Biography and Autobiography

Literary Nonfiction

Literary nonfiction is a type of prose that uses the same literary techniques and devices typically found in fiction to report on people, places, and events in the real world. This type of nonfiction is very different from objective reporting that is concerned with just the facts. Literary nonfiction, while recounting true events about real people, is also concerned with the emotion, thoughts, suspense, and characterization typically found in fiction. It seeks to inform the audience of real events and real people in an engaging way. Literary nonfiction establishes the setting and characterization just as fictional stories do, and it also has themes that reveal truths about life and human nature.

Examples of Literary Nonfiction:

• Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass by Frederick Douglass
• The Autobiography by Benjamin Franklin
• A Narrative of the Captivity by Mary Rowlandson
• Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl by Harriet Jacobs
• Of Plymouth Plantation by William Bradford

Biography and Autobiography

A biography is a piece of nonfiction prose that relates the life story of a person as written by someone else. An autobiography is a piece of nonfiction prose that relates the life story of the author. In other words, when you write your own life story or history, you have an autobiography. If you research and write about the life of another person, you have a biography. Note the characteristics of biographies and autobiographies in the chart below.

Biography	Autobiography
Tells the life of a real person	Tells the life of a real person in his or her own words
Shows that the writer is an expert about this person	Relates the story and key incidents of the author's life
Describes the person's environment	Describes major influences on the writer (people, places, events)
Provides anecdotes or details that show this person in action	Describes interactions between the writer and significant people in his or her life
Shows how the person affects other people	Reveals the writer's feelings, reactions, values, and goals

Diaries are also written about a person's life, but they do not have an intended audience.

Literary Nonfiction Study

While both Into the Wild and The Color of Water contain elements of a good story and are very engaging, it is important to remember that the characters in the stories are real people who experienced actual events. Jon Krakauer's Into the Wild is a biographical account of the life and death of Christopher McCandless. James McBride's The Color of Water is an autobiography of his journey to find himself and come to terms with his past.

 

Biography and Autobiography Review

Now that you have explored literary nonfiction such as biographies and autobiographies, review your knowledge in this non-graded activity. Read the title of the literary work, and then select the corresponding type of literary nonfiction. Click on the player button to get started.