BIOGRAPHY

AUTOBIOGRAPHY
MEMOIR
TELLING LIFE
STORY
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 BIOGRAPHY
▧ is a non-fiction piece of work giving an
objective account of a person’s life
▧ The main difference between a biography vs.
an autobiography is that the author of a
biography is not the subject

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 BIOGRAPHY
▧ include details of key events that shaped the
subject’s life
▧ information about their birthplace, education,
work, and relationships

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RESEARCH SOURCES WHEN WRITING A BIO
▧ Interviews
▧ Letters
▧ Diaries
▧ Photographs
▧ Essays
▧ reference books
▧ newspapers
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 EXAMPLES
▧ His Excellency: George Washington by Joseph
J. Ellis
▧ Einstein: The Life and Times by Ronald William
Clark
▧ Princess Diana – A Biography of The Princess
of Wales by Drew L. Crichton

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 AUTOBIOGRAPHY
▧ is the story of a person’s life written by that
person
▧ Because the author is also the main character
of the story, autobiographies are written in the
first person.

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 AUTOBIOGRAPHY
▧ The purpose of an autobiography is to portray
the life experiences and achievements of the
author
▧ Therefore, most autobiographies are written
later in the subject’s life.

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 AUTOBIOGRAPHY
▧ often begins during early childhood and
chronologically detail key events throughout
their life
▧ usually include information about where a
person was born and brought up, their
education, career, life experiences, the
challenges they faced, and their key
achievements.
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 AUTOBIOGRAPHY
▧ One of the main differences between an
autobiography vs. a biography is that
autobiographies tend to be more subjective.
That’s because they are written by the subject,
and present the facts based on their own
memories of a specific situation, which can be
biased

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 EXAMPLES
▧ The Story of My Life by Helen Keller
▧ The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank
▧ Losing My Virginity by Richard Branson

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 MEMOIR
▧ comes from the French word mémoire,
meaning memory or reminiscence
▧ is a particular event of a person’s life which
made an impact in his life.

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 MEMOIR
▧ The difference between a memoir vs. an
autobiography is that a memoir focuses on
reflection and establishing an emotional
connection, rather than simply presenting the
facts around their life

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 MEMOIR
▧ The author uses their personal knowledge to
tell an intimate and emotional story about the
private or public happenings in their life

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 MEMOIR
▧ The topic is intentionally focused and does not
include biographical or chronological aspects of
the author’s life unless they are meaningful
and relevant to the story.

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 EXAMPLES
▧ Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt
▧ I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya
Angelou
▧ Personal Memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant by
Ulysses S. Grant

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Biography Autobiography Memoir

A personal account of a specific time or

An account of a person’s life An account of one’s own life
experience

Written in the third person Written in the first person Written in the first person

Objective Subjective Subjective

Presents information collected from the

Presents facts as they were Presents facts as they were
subject, their acquaintances, or from
experienced by the person experienced by the person
other sources

Written to inform and explain the

Written to inform and establish a Written to reflect on and explore the
motivation and thoughts behind actions
context emotion of an experience
and decisions

Has restricted access to the subject’s Offers access to personal thoughts and Offers access to personal thoughts,
thoughts and feelings feelings feelings, reactions, and reflections

Can be written anytime Usually written later in life Can be written anytime

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Simply put, a biography is the life history of
an individual, written by someone else. An
autobiography is the story of a person’s life,
written by that person. And a memoir is a
collection of memories written by the
person themselves.

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