Biography, Autobiography, & Memoir

What is a diary as a rule? A document useful to the person who keeps it, dull to the contemporary who reads it,

and invaluable to the student, centuries afterwards, who treasures it! ~ Helen Terry

A vivid and accurate telling of a person's life story or a piece of it. It's a picture of the life and times of the subject. These people may have lived over a hundred years ago through today.

Biography: Highlights the whole life of a person or an important part. Written by someone else.

Autobiography: Highlights the whole life of a person or an important part. Written by the subject.

Memoir: Events are selected, arranged, and constructed in order to bring out a particular theme or personality trait of the author.

Fritz, Jean : And Then What Happened Paul Revere
Uchida, Yoshiko: The Invisible Thread
Burleigh, Robert: Langhston's Train Ride
Spinelli, Jerry: Knots in My Yo-Yo String: The Autobiography of a Kid
Krull, Kathleen, The Boy on Fairfield Street: How Ted Geisel Grew Up to Become Dr. Seuss

Checklist for Evaluating Biography

The story is grounded in source material, or there is enough truthful information to make it worth reading.
The facts and story line are integrated.
The social details are vivid, accurate, and linked to the individual's accomplishments.
The subject's character is well developed and multidimensional.
The author aviods stereotypes.
The writing style is comprehensible and engaging.
Complex topics are explained adequately.
There is a unifying theme.
The theme highlights the special qualities of the subject.
The illustrations help the reader visualize the time and place.
The illustrations illumine the character of the subject.

Click here for Biography READING IDEAS

National Council of Teachers of English

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