REAL PEOPLE REAL STORIES BiographiesAutobiographies Memoirs Diaries Personal

REAL PEOPLE, REAL STORIES Biographies/Autobiographies, Memoirs, Diaries, Personal Narratives, and Letters by Kimberly C. Hopkins

Life stories Biography/Autobiography Letters Diary Memoir Personal Narrativ e

Biography/Autobiography Definition: history of a person’s life with facts and dates --usually entire life --usually in chronological order Biography—someone else wrote it Autobiography—self-written

Characteristics of biography Presents the facts about an individual's life Often includes photographs, maps, illustrations, historical documents Purpose is to provide understanding of a person and the events of the time

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Memoir Definition: account of a person’s experiences as he/she remembers it --usually focused more on a specific time period in a person’s life

Characteristics of a memoir First person point of view Focuses or reflects on the writer’s relationship with a particular person, place, animal, or object Limited to a particular phase, time period, place, or recurring behavior

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Diaries Definition: written, dated record of a person’s thoughts/events in daily life— usually considered personal and private --another name: journal --might be specific such as travel, diet, pregnancy, sleep/dream, prayer, workout, gardening, research

Characteristics of a diaries Entries are arranged by date It contains personal information/thoughts/observations/opinions It’s not written with the intention of publishing it

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Personal Narrative Definition: person writes about a specific event in his/her life including thoughts/ideas about the event/s --format could be prose, poetry, song, even dance

Characteristics of a personal narrative Focuses on one experience Expresses thoughts and feelings Includes sensory details Has dialogue Tells why and/or how the experience affected the writer

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Letters Definition: written form of communication --other names: epistles; epistolary literature; correspondence

Characteristics of letters Personal to one person Typically handwritten if before 1970 s (unless of a business nature, then typed) Random topics

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Sources Wikipedia http: //en. wikipedia. org Wordnet http: //wordnet. princeton. edu/perl/webwn Amazon http: //www. amazon. com