What is an autobiography

What is an autobiography?



The word Autobiography is a combination of three words: Auto which means self, Bio which means Life and graphy which means write. It may be informally called Autobio. An Autobiography is written about a person’s life by the person themselves. It is basically a compilation of the memories and experience of a person’s life and depends mainly on their ability to remember their past. 


what-is-an-autobiography





Although an Autobiography is written about a person by the person themselves, it should not be confused with a diary or a personal journal. A diary or a personal journal is written over time in segments while an autobiography is a compilation of a person’s memory from a certain moment (the moment in which the writer starts writing the autobiography).



Although an autobiography should be mainly focused on oneself, it often focuses less on self and more on others.



It is possible for the writer to confuse memories and not present an exact description of a particular time therefore in a way rewriting history. It may be due to the inability to recall memories or unwillingness to do so.



Autobiography of an object



These types of Autobiographies are mainly used for essay writing where a person imagines themselves as an object and describes their situation or daily lives. For example, an autobiography of a tree in The Amazon forest would typically start as follows:

“Rooted firmly to the ground, amidst thousands of my brothers and sisters I struggle to survive. I am an old great tree in the vast forest of Amazon….”



After being introduced as an object, the writer proceeds to further describe the object. Many times, such essays have moral lesson behind them mostly related to nature and virtues. In the case of a tree in The Amazon forest, the may end with note of the dying Amazon forest and deforestation.



Another type of Autobiography writing is spiritual autobiography in which the writer describes their journey towards God and religion.



Fictional Autobiographies are another type of autobiography in which the experiences of a fictional character is written as the writer’s own personal experience. It is written in first person and gives more creative freedom than any other type of Autobiography.

















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