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Autobiography

Nonfiction and Documentary Prose

An autobiography is a self written account of one's own life, providing a personal narrative that reflects on the author's experiences, memories and insights, allowing the writer to convey their own distinctive viewpoint and lived experience to readers.

Facts
Place of Origin
Antiquity, with the practice of writing about one's own life traceable to Saint Augustine's Confessions around 400 AD; the term autobiography itself was first used in 1797. 1
Notable Example
Saint Augustine's Confessions (c. 400), regarded as one of the first Western autobiographies. 1
Defining Trait
A self-written account of one's own life: a personal narrative reflecting on the author's own experiences, memories and insights, distinguished from biography by being based on the author's own memory and interpretation of events. 1
Autobiography
Filter Results3 entries
Connections

Encompasses Form

Memoir, Genres

Features Author

Source Wikidata: Antoine de Saint-Exupery
Additional Source Wikipedia: Antoine de Saint-ExupéryInfobox: genre
Source Wikipedia: Benvenuto Cellini
Confessions, Works
Source Wikipedia: Confessions (Rousseau)
Jim Thompson, Authors
Source Wikipedia: Jim Thompson (writer)
Source Wikipedia: The Diary of a Young Girl
Source Wikipedia: The Story of My Experiments with Truth

Form Of Genre

Biography, Genres
Sources
1. Autobiography (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia Foundation
  • Lead paragraph, first sentence
    An autobiography, sometimes informally called an autobio, is a self-written account of one's own life, providing a personal narrative that reflects on the author's experiences, memories, and insights.
  • Second paragraph, on Saint Augustine's Confessions
    Early examples include Saint Augustine's Confessions (c. 400), which is considered one of the first Western autobiographies.
  • Second paragraph, on the term's 1797 first use
    The term "autobiography" was first used in 1797, but the practice of writing about one's life dates back to antiquity.
  • In Group: Life Writing and Personal Narrative, Lead section
    An autobiography, sometimes informally called an autobio, is a self-written account of one's own life, providing a personal narrative that reflects on the author's experiences, memories, and insights.
View the Source
Wikipedia: Benvenuto Cellini
Features Author: Benvenuto Cellini, Lead
Quote, Features Author: Benvenuto Cellini, Lead
and his autobiography, which has been described as
View the Source
Wikipedia: Confessions (Rousseau)
Features Author: Confessions, Infobox, genre field
Quote, Features Author: Confessions, Infobox, genre field
Genre: Autobiography
View the Source
Wikipedia: The Diary of a Young Girl
WikipediaFeatures Author: The Diary of a Young Girl, Infobox, genre field
Quote, Features Author: The Diary of a Young Girl, Infobox, genre field
Genre: Autobiography, Jewish literature
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Wikipedia: Jim Thompson (writer)
Features Author: Jim Thompson, Infobox, genre field
Quote, Features Author: Jim Thompson, Infobox, genre field
Genre: Crime fiction, hardboiled, pulp, autobiography, suspense, literary fiction
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Wikipedia: Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
Features Author: Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, Infobox: genre
Quote, Features Author: Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, Infobox: genre
Autobiography, belles-lettres, essays, children's literature
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Wikipedia: The Story of My Experiments with Truth
WikipediaFeatures Author: The Story of My Experiments with Truth, Lead section
Quote, Features Author: The Story of My Experiments with Truth, Lead section
The Story of My Experiments with Truth (Gujarati: સત્યના પ્રયોગો અથવા આત્મકથા, satyanā prayogo athavā ātmakathā, lit. 'Experiments of Truth or Autobiography') is the autobiography of Mahatma Gandhi, covering his life from early childhood through to 1921.
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