Autobiographical genre

definition A narrative first person account of all or part of a person’s life (written by the subject of the work).

purposes To share achievements To convey a personal view of events To make the person widely known To help readers come to understand big ideas, lessons and themes provided through the author’s personal history To provide insights into personalities, interests and opinions To acknowledge those who have influenced the author’s life To explore a period of time and offer insights into conditions, values, or beliefs of an era To help the author reflect on his/her life, correct misinformation, highlight best traits, or justify actions

characteristics • Narrative structure and elements • Provides a history or partial history of the person’s life • Diaries, memoirs, journals, personal letters, and annotated photographic albums of a variety of lengths • Continuous narrative • Disagreeable events are often glossed over • Unreliable as a record of facts

theme • Reflects the author’s perception of his/her life theme (s) • Based upon what was learned from challenges in life • Sub-themes, if present, are centered around milestones • Evolution of the personal self • Accomplishment • Identity

characters • First person account • Varies in length • May be subdivided into chapters • Author is the main character • Emotion-eliciting and reflective language • Negatives often glossed over • Often describes relationships • Feelings and opinions of the author expressed from the author’s point of view • Direct and indirect speech • Biased focus on positive character traits • Well developed character provides internal thought process and insights • Author/subject portrayed as a whole person with strengths and weaknesses

setting Various settings fluctuate with the context of the author/main character’s experiences

Plot • The character may provide a setting in which s/he encounters problems through events and rising action leading to problem resolution • May be divided into separate episodes, chapters, subplots • May include flashback • Often directly or indirectly implies cause and effect

Author’s craft • Narrative development and structure • First person description • Development of mood/tone, creation of tension, voice, point of view, imagery, figurative language (metaphors/similes) etc. • Important elements related to history, characterization, literary artistry • Accurately convey opinion • Developing flashback • Character is revealed through what is written, what is not written, and how it is written • Includes narration • Photos and illustrations augment meaning