AUTOBIOGRAPHY

☼ JEEYA MER
☼ THANUSRI VALLURU
☼ MILENA OWURE
☼ JANETTE KILIMO
☼ JUNPEI YOSHINO
WHY WE WRITE AUTOBIOGRAPHIES

• An autobiography is the story of a person’s life written by that person.

• The purpose of writing an autobiography is to present the achievements and experiences of the author.
• Autobiographies allow their audiences to understand or “get into the minds” of their role models or
favourite personalities. This makes the public resonate more with famous people.
• They are also used to inspire their audiences as the author shares personal experiences and gives them
hope that they too will get through hardship and gain success.
THE TITLE

• The title should be captivating to your audience.

• It can be about the main event in the autobiography or can carry meaning to
your life such as a quote or allusion i.e. Chinese Cinderella.
FEATURES OF AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY

First Person Point of View

• It MUST be written in first person with the dominating pronoun throughout the piece being
‘I’.
• This is because the author is the subject of the story; they are the main character.
• Writing in first person brings out the writer’s personal experiences and the experiences come
off as true to the audience and this creates credibility.
FEATURES OF AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY

Chronological Order
• ALWAYS write an autobiography in order of events.
• Starting with childhood, move on to teenage hood, young adult life and then adult life; all the
way to old age.
• An autobiography doesn’t necessarily have to end in old age/ retirement but at whatever point
the author’s life may have reached.
• Most people write their autobiographies in old age as they near the end of their lives or after
they have peaked in their career.
FEATURES OF AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY

Facts and Figures

• Facts make the story credible as they include information about real life places and people i.e.
I married my wife, Julia in Zurich, Germany.
• Keep track of and mention all the important facts of your life to ensure you don’t omit
anything significant.
• Figures also make the story more credible and serve as temporal markers i.e. I was in high
school from 1990 to 1994. This helps the readers to know the time that the events stated took
place.
• In mentioning years, the reader is able to have a better understanding of the era the writer
lived through and can understand their perspectives at the time and the nature of their lives.
FEATURES OF AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY

Past Tense
• Of course, autobiographies are written in past tense because they contain past events and
experiences of the writer.
• In this way they are historical since they could include major events and discuss certain time
periods in history.
• Towards the end of your writing, it may change to present tense as you give the current details
of your life.
ADDITIONAL FEATURES

Include:
• Humour • Use of second person point of view
• Descriptive language • Symbolism
• Metaphors • Slang
• Personification • Allusion
• Direct speech and quotes • Foreshadowing
• Parenthesis
and many more!
• Emotive language
WHAT TO INCLUDE IN AN
AUTOBIOGRAPHY
• When writing an autobiography, you should write down important events of your (the
author’s) life. As these were probably moments that made or broke you into the person you
currently are. Include both successes and failures.
• Give background information about yourself. This consists of your family, where you grew up
and the time period you grew up in. In this way the audience is able to understand your
circumstances.
• Hobbies, skills, habits, likes and dislikes are essential to an autobiography since they reveal
more about your character. Your audience will feel like they know you better because of this.
• Add any other additional information you’d like to. The more personal your piece feels the
more believable it becomes and you’ll be more likely to appeal and engage your audience.
EXAMPLE OF AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY