Types of Nonfiction

1. Types of Nonfiction Use the above title when entering this entry in your interactive notebook Table of Contents!!

2. (1) Autobiography • a story written by an author about his or her own life. • You might think this would be the most accurate record of a person’s life, but this is not necessarily true. • At times, an author writing an autobiography may leave out sensitive or embarrassing details. • Contain only things the author can remember, some of which may or may not be that accurate. • May also cover only a portion of a person’s life. • Some famous people have written one or more autobiographies covering different parts of their lives

3. (2) Biography • Story of someone’s life written by someone other than the subject of the biography. • Many are histories that are carefully researched. • People who knew the subject or lived at the same time provide their views. • Contain facts taken from letters, newspaper articles, or other documents. • Often, more than one biography of a famous person exists. • As new facts about the person are discovered, different authors, or biographers, provide a new look at the person’s life.

4. (3) Memoir • A special type of biography that consists of a recollections of a certain period of time or a special incident in a person’s life. • Some of them provide an accurate record of a person’s actions or thoughts. • Other memoirs read like stories as the author imagines himself or herself as a character in a grand adventure.

5. (4) Miscellaneous Notes/Vocab • The point of view of an author reveal characteristics of biography, autobiography, and memoir. • Biographies are written in third person about another person’s life. • Autobiographies and memoirs are nearly always written in first-person point of view. • Third person pronouns- he, she, they, etc. • First person pronouns- I, me, we, us