Example of biography about myself
Biography
Definition of Biography
A biography is the non-fiction, written history or account of a person’s life. Biographies are intended to give an objective portrayal of a person, written in the third person. Biographers collect information from the subject (if he/she is available), acquaintances of the subject, or in researching other sources such as reference material, experts, records, diaries, interviews, etc.
Most biographers intend to present the life story of a person and establish the context of their story for the reader, whether in terms of history and/or the present day. In turn, the reader can be reasonably assured that the information presented about the biographical subject is as true and authentic as possible.
Biographies can be written about a person at any time, no matter if they are living or dead.
However, there are limitations to biography as a literary device. Even if the subject is involved in the biographical process, the biographer is restricted in terms of access to the subject’s thoughts or feelings.
Biographical works typically include details of significant events that shape the life of the subject as well as information about their childhood, education, career, and relationships.
Occasionally, a biography is made into another form of art such as a film or dramatic production. The musical production of “Hamilton” is an excellent example of a biographical work that has been turned into one of the most popular musical productions in Broadway history.
Common Examples of Biographical Subjects
Most people assume that the subject of a biography must be a person who is famous in some way.
However, that’s not always the case.
In general, biographical subjects tend to be interesting people who have pioneered something in their field of expertise or done something extraordinary for humanity. In addition, biographical subjects can be people who have experienced something unusual or heartbreaking, committed terrible acts, or who are especially gifted and/or talented.
As a literary device, biography is important because it allows readers to learn about someone’s story and history.
This can be enlightening, inspiring, and meaningful in creating connections. Here are some common examples of biographical subjects:
- political leaders
- artists
- musicians
- entrepreneurs
- actors
- writers
- historical figures
- serial killers
- notorious people
- scientists
- inventors
- poets
- political activists
- athletes
- adventurers/explorers
- religious leaders
- Heroes
- military leaders
- cultural figures
- spies
Famous Examples of Biographical Works
The readership for biography tends to be those who enjoy learning about a certain person’s life or overall field related to the person.
In addition, some readers enjoy the literary form of biography independent of the subject. Some biographical works become well-known due to either the person’s story or the way the work is written, gaining a readership of people who may not otherwise choose to read biography or are unfamiliar with its form.
Here are some famous examples of biographical works that are familiar to many readers outside of biography fans:
- Alexander Hamilton (Ron Chernow)
- Prairie Fires: The American Dreams of Laura Ingalls Wilder (Caroline Fraser)
- Steve Jobs (Walter Isaacson)
- Churchill: A Life (Martin Gilbert)
- The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary (Simon Winchester)
- A Beautiful Mind (Sylvia Nasar)
- The Black Rose (Tananarive Due)
- John Adams (David McCullough)
- Into the Wild (Jon Krakauer)
- John Brown (W.E.B.
Du Bois)
- Frida: A Biography of Frida Kahlo (Hayden Herrera)
- The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks (Rebecca Skloot)
- Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln (Doris Kearns Goodwin)
- Shirley Jackson: A Rather Haunted Life (Ruth Franklin)
- the stranger in the Woods: The Extraordinary Story of the Last True Hermit (Michael Finkel)
Difference Between Biography, Autobiography, and Memoir
Biography, autobiography, and memoir are the three main forms used to tell the story of a person’s life.
Though there are similarities between these forms, they have distinct differences in terms of the writing, style, and purpose.
A biography is an informational narrative and account of the life history of an individual person, written by someone who is not the subject of the biography. An autobiography is the story of an individual’s life, written by that individual.
In general, an autobiography is presented chronologically with a focus on key events in the person’s life. Since the writer is the subject of an autobiography, it’s written in the first person and considered more subjective than objective, like a biography.
English literary elements definition The biography details Hamilton's contribution to America's birth by painting him as a patriot who made countless sacrifices to lay the foundations of a prosperous and powerful country. Tabify by Templateify v1. Most biographies begin with a description of the subject's early life, which includes their childhood and early education, their upbringing, stories about their parents and siblings and their familial traditions and values. The word 'biography' is a combination of the Greek words 'bios', which means 'life', and ' graphia', which refers to 'writing'.In addition, autobiographies are often written late in the person’s life to present their life experiences, challenges, achievements, viewpoints, etc., across time.
Memoir refers to a written collection of a person’s significant memories, written by that person. Memoir doesn’t generally include biographical information or chronological events unless it’s relevant to the story being presented.
The purpose of memoir is reflection and an intention to share a meaningful story as a means of creating an emotional connection with the reader. Memoirs are often presented in a narrative style that is both entertaining and thought-provoking.
Examples of Biography in Literature
An important subset of biography is literary biography.
A literary biography applies biographical study and form to the lives of artists and writers. This poses some complications for writers of literary biographies in that they must balance the representation of the biographical subject, the artist or writer, as well as aspects of the subject’s literary works. This balance can be difficult to achieve in terms of judicious interpretation of biographical elements within an author’s literary work and consideration of the separate spheres of the artist and their art.
Literary biographies of artists and writers are among some of the most interesting biographical works.
Biography literary elements definition and example essay: Emotions A biographer is not only responsible for presenting a factual recording of events in their subject's life but is also responsible for adding life to these moments by elaborating on the person's experiences and intimate thoughts and feelings during these moments. Which of the following scenarios qualifies as a biography? This could serve as a major inspiration for people who are building a career in the same field, as readers could gain insight into the subject's motivations, secrets, successes and losses throughout their professional journey. Christopher Johnson McCandless disappeared in while hitchhiking in Alaska.
These biographies can also be very influential for readers, not only in terms of understanding the artist or writer’s personal story but the context of their work or literature as well. Here are some examples of well-known literary biographies:
Example 1: Savage Beauty: The Life of Edna St. Vincent Millay (Nancy Milford)
One of the first things Vincent explained to Norma was that there was a certain freedom of language in the Village that mustn’t shock her.
It wasn’t vulgar. ‘So we sat darning socks on Waverly Place and practiced the use of profanity as we stitched. Needle in, .
Biography literary elements definition and example pdf Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson This is one of the most classic examples of a well-researched and written biography. The biography details Hamilton's contribution to America's birth by painting him as a patriot who made countless sacrifices to lay the foundations of a prosperous and powerful country. Sometimes, writers may even base an entire biography on a fictional character! Farmer cofounded the organization Partners in Health PIH in to provide free treatment to patients in Haiti; the organization later created similar projects in countries such as Russia, Peru, and Rwanda.Needle out, piss. Needle in, . Needle out, c. Until we were easy with the words.’
This passage reflects the way in which Milford is able to characterize St. Vincent Millay as a person interacting with her sister. Even avid readers of a writer’s work are often unaware of the artist’s private and personal natures, separate from their literature and art.
Biography literary elements definition and example for kids The biography consists of government documents, wiretaps, and interviews with Sinatra's colleagues, family and friends and was considered extremely revealing and controversial. In addition, some readers enjoy the literary form of biography independent of the subject. This is because this is the part where the subject's contribution to the world is discussed. A modern or ' standard' biography details the life span of someone who is still alive or who passed away very recently.Milford reflects the balance required on the part of a literary biographer of telling the writer’s life story without undermining or interfering with the meaning and understanding of the literature produced by the writer. Though biographical information can provide some influence and context for a writer’s literary subjects, style, and choices, there is a distinction between the fictional world created by a writer and the writer’s “real” world.
However, a literary biographer can illuminate the writer’s story so that the reader of both the biography and the biographical subject’s literature finds greater meaning and significance.
Example 2: The Invisible Woman: The Story of Nelly Ternan and Charles Dickens (Claire Tomalin)
The season of domestic goodwill and festivity must have posed a problem to all good Victorian family men with more than one family to take care of, particularly when there were two lots of children to receive the demonstrations of paternal love.
Tomalin’s literary biography of Charles Dickens reveals the writer’s extramarital relationship with a woman named Nelly Ternan.
Tomalin presents the complications that resulted for Dickens from this relationship in terms of his personal and family life as well as his professional writing and literary work. Revealing information such as an extramarital relationship can influence the way a reader may feel about the subject as a person, and in the case of literary biography it can influence the way readers feel about the subject’s literature as well.
Artists and writers who are beloved, such as Charles Dickens, are often idealized by their devoted readers and society itself. However, as Tomalin’s biography of Dickens indicates, artists and writers are complicated and as subject to human failings as anyone else.
Example 3: Virginia Woolf (Hermione Lee)
‘A self that goes on changing is a self that goes on living’: so too with the biography of that self.
And just as lives don’t stay still, so life-writing can’t be fixed and finalised. Our ideas are shifting about what can be said, our knowledge of human character is changing.
Biography literary elements definition and example Confident that he was clever, resourceful, and bold enough to escape any predicament, [Louie] was almost incapable of discouragement. This distance from the subject and their experiences allow the biographer to view the subject's experiences in the larger context of their life by comparing them to other experiences or analysing the impact of certain experiences on the subject's personality and life. This biography honours Henrietta's contribution to science and serves as an example of how literary works can start a discussion on ethical issues regarding race and class in medical research. Occasionally, a biography is made into another form of art such as a film or dramatic production.The biographer has to pioneer, going ‘ahead of the rest of us, like the miner’s canary, testing the atmosphere, detecting falsity, unreality, and the presence of obsolete conventions’. So, ‘There are some stories which have to be retold by each generation’. She is talking about the story of Shelley, but she could be talking about her own life-story.
In this passage, Lee is able to demonstrate what her biographical subject, Virginia Woolf, felt about biography and a person telling their own or another person’s story.
Literary biographies of well-known writers can be especially difficult to navigate in that both the author and biographical subject are writers, but completely separate and different people. As referenced in this passage by Lee, Woolf was aware of the subtleties and fluidity present in a person’s life which can be difficult to judiciously and effectively relay to a reader on the part of a biographer.
In addition, Woolf offers insight into the fact that biographers must make choices in terms of what information is presented to the reader and the context in which it is offered, making them a “miner’s canary” as to how history will view and remember the biographical subject.