was a Serbian orthodox priest and a
writer, and he pushed for his son to join the priesthood. But Nikola's
interests lay squarely in the sciences. / Paragraph 6
-After studying at the Realschule, Karlstadt (later renamed the Johann-
Rudolph-Glauber Realschule Karlstadt) in Germany; the Polytechnic
Institute in Graz, Austria; and the University of Prague during the 1870s,
Tesla moved to Budapest, where for a time he worked at the Central
Telephone Exchange. / Paragraph 7
-It was while in Budapest that the idea for the induction motor first
came to Tesla, but after several years of trying to gain interest in his
invention, at age 28 Tesla decided to leave Europe for America. /
Paragraph 8
-In 1884 Tesla arrived in the United States with little more than the
clothes on his back and a letter of introduction to famed inventor and
business mogul Thomas Edison, whose DC-based electrical works were
fast becoming the standard in the country. / Paragraph 9
-Edison hired Tesla, and the two men were soon working tirelessly
alongside each other, making improvements to Edison's inventions. /
Paragraph 10
-Several months later, the two parted ways due to a conflicting
business-scientific relationship, attributed by historians to their
incredibly different personalities: While Edison was a power figure who
focused on marketing and financial success, Tesla was commercially
out-of-touch and somewhat vulnerable. / Paragraph 11
-In 1885, Tesla received funding for the Tesla Electric Light Company
and was tasked by his investors to develop improved arc lighting. After
successfully doing so, however, Tesla was forced out of the venture and
for a time had to work as a manual laborer in order to survive. /
Paragraph 12
-His luck would change two years later when he received funding for his
new Tesla Electric Company. / Paragraph 13
-Throughout his career, Tesla discovered, designed and developed ideas
for a number of important inventions — most of which were officially
patented by other inventors — including dynamos (electrical
generators similar to batteries) and the induction motor. / Paragraph
14
-He was also a pioneer in the discovery of radar technology, X-ray
technology, remote control and the rotating magnetic field — the basis
of most AC machinery. Tesla is most well-known for his contributions in
AC electricity and for the Tesla coil. / Paragraph 15
-Tesla designed the alternating-current (AC) electrical system, which
would quickly become the preeminent power system of the 20th
century and has remained the worldwide standard ever since. In 1887,
Tesla found funding for his new Tesla Electric Company, and by the end
of the year,he had successfully filed several patents for AC-based
inventions. / Paragraph 16
-Tesla's AC system soon caught the attention of American engineer and
businessman George Westinghouse, who was seeking a solution to
supplying the nation with long-distance power. Convinced that Tesla's
inventions would help him achieve this, in 1888 he purchased his
patents for $60,000 in cash and stock in the Westinghouse Corporation.
/ Paragraph 17
-As interest in an AC system grew, Tesla and Westinghouse were put in
direct competition with Thomas Edison, who was intent on selling his
direct-current (DC) system to the nation. A negative press campaign
was soon waged by Edison, in an attempt to undermine interest in AC
power. / Paragraph 18
-Unfortunately for Edison, the Westinghouse Corporation was chosen
to supply the lighting at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in
Chicago, and Tesla conducted demonstrations of his AC system there. /
Paragraph 19
-In 1895, Tesla designed what was among the first AC hydroelectric
power plants in the United States, at Niagara Falls. / Paragraph 20
-The following year, it was used to power the city of Buffalo, New York
— a feat that was highly publicized throughout the world and helped
further AC electricity’s path to becoming the world’s power system. /
Paragraph 21
-In the late 19th century, Tesla patented the Tesla coil, which laid the
foundation for wireless technologies and is still used in radio
technology today. The heart of an electrical circuit, the Tesla coil is an
inductor used in many early radio transmission antennas. / Paragraph
22
Re-Orientation : The coil works with a capacitor to resonate current and
voltage from a power source across the circuit. Tesla himself used his
coil to study fluorescence, x-rays, radio, wireless power and
electromagnetism in the earth and its atmosphere. / Paragraph 23
3.Linguistic Features
-Simple past tense
»Nikola Tesla was a scientist
»Nikola Tesla was one of five children
»Nikola Tesla was an engineer
»Tesla was born in Smiljan
»He was also a pioneer in the discovery of radar technology,
-Use time squence
»In 2012, public interest in the project peaked when Matthew Inman of
TheOatmeal.com collaborated with the TSC
»His luck would change two years later when he received funding for
his new Tesla Electric Company.
»Tesla came to the United States in 1884 and briefly worked with
Thomas Edison
»Tesla moved to Budapest, where for a time he worked at the Central
Telephone Exchange.
»In 1884 Tesla arrived in the United States
-Focus on specific participant
»Nikola Tesla was a scientist whose inventions include the Tesla coil
»Nikola Tesla was an engineer and scientist
»He also created the "Tesla coil"
»Tesla came to the United State
»He sold several patent rights, including those to his AC machinery, to
George Westinghouse.
-Use action verb
»Nikola Tesla was an engineer and scientist known for designing the
alternating-current (AC) electric system
»He also created the "Tesla coil"
»Tesla came to the United States
»He sold several patent rights
»The following year, it was used to power the city of Buffalo
