autobiography definition child

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In This Article Expand or collapse the "in this article" section Autobiography and Childhood

Introduction, general overviews and critical studies.

• Biographies for Children: Twenty-First-Century Examples
• Biographies for Children: Criticism
• Life Writing by Children

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Autobiography and Childhood by Kate Douglas LAST REVIEWED: 26 July 2022 LAST MODIFIED: 26 July 2022 DOI: 10.1093/obo/9780199791231-0263

“Autobiography” derives from the Greek terms autos (self), bios (life), and graphein (writing), and is most commonly understood as a cultural text in which a person represents their own life. The practice has long been associated with the written word: well-known, published books in which significant people record their remarkable lives. Traditionally, autobiography has been characterized by so-called “great men,” usually white and European, recounting their lives as they approach their later years. However, cultural change in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries—particularly second-wave feminism, decolonization, globalization, the rise of technology, and mass and digital media—have changed “self-life-writing” radically. The development of alternative types of first-person and life storying, including memoir, documentary, reality television, blogs, vlogs, and diverse and ever-emerging forms of social media (e.g., YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok), has consistently brought new voices and subjects into the public sphere. Life narration, in its various forms, has become a diverse, global genre. It is now steeped in the various written and oral traditions in which people have told stories about their lives for thousands of years and across myriad locations. The terms “autobiography,” “life writing,” and “life narrative” have become umbrella descriptors for the plethora of ways in which people of all ages, cultures, and locations represent themselves, their lives, or the lives of others on a daily basis. Childhood is, unsurprisingly, a common theme within autobiography. Childhood is where life begins, and autobiographies of childhood have brought a greater understanding of the diverse ways in which people experience childhood.

Children have been telling their life stories, and adults recounting their childhoods across cultures, for as long as people have lived, including examples such as African folktales and Indigenous Australian oral histories, as Coe 1984 and Douglas 2010 contend. Yet most of what we know about autobiography and childhood as a form comes from European contexts, where writing about childhood inevitably aligns with shifts in the cultural position of children. Augustine’s Confessions (397–400 CE ) is one early and notable example of autobiographical writing about childhood. However, childhood was of little interest in European life writing until the eighteenth century. Prior to the eighteenth century, though childhood was not afforded the same interest as it is today, there was a growing curiosity about children’s lives. Childhood was becoming understood as a separate developmental stage to adulthood that was worthy of consideration, and this was reflected within writing and art. As Douglas 2010 notes, by the nineteenth century, childhood was a cultural preoccupation, but most commonly framed within the stereotypical binary of innocence (childhood) to experience (adulthood). Children and childhood were most commonly seen as a window into the adult the child would become. Prominent authors here included the Romantic poets (e.g., William Wordsworth) and those novelists engaged in the Bildungsroman mode such as Charles Dickens, Charlotte Brontë, and Thomas Hardy, who used autobiographical fictions to explore the challenging emotional, physical, psychological, and spiritual growth of the protagonist from childhood to adulthood. Such novels also introduced themes related to the rights of the child, such as childhood mortality, class, and gender inequality. As McCooey 1995 argues, in the twentieth century, representations of childhood featured commonly across autobiographical writings. Childhood was still often represented as foundational to the adult the protagonist became, but was increasingly of interest in itself as a means of understanding more about children’s histories. Notable texts include the memoirs of Virginia Woolf, the diary of Anne Frank, and the academic and activist writings of Christa Wolf, Annette Kuhn, and Richard Rodriguez—all of whom were preoccupied with the relationship between the child and the social world. As Douglas and Poletti 2016 argue, 20th-century autobiographers sought to understand childhood developmentally and socially—to understand their experiences of the world—but also to explore how experiences of childhood impact upon adult life. The autobiography of childhood mode experienced a significant boom in the 1990s with the rise of so-called “misery memoirs” recounting difficult or traumatic childhoods. Notable in this trend were Frank McCourt’s Angela’s Ashes (1996) Mary Karr’s The Liars’ Club (1995), and James McBride’s The Color of Water (1995). These autobiographies of childhood most commonly took the form of a middle-aged adult writing about their childhood long before. As Cardell and Douglas 2014 and Douglas 2010 argue, the circulation of these memoirs opened up larger conversations about diverse experiences of childhood in history. They offered counter-histories to idealized versions of mid-19th-century childhoods—for example, through their representations of childhood poverty, neglect, and abuse. This trend has continued well into the 2000s and shows no sign of waning. The 2000s have seen notable trends in autobiographical writings about childhood and youth, including the representation of drug and alcohol abuse (see, for example, Smashed: Story of a Drunken Girlhood [2005] by Koren Zailckas), of eating disorders ( Empty [2020] by Susan Burton), of mental health struggles ( Maybe I Don’t Belong Here [2021] by David Harewood), of family separation and trauma ( Somebody’s Daughter [2021] by Ashley. C. Ford), and of sex and sexuality ( Caught in the Act [2021] by Courtney Act). Such texts, through the stories they enable and what they overtly or covertly limit, reveal the cultural preoccupations and investments that surround and affect childhood and youth in the twenty-first century. Much autobiography scholarship engages in discussions of childhood simply because most autobiographies and biographies offer representations of the subject’s childhood. As previously mentioned, childhood is traditionally thought to be significant in signaling the adult the child will become. But childhood and children have become of increasing interest beyond this. This is due to the shifting social position of children and wider recognition of children as social actors whose lives and contributions to the world are as valuable as those of adults. Scholars who have researched autobiographical representations of childhood are interested in children’s lives as they are represented retrospectively by adults (whether the self, or by another) and contemporaneously by children themselves ( Lynch 2013 , Douglas and Poletti 2016 , Douglas 2017 , Douglas 2019 ). These scholars consider the diverse styles for representing childhood, from autobiography to biography, memoir, the graphic memoir, the archive, independent media, and digital media. As Douglas 2017 discusses, research on auto/biographies of childhood evaluate the myriad themes that emerge from these texts, including children’s rights and activism, child abuse and neglect, childhood memory, coming-of-age, education, and children’s creativity. Some significant critical issues to emerge from this scholarship include the significant contribution that children and youth have made and continue to make to auto/biographical genres, the importance of children’s participation in life narration in terms of their cultural agency, the prevalence of trauma narratives in children’s autobiography, and the ethics of reception and methods for reading children’s narratives.

Cardell, Kylie, and Kate Douglas, eds. Telling Tales: Autobiographies of Childhood and Youth . London: Routledge, 2014.

This edited collection acknowledges the many texts and forms in which people tell stories about their childhood and youth. It offers a series of case studies from leading scholars in the field, including Leena Kurvet-Käosaar, Claire Lynch, and Anna Poletti. Some of the key themes explored include sexuality, coming-of-age, trauma, prejudice, and conflict. The chapters also consider the diverse forms in which childhood is represented via autobiography, including graphic memoir, archives, anthologies, and digital modes.

Coe, Richard N. When the Grass Was Taller: Autobiography and the Experience of Childhood . New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1984.

This is the pioneering text in this subject area. Coe surveys over six hundred autobiographies of childhood to map the form. In considering literary autobiographies from Europe and Asia, Coe posits that certain themes recur, such as coming-of-age through reading, fear, and boredom. He also finds a (perhaps unsurprising) focus on parents, teachers, and other influential figures. Coe’s study prompts reflection on the representation of childhood in nonfiction and a mandate for thinking more broadly about literary childhoods.

Douglas, Kate. Contesting Childhood: Autobiography, Trauma and Memory . New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers, 2010.

Contesting Childhood considers the wave of popular autobiographies to emerge in the memoir boom of the 1990s and early 2000s. The author reviews primarily texts from Australia, Britain, and the United States to point to the prevalence of autobiographies recalling traumatic childhoods during this period. Contesting Childhood also considers autobiographies in the nostalgic mode as another dominant trend in the 1990s and 2000s, but does not set up trauma and nostalgia as binaries.

Douglas, Kate. “Malala Yousafzai, Life Narrative and the Collaborative Archive.” Life Writing 14.3 (2017): 297–311.

DOI: 10.1080/14484528.2017.1328299

Once a single autobiography was the expected practice of those telling a life story. Now it is not uncommon for notable people to tell their live stories across multiple nonfictional texts and practices. This is particularly true when the author is a younger person such as Malala Yousafzai. Malala’s life narrative “archive” includes a blog, a film, a documentary, a memoir, a memoir for young adult readers, and a children’s picture book.

Douglas, Kate. “Autobiographical Writing for Children.” In New and Experimental Ways of Writing Lives . Edited by Jo Parnell, 22–31. Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave, 2019.

This chapter explores the autobiographical writings of Australian author, comedian, and artist Anh Do, and of activist and author Malala Yousafzai. Both have written memoirs of their childhoods intended for adult readers. Both then wrote versions for child readers, following a significant recent trend toward auto/biographical writings for children. This chapter asks, what happens when trauma stories are adapted for child readers, and it considers the literary and visual strategies employed to build an age-appropriate version.

Douglas, Kate, and Anna Poletti. Life Narratives and Youth Culture: Representation, Agency and Participation . London: Palgrave, 2016.

DOI: 10.1057/978-1-137-55117-7

Children and youth have been telling stories about their lives forever, though their creations have not always been recognized. This book examines the contributions that children and youth have made to auto/biographical forms including memoir, letter writing, diaries, and in social media.

Lynch, Claire. “The Ante-Autobiography and the Archive of Childhood.” Prose Studies 35.1 (2013): 97–112.

DOI: 10.1080/01440357.2013.781414

This essay outlines a notable means by which children tell stories about their own lives in everyday modes: drawings and writings completed during childhood. Lynch uses the term “ante-autobiography” to explain the ways in which children commonly produce autobiographical texts. They are not intended to be autobiography but can be retrospectively read as such. Lynch explores the implications of this through a reading of her own childhood texts. These texts provide knowledge of how children practice autobiography.

McCooey, David. “Australian Autobiographies of Childhood: Beginning and Myth.” Southerly: A Review of Australian Literature 55.1 (1995): 132–155.

For McCooey and other literary scholars, autobiographies of childhood appeal because they draw on literary techniques to represent remembered experience. These texts reveal a protagonist looking inward to reveal truths about their life.

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Autobiography facts for kids

An autobiography is a biography in which the author writes about his or her own life. It is a self-written account of one's own life.

It is one of the earliest forms of literature , but the word itself is quite modern.

The word comes from the Greek stems "auto" (meaning "self"), "bio“ (meaning "life"), and "graph" (meaning "write").

Related pages

Images for kids.

Saint Augustine of Hippo wrote Confessions , the first Western autobiography ever written, around 400. Portrait by Philippe de Champaigne , 17th century.

A scene from the Baburnama

Cover of the first English edition of Benjamin Franklin 's autobiography, 1793

• This page was last modified on 16 October 2023, at 16:53. Suggest an edit .

Telling a Story About Me: Young Children Write Autobiographies

• Resources & Preparation
• Instructional Plan
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Developing ideas collaboratively, planning writing projects before executing them, and learning to compose sentences related to a specific topic are important skills for students to master. This lesson plan teaches these skills while drawing from the lives of first and second grade students who will write and publish autobiographies based on personal photographs. The lesson begins with the students working at home with their families to select and record relevant information about photos. Students then work in small groups and independently to create their autobiographies.

From Theory to Practice

• Autobiographical writing gives teachers a way to engage students and their families in literacy learning, creating a willingness to participate in literacy activities.
• Expanding students' knowledge of their community and themselves deepens their understanding of the reading and writing process.

When students write narratives about their own lives it helps them develop personal, social, and cultural connections.

Exploring their own life stories can provide a sense of direction and purpose for students that other forms of writing do not.

Common Core Standards

This resource has been aligned to the Common Core State Standards for states in which they have been adopted. If a state does not appear in the drop-down, CCSS alignments are forthcoming.

State Standards

This lesson has been aligned to standards in the following states. If a state does not appear in the drop-down, standard alignments are not currently available for that state.

NCTE/IRA National Standards for the English Language Arts

• 4. Students adjust their use of spoken, written, and visual language (e.g., conventions, style, vocabulary) to communicate effectively with a variety of audiences and for different purposes.
• 5. Students employ a wide range of strategies as they write and use different writing process elements appropriately to communicate with different audiences for a variety of purposes.
• 6. Students apply knowledge of language structure, language conventions (e.g., spelling and punctuation), media techniques, figurative language, and genre to create, critique, and discuss print and nonprint texts.
• 7. Students conduct research on issues and interests by generating ideas and questions, and by posing problems. They gather, evaluate, and synthesize data from a variety of sources (e.g., print and nonprint texts, artifacts, people) to communicate their discoveries in ways that suit their purpose and audience.
• 8. Students use a variety of technological and information resources (e.g., libraries, databases, computer networks, video) to gather and synthesize information and to create and communicate knowledge.
• 11. Students participate as knowledgeable, reflective, creative, and critical members of a variety of literacy communities.
• 12. Students use spoken, written, and visual language to accomplish their own purposes (e.g., for learning, enjoyment, persuasion, and the exchange of information).

Materials and Technology

• Photographs from home
• Writing and drawing tools
• Tape or glue for affixing photos
• Binding materials
• You Have to Write by Janet S. Wong (Margaret K. McElderry Books, 2002)
• Chart paper and a marker
• Transparencies and a projector
• Assessment Guide
• Note to families
• An Autobiography: Information About My Photos
• An Autobiography: Ideas for My Story
• An Autobiography: Planning My Story
• Autobiography page
• Cover sheet
• Dedication page

Preparation

Student objectives.

Students will

• Engage their families in the learning process by working at home to select photographs that represent aspects of their lives
• Formulate ideas for an autobiography by working collaboratively and independently
• Practice their writing skills by composing sentences in the first person using themselves as subject matter and revising the composed sentences into a story
• Participate in a literacy community by reading their stories aloud in small groups
• Invite families to school to share the published autobiographies of the students.
• Further develop students' autobiographical writing skills by using the Stapleless Book or the online ReadWriteThink Printing Press to have them write more about their lives.

Student Assessment / Reflections

Throughout this lesson, you may use the Assessment Guide to document observations of students in each of the five areas found in the lesson objectives: family participation, collaborative work, independent work, writing sentences, and reading aloud. There is also space to record other notes and observations. Some questions to ask when using the Assessment Guide include:

• Family Participation–How much did the family participate in this project? Did they send in appropriate photographs and complete the work that needed to be done at home? Was the work done when requested?
• Collaborative Work–How did the student collaborate with his or her peers? Did he or she make appropriate suggestions? How did he or she accept suggestions about his or her own work?
• Independent Work–How did the student work independently during the project? Did he or she follow directions? How well did he or she stay on task when working independently?
• Writing Sentences–How did the student do at composing and writing sentences for the autobiography? Are the sentences on topic with the photographs? Are the sentences grammatically correct? What resources did he or she use to spell and write words (asking a peer, asking a teacher, the word wall, the dictionary, or using phonetic spelling)?
• Reading Aloud–How did the student do when reading the autobiography aloud? Could he or she read it independently or was assistance needed? How was the fluency of reading aloud?

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What are biography and autobiography?

A biography is a text written about someone else's life (usually someone famous). An autobiography is a text written about one's own life .

Children in Year 6 may be taught the unit: 'Biography and Autobiography' as suggested in the Primary Literacy Framework.

Features of biographical and autobiographical texts

If a teacher chooses to concentrate solely on biographies, children will start by reading a range of biographies, either about various different people or just about one person.

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They will look at the features of a biography, which include:  

• Written in formal language
• Use of compound and complex sentences , containing connectives
• Written in the past tense and usually written in chronological order (in time order)
• Text split up into paragraphs (usually each paragraph will detail the events of each part of the person's life, for example: one paragraph to explain their childhood, one to explain their early adulthood etc.)
• Dates included so that the reader knows what happened and when
• Phrases such as: 'It is believed', 'It was thought', 'Many people claimed', 'There was a rumour that' etc. to show that history is based on stories that have been passed on over many years and some things cannot be stated as facts
• Pictures and captions

How do primary children study biographies?

Usually, children will be given photocopied texts to read and then they may be asked to text-mark the above features to show that they understand how a biography is set out and what is included.

Children may then be asked to choose their own famous person that they are interested in. They will be asked to find as much information about this person and make notes on them. Often teachers give children labelled spider diagrams to help children organise their information, but more able children may be asked to organise the information in their own way. An example of a spider diagram is below:

Children will then be asked to start drafting their biography , using the notes they have collected. Once they have done this, they will go through a process of editing their writing . Usually, a teacher will mark the first draft and write comments and suggestions on it to help them with this. Another method, is for pairs of children to swap their writing and then discuss with their partner how the writing could be improved.

Finally, children will write up their biographies in neat. They may plan how their finished piece is going to look, including title, pictures and captions. Children then produce their finished piece of writing, either on the computer or in their own handwriting.

Interviewing a family member of friend to write a short biography is a great writing activity for KS2 children.

There are also hundreds of wonderful biographies written especailly for kids to read – look through our pick of the best biographies and autobiographies for children .

Biography and autobiography are non-fiction texts . For more details how how non-fiction texts are taught in KS1 and KS2 see our parents' guide,  What is non-fiction?

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autobiography

Definition of autobiography

Examples of autobiography in a sentence.

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'autobiography.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

auto- + biography , perhaps after German Autobiographie

1797, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing autobiography

• semi - autobiography

Dictionary Entries Near autobiography

autobiographist

Cite this Entry

“Autobiography.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary , Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/autobiography. Accessed 6 May. 2024.

Kids Definition

Kids definition of autobiography, more from merriam-webster on autobiography.

Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for autobiography

Nglish: Translation of autobiography for Spanish Speakers

Britannica English: Translation of autobiography for Arabic Speakers

Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about autobiography

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8 Autobiographies By Children Your Child Must Read

What better way to build empathy in children and expand their perspective than with real-life stories written by children. These eight autobiographies are must-read for children 10 years and above.

"There is more treasure in books than in all the pirate's loot on Treasure Island." - Walt Disney, an American entrepreneur, animator, voice actor and film producer.

Children often display a maturity far beyond their age. Autobiographies or memoirs are beautiful insights for adults, especially parents, to go into their world. These books give a peek into their understanding of the world and its going on. These autobiographies should be read by children to understand the world better, and adults to understand a child's mind better.

Benefits of reading autobiographies

Looking for some books to keep your child occupied when they are at home? The onus of introducing the right books to your child always lies on you. Biographies by young adults are always a source of motivation for young readers. If you want your child to be worldly-wise, make biographies and autobiographies a part of the reading list for your child.

However, there are the other benefits of reading autobiographies too. These are:

Teaches life lessons - Autobiographies are often interesting as these are usually written by people who have found themselves in extraordinary situations or had an interesting life story to tell. There are many life lessons to be learnt on how they dealt with their hardships and overcame their difficulties that shaped their lives. And as autobiographies are true stories, that makes it all the more inspiring.

It acts like a mentor/guide - Sometimes teenagers are reluctant to open up to their parents or listen to their parents. In such situations, introducing books which could deal with a situation the teen is facing could be helpful, it could act like a wonderful mentor or guide.

Your child can view the world from a different perspective - We all tend to get caught up in the day to day nitty-gritty. More so, kids. So introducing autobiographies and biographies is a great way to open up their minds to gain a new perspective.

There have been extraordinary autobiographies written by children who found themselves in extraordinary circumstances - war, denial of equal rights for girls, self discovery and perseverance in abject poverty. For your convenience, we present 8 such autobiographies which showcase the world the author lives in. It is a must-share reading list for your kids.

Here are the examples of a few inspiring autobiographies.

1. I am Malala by Malala Yousafzai

"When the whole world is silent, even one voice becomes powerful." - Malala Yousafzai

About the author: When many preteens may just be bothered about their looks and homework, Malala Yousafzai, in 2009, 11 years at that time wrote an anonymous blog for BBC Urdu about her life under Taliban rule. She was very vocal about human rights, especially education for the girl child which was sometimes denied during the Taliban rule in Pakistan. She survived an assassination attempt when she was shot in her head. She recovered and her voice only grew stronger. She is the youngest person to have received the Nobel Laureate.

About the book: The book is about the importance of education especially the education of the girl child to transform societies. With guns you can kill terrorists, with education you can kill terrorism, she says. Powerful words indeed.

What children can learn from it: I am Malala is an inspiring account about how even one voice is enough to stand up for a cause and change the world.

Parent speak: "Both my daughter and I love this book. Ashita, my daughter is quite forthright and outspoken - the book is an inspiration to look beyond your own world, said Shilpa Prashanth, mother of 11-year-old, Ashita.

2. Hope in a Ballet Shoe by Michaela DePrince

"There are practically no black dancers in ballet, so I need to speak out." - Michaela DePrince

About the author: Often extraordinary circumstances give rise to extraordinary stories and Hope in a Ballet Shoe is one such extraordinary autobiography. Penned by Michaela DePrince, who today is an international ballet dancer with The Dutch National Ballet, and one of the few black ballet dancers. Michaela grows through many atrocities as a child growing up in war-torn Sierra Leone. Dance becomes her salvation - the road to become a professional dancer is not that easy - competitive and racist. A must read for all ages.

About the book: An inspiring first person account of how a victim of war crimes transformed her life through the power of dance.

What children can learn from it: You can negate your childhood trauma and focus on new beginnings.

Parent Speak: " We tend to forget that we lead privileged lives, but perhaps adversity is needed to bring out the best in us, the book gave me goosebumps," said Dhakshinyaa Subramanyam, 12 year old avid reader.

3. The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank

"I keep my ideals, because in spite of everything I still believe that people are really good at heart." - Anne Frank.

About the author: This autobiography needs no introduction. Written by then 13-year-old Jewish Anne Frank in Dutch language while she hid with her family from Nazi occupation in Netherlands. The book is written with surprising candour - about life in isolation, her random thoughts about growing up, war, discrimination, school girl musings about crushes and sexuality.

About the book: Her words on war, humanity and hope for mankind make her diary exemplary. It is hard to believe it is a 13-year-old penning her thoughts.

What children can learn from it: Even in times of adversity, do not lose hope and always look at the bright side.

Parent Speak: "My daughter Muskaan loves 'the diary of a young girl' by Anne Frank. She finds it very interesting as it is one of the major sources of information about the holocaust (the incidents that occurred in Nazi Germany). It is fascinating to her to see these events (the crimes committed against the Jews) through the perspective of a thirteen year old Jewish girl, " said Jyotsna Awasthi.

4. A Long Way Home - Memoirs of a Boy Soldier By Ishmael Beah

"Some nights the sky wept stars that quickly floated and disappeared into the darkness before our wishes could meet them. " - Ishmael Beah

About the author: Another book from the Sierra Leone, from Ishmael Beah is a first person account of what it means to be a boy soldier in a war-torn African country. The writing is clear, the descriptions are gut wrenching and the memoirs gives a perspective that many children across the world are still being robbed of their childhood. Ishmael Beah, since writing the book has won many accolades - he is a UNICEF Ambassador and Advocate for Children Affected by War and a member of the Human Rights Watch Children's Rights Advisory Committee. His memoir has been published in over thirty languages. He currently resides in Brooklyn, New York.

About the book: The haunting odyssey is a triumph of human spirit to and the capacity to overcome against all odds.

What children can learn from it: Gain a perspective on civil war, refugee crises, world politics and how it effects innocent lives.

Parent Speak: " My son, 16-year-old, was moved by the book," Arshia Zafar.

5. Soul Surfer By Bethany Hamilton

"I don't need easy, I just need possible." - Bethany Hamilton

About the author: This autobiography is the true story of Bethany Hamilton. The writer was a competitive surfer, and at 14, at the stage when life is beginning for many, thought her life was over, after she got attacked by a shark and lost her arm. She tracks her life, before and after the accident - and her story is awe-inspiring.

About the book: This a is true story about getting your life back on track and achieving your dreams.

What children will learn from it: It is a must read for anyone having doubts about their capabilities or anyone who is going through setbacks. Pick up the book today!

Parent Speak: "As an athlete myself in my school and college days, I was keen to pick up this book for my daughter. We need such stories to be shared," said D. Vishwanath, daughter of teenager Dharti Vishwanath.

6. El Deafo by Cece Bell

"I found that with a little creativity, and a lot of dedication, any difference can be turned into something amazing." - Cece Bell

About the author: A disability can become a superpower! El Deafo is a beautiful graphic novel that deals with being different due to a physical ailment (hearing loss) - it is a loosely based on the author's life. In an interesting quirk - all the characters in the graphic novel are bunnies. Why bunnies? Because they have large ears and extraordinary hearing abilities.

About the book: A graphic novel that deals with the sensitive topic of having a disability and trying to fit in.

What children can learn from it: The book is a great way to tell children that it's okay to be different, and it is what makes us different that also makes us special.

Parent Speak: " As a parent I am always looking for book that teach empathy. Glad I got this for the kids," said Divya Kuldeep.

7. Red Scarf Girl by Ji - Li Jiang

"This is the most frightening lesson of the Cultural Revolution: Without a sound legal system, a small group or even a single person can take control of an entire country. This is as true now as it was then. " ? Ji-li Jiang, Red Scarf Girl

About the author: How do you make sense of the changing political environment? How does one go for being a popular child in school to being betrayed by friends for having an affluent family background in a changing political environment in China. She was inspired by the Diary of Anne Frank and the book is her offering for the world to understand China better.

About the book: Ji-Li-Jiang in this historic memoir talks of the cultural revolution in China in 1966 and how it changed her world.

What children can learn from it: The memoir is a very painful and very personal account of a young girl and is recommended to gain an understanding of Chinese history.

Parent Speak: " I have always been interested in political memoirs. I enjoyed it and so did my daughter Diya," said Mridul Nath

8. Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodsoon

"But on paper, things can live forever. On paper, a butterfly never dies."- Jacqueline Woodson

About the author: Jacqueline Woodsoon grew up with her grandparents as her mother was working. The writer has many other books to her credit and is best known for Brown Girl Dreaming and Miracle's Boys .

About the book: An autobiographical book written in verse about a black girl's experiences of growing up in America in the 1960s. It is a short read, but lyrical and the poetry is beautiful. The verses are in anecdotal style and imagery is stunning.

What children can learn from it: Poignant and endearing, the book is recommended for readers looking beyond the usual authors and to understand black voices and their writings.

Parent Speak: " The poetry is beautiful. My daughter started penning her own poems after reading this book. This one is for the dreamers and the doers," said Naveen Sekhar daughter of 19-year-old Tanisha.

Order online or head out to libraries and book stores and help your child discover these gems. Give them a window to a new world and a new perspective. You can thank us later!

Also read: Top 10 Story Books For Your Toddler This Summer

About the author:

Written by Vidya Nesarikar on 12 March 2020.

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Parent Guide to Book Genres: Biography, Autobiography, and Memoir

Learning about the lives of others helps celebrate where we came from … and inspires us to determine where we&re going next..

Whether your child aspires to be an astronaut or a teacher, a firefighter or a ballerina, you can encourage her interest by providing books about others' lives. Biographies, autobiographies, and memoirs celebrate history while also enabling children to see the world from a fresh perspective. Give your budding Beethoven or curious Curie a book, step back, and watch inspiration take hold .

Why They're Worthwhile Biographies help kids to understand history through the lens of one person's experience. Classics like  Eleanor  by Barbara Cooney (about the childhood of Eleanor Roosevelt)  and   Abraham Lincoln  by Ingri and Edgar Parin D'Aulaire, or the In Their Own Words  series (featuring books on Thomas Edison , Betsy Ross , and more famous figures) make history come alive by introducing your child to significant people who made an impact on the world from all walks of life.

Exposing your child to a variety of biographies has academic advantages as well. Topics you can explore together include science, art, math, space, medicine, drama, and sports, to name a few.

Talking the Talk Taking note of the biographies your child selects can help you encourage her interests. A good starting point is the  A Very Young... series by Jill Krementz , which uses photos and interviews to provide a glimpse into the lives of kids who are dancers, gymnasts, horseback riders, and more. Titles such as  Amelia to Zora: Twenty-Six Women Who Changed the World  by Cynthia Chin-Lee or the  Who Was?   series, featuring iconic figures within a variety of categories, from music ( The Beatles ) to royalty ( Queen Elizabeth ), also provide stellar role models. 

When your child chooses a book about a favorite artist, author, or athlete, talk to him about his choice. Ask questions: What do you like about that person? What was that person like as a kid? What made her famous? Does she like some of the things that you do?

Beyond the Books Biographies don't have to be just about books. Try a few of the ideas below when you're ready to extend the fun.

• Explain to your child that there are different points of view to every life story. For example, the biography   The Story of Ruby Bridges  by Robert Coles and the autobiography  Through My Eyes   by Ruby Bridges both describe the same events and experiences, but from varying angles. Talk about how you might remember a recent event differently than your child and encourage her to think of some examples.
• Research your  family history . Search the passenger records on the  Ellis Island Foundation website  or look at old photographs, family trees, and home videos. Have your child   interview aunts, uncles, grandparents, and great-grandparents   to create your family's own oral history.
• Series like  Dear America  and  The Royal Diaries  use fictional characters to describe moments in history. Explore creating different types of biographies together with your child. Have them write the biography of a family member  of their choosing, or create their own autobiography.  What would your child want his own autobiography to say? Make a scrapbook together , using photos, magazine cut-outs, quotes, and other embellishments to capture your child's interests and feelings.

Top Titles to Try Start building your biography bookshelf with these standouts  — from inspiring women   and courageous African Americans to great presidents   and amazing athletes,  there's a little something for everyone. 

Classics For younger readers:

• Me...Jane   by Patrick McDonnell. Learn about the colorful childhood of Jane Gooddall, an inspiring conservationist, environmentalist and animal activist, accompanied by lovely paintings and Jane's toy chimpanzee. 
• The Librarian o f Basra: A True Story from Iraq  by Jeanette Winter. This story about a librarian in war-torn Iraq who tries to save her city's collection of thirty-thousand books before it's destroyed forever will touch your heart and speak volumes about the importance and love of literature.
• When I Grow Up: Benjamin Franklin by AnnMarie Anderson. Introduce your child to one of America's most loved Founding Fathers and his many talents in this easy-to-read and engaging biography. 
• Snowflake Bentley   by Jacqueline Briggs Martin. Discover the story of Wilson Bentley, whose passion for nature and science in the 19th century fueled his enthusiasm for capturing snowflakes with his camera, in this charming Caldecott Medal winner. 

For older readers:

• The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind   by William Kamkwamba. Be inspired to dream big with 14-year-old William Kamkwamba, who figured out how to bring electricty to his village and build a working windmill after his village suffered from a drought.   
• Red Scarf Girl  by Ji-Li Jiang. This autobiography of Ji-Li Jiang, who grew up amidst the terrifying reality of the Cultural Revolution and the effect it had on her and her family in Communist China, is both moving and poignant.  
• 26 Fairmount Avenue by Tomie dePaola. Tomie dePaola recounts his childhood memories when his family starts building a new home in 1938, just before a hurricane hits, in this sweet and funny Newbery Honor award-winner.   
• Josephine: The Dazzling Life of Josephine Baker   by Patricia Hruby Powell. This is a vibrant and fitting tribute to the life of Josephine Baker, a strong, spirited and glamorous dancer who worked her way up from poverty in the USA to stardom in France while advocating for civil rights and speaking out against segregation.   

For younger readers:

• Now & Ben by Gene Barretta. This informative and colorful book brings to life the many ideas and inventions of Benjamin Franklin, from hospitals to daylight savings time, that shaped America as it is today.
• Florence Nightingale (Rookie Biographies)  by Carol Alexander. Learn about the determined nurse who followed her dream despite her family's disapproval, and changed the world of medicine, devoting her life to help ease others' suffering. 
• Martin de Porres: The Rose in the Desert by Gary D. Schmidt. This heartwarming story traces the life of Martin de Porres, the biracial, illegitimate son of a Spanish nobleman and an African slave, who dreamed of becoming a priest even in the face of poverty, prejudice, and racism in 17th-century Peru. 
• Summer Birds: The Butterflies of Maria Merian by Margarita Engle. This is the bright and beautifully-illustrated tale of a girl who went against the scientific theories of her time, and carefully documented the life cycles of caterpillars, butterflies, and other insects, thereby disproving the centuries-old belief of where insects come from. 
• Isaac Newton (Giants of Science)   by   Kathleen Krull. Discover what one of the most influential figures of science was like in this gripping account of his life, inventions and contradictions during the turbulence of 17th-century England.
• The Abracadabra Kid   by Sid Fleischman. This autobiography, filled with tips for aspiring writers, details the early years of award-winning author Sid Fleischman, who set out to be a magician before finding his true calling in writing. 
• Shark Lady by Ann McGovern. Follow famous ichthyologist Eugenia Clark as she explores the underwater world, goes diving with sharks, and explores shark caves in this adventurous and exciting biography. 
• Alexander the Great Rocks the World by Vicky Alvear Shecter. This quirky biography, embellished with maps, photos and funny drawings, depicts Alexander's grand and unusual life in which he rules a country by age sixteen, conquers Greece by age twenty, and takes on the world. 

What Is an Autobiography?

What to Consider Before You Start to Write

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Your life story, or autobiography , should contain the basic framework that any essay should have, with four basic elements. Begin with an introduction that includes a thesis statement , followed by a body containing at least several paragraphs , if not several chapters. To complete the autobiography, you'll need a strong conclusion , all the while crafting an interesting narrative with a theme.

Did You Know?

The word autobiography  literally means SELF (auto), LIFE (bio), WRITING (graph). Or, in other words, an autobiography is the story of someone's life written or otherwise told by that person.

When writing your autobiography, find out what makes your family or your experience unique and build a narrative around that. Doing some research and taking detailed notes can help you discover the essence of what your narrative should be and craft a story that others will want to read.

Research Your Background

Just like the biography of a famous person, your autobiography should include things like the time and place of your birth, an overview of your personality, your likes and dislikes, and the special events that shaped your life. Your first step is to gather background detail. Some things to consider:

• What is interesting about the region where you were born?
• How does your family history relate to the history of that region?
• Did your family come to that region for a reason?

It might be tempting to start your story with "I was born in Dayton, Ohio...," but that is not really where your story begins. It's better to start with an experience. You may wish to start with something like why you were born where you were and how your family's experience led to your birth. If your narrative centers more around a pivotal moment in your life, give the reader a glimpse into that moment. Think about how your favorite movie or novel begins, and look for inspiration from other stories when thinking about how to start your own.

Think About Your Childhood

You may not have had the most interesting childhood in the world, but everyone has had a few memorable experiences. Highlight the best parts when you can. If you live in a big city, for instance, you should realize that many people who grew up in the country have never ridden a subway, walked to school, ridden in a taxi, or walked to a store a few blocks away.

On the other hand, if you grew up in the country you should consider that many people who grew up in the suburbs or inner city have never eaten food straight from a garden, camped in their backyards, fed chickens on a working farm, watched their parents canning food, or been to a county fair or a small-town festival.

Something about your childhood will always seem unique to others. You just have to step outside your life for a moment and address the readers as if they knew nothing about your region and culture. Pick moments that will best illustrate the goal of your narrative, and symbolism within your life.

Consider Your Culture

Your culture is your overall way of life , including the customs that come from your family's values and beliefs. Culture includes the holidays you observe, the customs you practice, the foods you eat, the clothes you wear, the games you play, the special phrases you use, the language you speak, and the rituals you practice.

As you write your autobiography, think about the ways that your family celebrated or observed certain days, events, and months, and tell your audience about special moments. Consider these questions:

• What was the most special gift you ever received? What was the event or occasion surrounding that gift?
• Is there a certain food that you identify with a certain day of the year?
• Is there an outfit that you wear only during a special event?

Think honestly about your experiences, too. Don't just focus on the best parts of your memories; think about the details within those times. While Christmas morning may be a magical memory, you might also consider the scene around you. Include details like your mother making breakfast, your father spilling his coffee, someone upset over relatives coming into town, and other small details like that. Understanding the full experience of positives and negatives helps you paint a better picture for the reader and lead to a stronger and more interesting narrative. Learn to tie together all the interesting elements of your life story and craft them into an engaging essay.

Establish the Theme

Once you have taken a look at your own life from an outsider’s point of view, you will be able to select the most interesting elements from your notes to establish a theme. What was the most interesting thing you came up with in your research? Was it the history of your family and your region? Here is an example of how you can turn that into a theme:

"Today, the plains and low hills of southeastern Ohio make the perfect setting for large cracker box-shaped farmhouses surrounded by miles of corn rows. Many of the farming families in this region descended from the Irish settlers who came rolling in on covered wagons in the 1830s to find work building canals and railways. My ancestors were among those settlers."

A little bit of research can make your own personal story come to life as a part of history, and historical details can help a reader better understand your unique situation. In the body of your narrative, you can explain how your family’s favorite meals, holiday celebrations, and work habits relate to Ohio history.

One Day as a Theme

You also can take an ordinary day in your life and turn it into a theme. Think about the routines you followed as a child and as an adult. Even a mundane activity like household chores can be a source of inspiration.

For example, if you grew up on a farm, you know the difference between the smell of hay and wheat, and certainly that of pig manure and cow manure—because you had to shovel one or all of these at some point. City people probably don’t even know there is a difference. Describing the subtle differences of each and comparing the scents to other scents can help the reader imagine the situation more clearly.

If you grew up in the city, you how the personality of the city changes from day to night because you probably had to walk to most places. You know the electricity-charged atmosphere of the daylight hours when the streets bustle with people and the mystery of the night when the shops are closed and the streets are quiet.

Think about the smells and sounds you experienced as you went through an ordinary day and explain how that day relates to your life experience in your county or your city:

"Most people don’t think of spiders when they bite into a tomato, but I do. Growing up in southern Ohio, I spent many summer afternoons picking baskets of tomatoes that would be canned or frozen and preserved for cold winter’s dinners. I loved the results of my labors, but I’ll never forget the sight of the enormous, black and white, scary-looking spiders that lived in the plants and created zigzag designs on their webs. In fact, those spiders, with their artistic web creations, inspired my interest in bugs and shaped my career in science."

One Event as a Theme

Perhaps one event or one day of your life made such a big impact that it could be used as a theme. The end or beginning of the life of another can affect our thoughts and actions for a long time:

"I was 12 years old when my mother passed away. By the time I was 15, I had become an expert in dodging bill collectors, recycling hand-me-down jeans, and stretching a single meal’s worth of ground beef into two family dinners. Although I was a child when I lost my mother, I was never able to mourn or to let myself become too absorbed in thoughts of personal loss. The fortitude I developed at a young age was the driving force that would see me through many other challenges."

Writing the Essay

Whether you determine that your life story is best summed up by a single event, a single characteristic, or a single day, you can use that one element as a theme . You will define this theme in your  introductory paragraph .

Create an outline with several events or activities that relate back to your central theme and turn those into subtopics (body paragraphs) of your story. Finally, tie up all your experiences in a summary that restates and explains the overriding theme of your life. 

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Autobiography

Definition of autobiography.

Autobiography is one type of biography , which tells the life story of its author, meaning it is a written record of the author’s life. Rather than being written by somebody else, an autobiography comes through the person’s own pen, in his own words. Some autobiographies are written in the form of a fictional tale; as novels or stories that closely mirror events from the author’s real life. Such stories include Charles Dickens ’ David Copperfield  and J.D Salinger’s The Catcher in The Rye . In writing about personal experience, one discovers himself. Therefore, it is not merely a collection of anecdotes – it is a revelation to the readers about the author’s self-discovery.

Difference between Autobiography and Memoir

In an autobiography, the author attempts to capture important elements of his life. He not only deals with his career, and growth as a person, he also uses emotions and facts related to family life, relationships, education, travels, sexuality, and any types of inner struggles. A memoir is a record of memories and particular events that have taken place in the author’s life. In fact, it is the telling of a story or an event from his life; an account that does not tell the full record of a life.

Six Types of Autobiography

There are six types of autobiographies:

• Autobiography: A personal account that a person writes himself/herself.
• Memoir : An account of one’s memory.
• Reflective Essay : One’s thoughts about something.
• Confession: An account of one’s wrong or right doings.
• Monologue : An address of one’s thoughts to some audience or interlocuters.
• Biography : An account of the life of other persons written by someone else.

Importance of Autobiography

Autobiography is a significant genre in literature. Its significance or importance lies in authenticity, veracity, and personal testimonies. The reason is that people write about challenges they encounter in their life and the ways to tackle them. This shows the veracity and authenticity that is required of a piece of writing to make it eloquent, persuasive, and convincing.

Examples of Autobiography in Literature

Example #1:  the box: tales from the darkroom by gunter grass.

A noble laureate and novelist, Gunter Grass , has shown a new perspective of self-examination by mixing up his quilt of fictionalized approach in his autobiographical book, “The Box: Tales from the Darkroom.” Adopting the individual point of view of each of his children, Grass narrates what his children think about him as their father and a writer. Though it is really an experimental approach, due to Grass’ linguistic creativity and dexterity, it gains an enthralling momentum.

Example #2:  The Story of My Life by Helen Keller

In her autobiography, The Story of My Life , Helen Keller recounts her first twenty years, beginning with the events of the childhood illness that left her deaf and blind. In her childhood, a writer sent her a letter and prophesied, “Someday you will write a great story out of your own head that will be a comfort and help to many.”

In this book, Keller mentions prominent historical personalities, such as Alexander Graham Bell, whom she met at the age of six, and with whom she remained friends for several years. Keller paid a visit to John Greenleaf Whittier , a famous American poet, and shared correspondence with other eminent figures, including Oliver Wendell Holmes, and Mrs. Grover Cleveland. Generally, Keller’s autobiography is about overcoming great obstacles through hard work and pain.

Example #3:  Self Portraits: Fictions by Frederic Tuten

In his autobiography, “Self Portraits: Fictions ,” Frederic Tuten has combined the fringes of romantic life with reality. Like postmodern writers, such as Jorge Luis Borges, and Italo Calvino, the stories of Tuten skip between truth and imagination, time and place, without warning. He has done the same with his autobiography, where readers are eager to move through fanciful stories about train rides, circus bears, and secrets to a happy marriage; all of which give readers glimpses of the real man.

Example #4:  My Prizes by Thomas Bernhard

Reliving the success of his literary career through the lens of the many prizes he has received, Thomas Bernhard presents a sarcastic commentary in his autobiography, “My Prizes.” Bernhard, in fact, has taken a few things too seriously. Rather, he has viewed his life as a farcical theatrical drama unfolding around him. Although Bernhard is happy with the lifestyle and prestige of being an author, his blasé attitude and scathing wit make this recollection more charmingly dissident and hilarious.

Example #5:  The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin by Benjamin Franklin

“The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin ” is written by one of the founding fathers of the United States. This book reveals Franklin’s youth, his ideas, and his days of adversity and prosperity. He is one of the best examples of living the American dream – sharing the idea that one can gain financial independence, and reach a prosperous life through hard work.

Through autobiography, authors can speak directly to their readers, and to their descendants. The function of the autobiography is to leave a legacy for its readers. By writing an autobiography, the individual shares his triumphs and defeats, and lessons learned, allowing readers to relate and feel motivated by inspirational stories. Life stories bridge the gap between peoples of differing ages and backgrounds, forging connections between old and new generations.

Synonyms of Autobiography

The following words are close synonyms of autobiography such as life story, personal account, personal history, diary, journal, biography, or memoir.

Related posts:

• The Autobiography of Malcolm X

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autobiography

What is autobiography definition, usage, and literary examples, autobiography definition.

An  autobiography  (awe-tow-bye-AWE-gruh-fee) is a self-written  biography . The author writes about all or a portion of their own life to share their experience, frame it in a larger cultural or historical context, and/or inform and entertain the reader.

Autobiographies have been a popular literary genre for centuries. The first Western autobiography is attributed to Saint Augustine of Hippo for his 13-book work titled  Confessions , written between 397 and 400 CE. Some autobiographies are a straightforward narrative that recollects a linear chain of events as they unfolded. The genre has expanded and evolved to include different approaches to the form.

The word  autobiography  comes from the Ancient Greek  auto  (“self”) +  bios  (“life”) +  graphein  (“to write”) = “a self-written life.” It is also known as autography .

The History of Autobiography

Scholars regard Augustine’s  Confessions  as the first Western autobiography. Other autobiographical works from antiquity include Jewish historian Flavius Josephus’s  Vita  (circa 99 CE) and Greek scholar Libanius’s  Oration I  (374 CE). Works of this kind were called apologias, which essentially means “in my defense.” Writers approached these works not as acts of self-documentation but as self-defense. They represented a way to explain and provide rationale for their life, work, and escapades. There was also less focus on their emotional lives.

The Book of Margery Kempe , written in 1438 by an English Christian mystic, is the earliest known autobiography in English. (Though it didn’t see full publication until the 20th century.) Other early English-language biographies of note include:

• Lord Herbert of Cherbury’s 1764 memoirs
• John Bunyan’s  Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners  in 1666
• Jarena Lee’s  The Life and Religious Experience of Jarena Lee  (the first autobiography of an African American woman)

Philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s  Confessions was published in 1782. It paved the way for the more thoughtful, emotionally centered autobiographies seen today. Autobiography as a literary genre emerged a few years later, when British scholar William Taylor first used the term to describe a self-written biography. He did so disparagingly, suggesting the form was  pedantic . In 1809, English Romantic poet Robert Southey used the term more seriously to describe self-written biographies.

Starting in the 20th century, more young people started writing autobiographies. Perhaps the most famous example is Anne Frank’s  The Diary of a Young Girl , about her time hiding from the Nazis in an Amsterdam attic. The 21st century saw an increase in autobiographical essay collections and memoirs by younger celebrities, including:

• Anna Kendrick
• Mindy Kaling
• Gabourey Sidibe
• Mike Birbiglia
• Lena Dunham
• Chelsea Handler

Autobiographies are not immune to controversy. One notable scandal involved author James Frey’s  A Million Little Pieces . Originally billed as a memoir, evidence later emerged that Frey invented key parts of the story. This example underscores how easily authors can cross over into autofiction—fictional autobiography—and how seriously readers take authors’ responsibility to accurately and honestly market their books.

Types of Autobiographies

There are a few different types of self-written works that qualify as autobiography.

Standard Autobiographies

In the most traditional form, authors recount their life or specific formative events from their life. This approach often utilizes a chronological format of events, but it doesn’t necessarily have to. An author’s approach might include a framing device such as flashbacks, in which they move from the present to the past as they remember their lives. For example, Broadway star Patti LuPone’s self-titled autobiography begins on the opening night of  Gypsy  in 2004 before moving back in time to LuPone’s childhood. An author could take a more stream-of-consciousness style, in which one memory links to another by a common theme. Irish writer Seán O’Casey narrates his six-volume  Autobiographies  in this manner

This is a type of autobiography that is narrower in scope and focus. It places greater emphasis on particular memories, thoughts, and feelings. A standard autobiography can certainly cover some of this same ground—most do—but the memoir is more interested in individual events or defined portions of the author’s life and the emotions and lessons behind them.

Henry David Thoreau is a notable memoirist. In Walden , he reflects on his time spent living in solitude in the woods of Massachusetts and what he learned about life and nature throughout this experience. Another example is  The Year of Magical Thinking  by Joan Didion, which relates the death of her husband and its impact on her life and work. Another is  Wild  by Cheryl Strayed, wherein Strayed remembers her time hiking the Pacific Crest Trail during a period of great change in her life.

Autofiction

The fictionalized autobiography, or autofiction, is another type of autobiography. The author presents their story not as fact but as fiction. This method gives them considerable space to take creative license with events and characters, thereby blurring the lines between reality and fiction. The overall goal is less about the author wanting to obscure facts and make things up and more a matter of taking another tactic to delve into their experiences in service of self-discovery.  Taipei  by Tao Lin is a work of autofiction. The central character, Paul, mirrors Lin’s own life and experiences, from the literary world of New York City to his ancestral roots in Taiwan.

Spiritual Autobiographies

These autobiographies center on the author’s religious or spiritual awakening and the subsequent journey their faith has taken them on. Common elements include struggles and doubt, a life-altering conversion, periods of regression, and sharing the “message.” These all act as endorsements of the author’s faith. Augustine’s  Confessions , Paramahansa Yogananda’s  Autobiography of a Yogi , and Augusten Burroughs’s  Toil & Trouble: A Memoir  are all spiritual autobiographies.

Autobiography vs. Biography

Both autobiographies and  biographies  are records of real lives, but there is one major distinction. A person other than the book’s subject writes a biography, while the subject themselves writes an autobiography. In this way, an autobiography is essentially a biography of the self. The biographer’s job is typically more involved, entailing detailed research into the life of the subject. The autobiographer, however, is usually not burdened by this because they lived through the events they write about. They may need only to confirm dates and stories to accurately relate the pertinent details.

The Function of Autobiography

An autobiography allows the author to tell the true story of their own life. This is the reason why autobiographies have always been written by famous people. History tends to remember notable individuals for just one significant contribution or event and, even then, the public’s perception of it may be inaccurate. Writing an autobiography allows the author to share the real story and put it into the larger context of their life and times.

Most readers pick up an autobiography expecting some degree of subjectivity from the author. After all, the events chronicled happened to the author, so the writing will of course have a biased  perspective . There are advantages to this subjectivity, though. The reader gets the real story directly from the person who lived it, unvarnished by others’ opinions or erroneous historical data.

One way this subjectivity is problematic is that the author may not possess the ability to see the story they’re telling from other perspectives. For example, they may not acknowledge any hurt they caused others, dangerous behaviors they engaged in, or the “other side” of a controversial event in which there are equally valid opposing viewpoints and experiences. Any of these deficiencies can result in a somewhat skewed narrative.

Writers Known for Autobiography & Autobiography Books

• Maya Angelou,  I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings ,  Gather Together in My Name
• Jung Chang,  Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China
• Isak Dinesen,  Out of Africa ,  Shadows on the Grass
• Carrie Fisher,  Wishful Drinking ,  Shockaholic
• Anne Frank,  The Diary of a Young Girl
• Ernest Hemingway,  A Moveable Feast
• Karl Ove Knausgård,  My Struggle
• Frank McCourt,  Angela’s Ashes
• Anaïs Nin,  The Diaries of Anaïs Nin
• Marcel Proust,  Remembrance of Things Past
• Patti Smith,  Just Kids ,  M Train
• Mark Twain, The Autobiography of Mark Twain
• Benjamin Franklin, The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin
• Malcolm X, The Autobiography of Malcolm X
• Agatha Christie, Agatha Christie: An Autobiography
• Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom
• Mahatma Gandhi, Gandhi: An Autobiography 

Examples of Autobiographies

1. Maya Angelou,  I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

Angelou’s autobiography is the first installment in a seven-volume series chronicling the life of the legendary poet, teacher, actress, director, dancer, and civil rights activist. Given all those roles, it’s easy to see why Angelou’s life story makes for interesting reading.

This volume centers primarily on her early life in Stamps, Arkansas, and the devastating effects of a childhood rape. It also explores racism in the American South. It discuses the important role reading plays in helping young Maya deal with the sexual assault and pervasive prejudice in her environment.

2. Helen Keller,  The Story of My Life

Keller’s autobiography details her first 20 years, starting with the childhood illness that caused her blindness and deafness. She discusses the obstacles she had to overcome and the life-changing relationship she shared with her teacher, Anne Sullivan, who helped her learn to read and write. Keller also documents her friendships with several famous figures of her day, including Alexander Graham Bell, John Greenleaf Whittier, Oliver Wendell Holmes, and First Lady Frances Cleveland.

3. Vinh Chung,  Where the Wind Leads

Chung’s autobiography recalls the harrowing story of a Vietnamese refugee and his journey to make the American Dream his own. Born in South Vietnam, Chung comes of age in a changing political climate that eventually compels his family to flee the country. Their voyage takes them through the South China Sea, run-ins with pirates, resettlement in Arkansas, and Chung’s graduation from Harvard Medical School.

How to Write an Autobiography

Autobiography is a truly universal art form and is accessible to anyone, whether you're in high school or 100 years old. Exploring the process of writing an autobiography deserves an article in itself, but the process should include these steps:

• Determine your "why." What lessons do you want to impart via your story, and why are they worth sharing with a broader audience?
• Draft an autobiographical outline. It should include information about your upbringing, impactful moments throughout your life, stories of failure and success, and meaningful mentors.
• Begin with the easiest sections. Getting started is often the greatest hurdle, so begin by writing the chapters that feel most accessible or enjoyable.
• Write your first draft. Once you write the first chapters, it will feel easier to write the rest. Capitalize on your momentum and write a full draft.
• Step away. As with anything, stepping away from your work will help foster fresh perspectives when you return.
• Edit and re-write your draft. Your first draft will probably benefit from thorough revisions, as will your second draft, and maybe your third. Continue to edit and revise until it feels right.
• Ask for help. Bring in a trusted family member or friend or professional editor to help with final edits.

Further Resources on Autobiography

ThoughtCo. shares some  important points to consider before writing an autobiography .

The Living Handbook of Narratology delves into the  history of the autobiography .

MasterClass breaks autobiography writing down into  eight basic steps .

Pen & the Pad looks at the  advantages and disadvantages of the autobiography .

Lifehack has a list of  15 autobiographies everyone should read at least once .

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Autobiography for Kids: Elementary & Middle School

Do you agree that kids’ autobiography is not a very common task? However, it is an excellent opportunity to reflect on one’s life. Each human being has something remarkable in their childhood to think about. That’s why we are unique and live unique life stories.

Even if it seems challenging in your situation or you find your life dull, we can assure you of the opposite! Our expert team has prepared a helpful guide that will help write any kind of autobiography for kids.

🤿 How to Write an Autobiography for Kids

🚸 autobiography for kids of different ages.

We’ve prepared this article to show that an inspirational autobiography for kids is what you can easily create yourself.

Let’s see which themes you can add to your kid’s autobiography.

Kids Autobiography Elements

We’re not going to provide you with a strict outline for your autobiography. Instead, we offer fundamental elements to set up your writing.

Start with early childhood – it is a significant period of formative years:

• Reflect on your background: your origins, ethnicity, family, and region.
• Share extra activities you were taking up, for example, attending ballet or music classes.
• Tell about your relationships with people around you: parents, grandparents, your peers in a kindergarten, and neighbors.
• Your interests and hobbies can be another exciting topic to elaborate on.
• Speak about any things you liked or disliked doing.

Embrace your culture – it indeed has some interesting details:

• Tell about everyday rituals typical to your culture.
• Give an example of traditional food served in your house.
• Describe your favorite holidays and how you celebrate them.

School experience – no matter if you are in the 3rd or 6th grade:

• Discuss your first experience with school.
• Tell how you built up relationships with teachers and fellow students.
• What were your most and least favorite subjects?
• Describe your classmates and what were your favorite games.

Tips for Writing an Autobiography for Kids

Some fundamental principles for achieving a good kids’ autobiography include:

Indeed, each of us can find something interesting in life to share. However, the younger you are, the less experience you have.

Here are some ideas for kids of different ages to assist them in writing an autobiography.

Autobiography for Elementary Students

This one is meant for kids from 6 to 11. Their autobiographies can focus on the following:

• Introduce yourself: who are you? What background do you have? Describe your family .
• You can dive deeper into your past. For example, you can share your experience in kindergarten and how you interacted with peers and teachers.
• Make a review of your interests: perhaps, you take up some extra activities. That can help reveal your personality .
• The excellent idea is to share your thoughts on your study at school. Do you consider yourself a good student? What do you find challenging?
• Concluding your autobiography, share your emotions after completing the task.

Autobiography for Middle School

If juniors write their autobiographies, then it’s even easier for 12-year-olds. If you have already entered middle school, add up the following things to your autobiography:

• To start your autobiography, introduce yourself and give a nice insight into your personality and origin.
• Reveal some remarkable details about your childhood and elementary school years .
• Think of some challenges you were going through in your life. Tell what you have learned from these situations .
• Some information about your relationships with the family will also fit your autobiography.
• Elaborate on the idea of how autobiography writing contributes to your understanding of yourself. These reflections were fruitful for you, weren’t they?

Try our exclusive and free essay topics generator if none of these ideas is close to what you want to write. It will help you develop an excellent idea for the autobiography assignment and any other written task. Save in bookmarks!

🧸 Autobiography Examples for Kids

Now we suggest getting acquainted with our short autobiography samples for elementary and middle schoolers. Read them for inspiration, and go for your own story!

#1 Example. 3rd Grade Autobiography

My name is Williams. I was named by my grand grandfather, who fought in Civil War for the Republican Party. I also have two siblings: an elder brother George and a small sister Lilly. I was born on April 26, 2012, in Sparks, Nevada. I’m nine years old now. I like going to school because I have many friends here. My parents tell me I’m a very communicative boy, which is true! I enjoy making new friends around. One of my first memories as a small kid is spending my summers in Texas at my grandmother’s place. She had a lovely farm in Dallas, and it was huge fun to be around her cows and chickens. My brother and I would play there a lot. Since then, I have truly loved animals. I have a dog now. He’s called Dodge, and I walk with him on Sundays in the park by our house. My favorite thing about school is music lessons. And a canteen. I also see my piano teacher twice a week. I reckon I’ll become a world-known pianist once I grow up. Generally, I study well, although I find math challenging for me. But I plan to master it too because I’m used to achieving my goals!

#2 Example. Autobiography for Middle School

I’m Jenny Maria Stevenson, and I am thirteen years old by now. I had my birthday last week, on October 14. I was born to a surgeon and a photographer. My mother takes stunning photos! My family came to Florida from Wisconsin when I was two years old. Living in Orlando, I cannot imagine it any other way, so I am happy my parents moved 11 here eleven years ago. I had a happy childhood because my mom and dad pampered me and cared about me a lot. I’ve been attending ballet classes since five, and I’m not going to quit because I genuinely love it. Ballet fills my life with inspiration and joy. I am also quite competitive. I realized it when I participated in a Miami ballet contest among girls a couple of years ago. When I won the first prize, I felt ultimate bliss. That makes me practice much and set new goals. However, I’m not into active socializing. I’m more like an introvert. I prefer to spend my time hitting on books and working out. Speaking of books, I love to study. I am a fan of literature, and my teacher is fantastic. We get along well, and that motivates me.

What do you think?

Which part of your life is the most interesting to share?

We hope our mini-guide inspired you to write a first-class autobiography for elementary or middle school.

Good luck, and remember, we are always ready to help!

• [email protected]

Kids Create Their Own Autobiographies with Printable Template

Printable autobiography template for kids.

Helping your kids write an autobiography is a great way for young kids to learn creative writing, practice personal expression and become familiar with their own life story. Autobiographies can help children learn about themselves in a personal way which can be beneficial for healthy self-esteem and emotional well-being. Parents should encourage their kids to write autobiographies because it can provide them with valuable experiences that will last throughout their lives.

Through this process of self-exploration, kids have the opportunity to reflect on a personal experience and any significant events that have shaped who they are today. Through the process of writing an autobiography, they are able to think critically about how these memories have impacted them and what lessons they’ve learned from them. It also helps children understand how one’s own story is interconnected with that of people in their lives such as a close family member or friend.

Want to head straight to the FREE downloads? Scroll below to download the one-page ALL ABOUT ME worksheet or the autobiography template and lesson plan near the bottom of the article.

Autobiography for Young Children

An autobiography is a fun way to document your little one’s life. Writing an autobiography is a perfect way to record the events and experiences of their childhood. It can also be a valuable teaching experience, as it helps them practice writing skills and learn about themselves along the way.

When writing an autobiography for someone so young, there are certain topics that should be included. Ask your preschooler to write down some of their favorite food, as well as any places they have visited or activities they’ve done. You can add in baby information like when they were born and how old they were when they learned different things like potty training or walking. Don’t forget to include family members such as siblings, parents, grandparents and other relatives! Include some fun facts about them too; what’s their favorite color or animal? What books do they enjoy reading?

Getting Started

Writing an autobiography with your child can seem like a daunting task, but it doesn’t have to be! With some simple steps, you and your child can have a fun time writing their first autobiography.

The key to success is breaking the process down into manageable pieces. Start by helping your child brainstorm topics they want to include in their story – from family life and friends to school, hobbies, and more. Once they’ve settled on some ideas, it’s time to put their thoughts on paper. For pre-writers, fill in the words for them. However, sound out the words phonetically while writing the answers. Read the entire sentence word for word pointing to each word. For writers, allow them to input the words in each blank, assisting where needed. Allow them to read the completed sentences out loud.

To help get them started, consider using a blank autobiography template that includes prompts for each section of their story. This will make it easier for them to organize their thoughts and ensure they don’t leave anything out.

What Is An Autobiography

An autobiography is a self-written account of someone’s life. It is an intimate record, detailing the author’s personal experience and accomplishments throughout their lifetime. Autobiographies can be written as a memoir or in chronological order, covering all aspects of life that the writer finds relevant. Writing an autobiography allows you to take an organized look at your personal story, and reflect on your relationships, achievements, and the lessons learned along the way.

Autobiography For Kids

An autobiography is a great way to help younger children learn about themselves and make sense of the world around them. But it’s important to make sure that your child approaches their work in an organized manner, so that they don’t get overwhelmed or frustrated. Here are some best practices when helping your kindergartner organize their autobiography:

First, create a timeline or list of topics for them to cover. This will help keep their thoughts organized and ensure that they don’t miss any important aspects of their life story. Also, be sure to set aside enough time each day for your child to complete the project – but not too much time! It should be manageable and not become a chore. Here are a few sections to help the task be more manageable.

Beginnings: Birth Story

The day a baby is born is one of the most special days in life. It marks the beginning of a new journey and a new life, and it’s something that should be celebrated. It’s no surprise that parents want to remember this momentous day forever!

Beginning with your own birth story can help you tell your children just how significant they are and how worth celebrating they are. An autobiography can be an amazing tool for teaching kids about their family history and creating lasting memories. From start to finish, writing down every special detail will help bring that magical day back to life — from the first pictures taken after birth to the funny stories everyone tells about it afterward! By recording these moments, you’re preserving them for generations to come.

Early Years: Memories and Growth

Writing an autobiography is a great way to help your child reflect on their journey so far and to think about what they have learned along the way. An autobiography in your child’s early years can be written in a fun, creative and engaging manner.

Start off by having your child brainstorm stories, memories and experiences from their early years – this will be the basis of their autobiography. When they share these stories with you, encourage them to express themselves creatively through drawings and pictures as well as words. If there are any stories that stand out for them or make them feel particularly happy or excited, find unique ways for your child to document these memories; for example, create a scrapbook of photographs or mementos from special occasions or trips.

School Days: Friends, Activities, and Experiences

Writing an autobiography is a great way for your child to reflect on their experiences in preschool. It’s also a wonderful opportunity to explore and develop their writing skills.

Encourage your child to start by jotting down memories and stories about friends, activities, and experiences they had in preschool. From there, help them come up with specific details such as the names of their friends and the fun activities they did together. Ask questions that get your child thinking about how they felt during these experiences or any special moments that stand out from the rest. Another great tool is to have them draw pictures or even create a scrapbook of photos from those times; it will help spark more ideas for writing about them later on.

Life Changes: Adapting to Change

An autobiography can be used as a reflection tool for your child to become more aware of how their life has changed and how they’ve grown.

Talk with your child about what kind of activities they enjoyed in preschool and how that changed in kindergarten and first grade. Or perhaps you moved to another neighborhood and you can explore those feelings and differences. A conversation with open ended questions will give them an idea of what kind of things they should include when writing the autobiography.

Rewarding Achievement

Starting the conversation is simple – ask your child what they are proud of when it comes to their accomplishments. This could include anything from getting an A in a test to helping out around the house, tying their shoes or being part of a team activity. As they share these stories, listen closely and explore each incident in detail so you can better understand the context in which it happened and how much effort your child put into achieving it.

Autobiography As A History Lesson

There are many different ways to teach American history to young children. One of the most entertaining and effective methods is by focusing on the lives of notable people who have made a significant impact in our nation’s history. Doing activities related to their life can be fun and engaging, while also teaching kids about different eras, cultural movements, and key figures in United States history. At Goose Goose Duck we make history relatable to young children by writing an autobiography like the great Frederick Douglass .

What Makes a Good Autobiography

A good autobiography goes beyond simply presenting the facts about a person’s life. It presents an emotional journey, offering readers a glimpse into how these events have shaped the author’s identity and worldview. Autobiographies often provide insight into moments of personal growth and transformation, as well as reflections on life’s struggles and triumphs. Through reading an autobiography, one can gain invaluable insight into someone else’s story – making it a powerful tool to foster empathy and understanding between individuals. By weaving together details both large and small that make up someone’s life, an effective autobiography will create a vivid portrait of their unique experience that is meaningful to both writer and reader alike.

Frederick Douglass’ autobiography, “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave,” is one of the most powerful autobiographies in American history. It is a testament to human strength and resilience; it details how a man born into bondage was able to overcome adversity and use his wits to eventually become a free man. His story is relatable because it demonstrates that with hard work, ambition and courage there are no limits to what one can achieve.

Autobiography Activity and Printable Autobiography Template

Autobiographies are a powerful way to tell one’s story, as proven by Frederick Douglass. But autobiographies aren’t just for adults – children can use this form of literature too! Writing an autobiography can be a fun and meaningful activity that teaches children about their own lives in an engaging way.

To start, kids should think about the important events that have shaped their lives so far. From family moments to school memories, it all counts! They should also consider writing down any hopes or dreams they have for the future. By reflecting on these life experiences in written form, kids can explore their own identities and personalities in unique ways.

We have an autobiography book template including a cover page to help you assist your child in creating their own autobiography. The template is part of the Frederick Douglass Activity pack. This exercise gives your child the opportunity to investigate who they are and where they come from. The first two pages are all about your child when they were a baby. Tell them actual antidotes to help them fill out the blanks. For example, relate the story of when they were born and how you felt holding them in your arms. Tell them a funny story about how they would only eat sweet potatoes and the time they threw a bowl of ice cream on the floor. Your child will learn more about who they are as well as allow them to reflect on who they have developed into up until today.

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The Child: Non-precocity in Autobiography

• First Online: 07 May 2024

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• Roisín Laing 3  

Part of the book series: Palgrave Studies in Nineteenth-Century Writing and Culture ((PNWC))

This chapter asks why language acquisition is so central to autobiography of childhood experience and to scientific Child Study. I first argue that in their autobiographical works, Frances Hodgson Burnett and E. Nesbit define the child by her lack (rather than by her precocious anticipation) of attributes characterised as ‘adult’ and most particularly by her lack of language. In Burnett’s and Nesbit’s autobiographies, as in Wordsworth’s, the adult is therefore both the end and the apex of the child’s development. The same pattern—development as progress—is substantiated with the same evidence—the attainment of language—in Child Study and, most tellingly, in studies of the evolution of the human species in the late nineteenth century. Language acquisition is pivotal in Victorian autobiography and Child Study because it is, paradoxically, through language that adults can recover the pure (because pre-linguistic) insights of childhood; by both recovering and articulating these insights, adults also demonstrate their progress beyond childhood. Thus, in autobiographies even by leading innovators in the burgeoning genre of ‘children’s literature’ and in scientific writing by pioneers in the emergent discipline ‘Child Study’, we can see the pattern of pre-Darwinian developmental models—the pattern of progress—endure.

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Jonathan Loesberg, ‘Self-Consciousness and Mediation in Victorian Autobiography’, University of Toronto Quarterly, 50/2 (1980/81), 199–220, p. 199. Sally Shuttleworth cites Balzac’s Louis Lambert (1832–1833) as an earlier effort to ‘chronicle childhood experience, and to find the roots of adult behaviour in child experience’ (Shuttleworth, ‘Inventing a Discipline: Autobiography and the Science of Child Study in the 1890s’, Comparative Critical Studies , 2/2 (2005), 143–63 (144)).

Shuttleworth, ‘Inventing’, 144. This coincides with the publication of the earliest works in what is now known as the Golden Age of children’s literature. Charles Kingsley’s The Water Babies (1863), Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland (1865), and George MacDonald’s At the Back of the North Wind (1871), for example, were written in the same period.

Shuttleworth, ‘Inventing’, 144.

This is perhaps because Harley follows an established trend in analyses of the Victorian passion for autobiography by focusing primarily on autobiographical writing by men (though she devotes one chapter to Harriet Martineau). Loesberg, for example, focuses on Darwin and Carlyle. See also John Sturrock, The Language of Autobiography: Studies in the First Person Singular (Cambridge University Press, 1993), and Deborah Epstein Nord, ‘Victorian Autobiography: Sons and Fathers’, in The Cambridge Companion to Autobiography, ed. Maria DiBattista and Emily O. Wittman (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2014), 87–101. Valerie Sanders discusses what she calls ‘the minor women novelists’, but none so minor that they wrote for children (Sanders, The Private Lives of Victorian Women: Autobiography in Nineteenth-Century England (New York: Harvester Wheatsheaf, 1989), 2)).

See, for example, LuAnn Walther, ‘The Invention of Childhood in Victorian Autobiography’, in Approaches to Victorian Autobiography, ed. George P. Landow (Ohio University Press, 1979), 64–86, and the discussions of nineteenth-century autobiographies of childhood experience in Richard Coe, When the Grass Was Taller: Autobiography and the Experience of Childhood (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1984). See also Sanders, 50–74, on the ideology of femininity in autobiographies of childhood experience.

This focus on childhood is perhaps why three of the four autobiographies Shuttleworth examines were written by women; as Sanders has observed, childhood was one area in which women were permitted to have special expertise in the nineteenth century. The discussion of Burnett’s autobiography in Penny Brown, The Captured World: The Child and Childhood in Nineteenth-Century Women’s Writing in England (New York: Harvester Wheatsheaf, 1993), 125–128, is a notable early exception to the general omission of autobiographical writing by female writers of children’s literature from studies of autobiography.

Jenny Bavidge, ‘Exhibiting Childhood: E. Nesbit and the Children’s Welfare Exhibitions’, in Childhood in Edwardian Fiction: Worlds Enough and Time, ed. Adrienne E. Gavin and Andrew F. Humphries (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2009), 125–42 (139).

Notwithstanding her ‘somewhat bohemian personal life’, Nesbit’s ‘image’ is of ‘a cheerful and sensible children’s writer’ (‘E. Nesbit’, in Records of Girlhood: An Anthology of Nineteenth-Century Women’s Childhoods, Vol. 2, ed. Valerie Sanders (London: Routledge, 2012), 189–206, at p. 189. Burnett, meanwhile, was ‘publicly conventional’ despite leading a quite ‘unconventional life’ (Gretchen Gerzina, Frances Hodgson Burnett (London: Chatto and Windus, 2004), p. xi, qtd. in Records of Girlhood, p. 157.

Andrea Kaston Tange, Architectural Identities: Domesticity, Literature and the Victorian Middle Class (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2010), 246–247.

Levine, p. 58.

Coe, 76. See also Howard Helsinger, ‘Credence and Credibility: The Concern for Honesty in Victorian Autobiography’, in Landow, 39–63.

William James, The Principles of Psychology , Vol. 1 (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1981), 614. Deborah J. Coon describes The Principles of Psychology as ‘a shaper of the developing discipline’ of psychology (Coon, ‘Salvaging the Self in a World without Soul: William James’s The Principles of Psychology ’, History of Psychology, 3/2 (2000), 83–103, at p. 88). I refer to William James as W. James hereafter, to distinguish him from his brother Henry James.

Alan Collins, ‘The Psychology of Memory’, in Psychology in Britain: Historical Essays and Personal Reflections , ed. G. C. Bunn, A. D. Lovie, and G. D. Richards (Leicester: BPS, 2001), 150–168 (151); George Stout, A Manual of Psychology (1899; 4 th edn, London: University Tutorial Press, 1932), 525. Stout was the editor of Mind from 1892–1921. See Francis Neary, ‘A Question of “Peculiar Importance”: George Croom Robertson, Mind and the Changing Relationship Between British Psychology and Philosophy’, in Bunn, Lovie, and Richards, 54–71, especially 65–67, for more information on Stout’s editorship.

Wilhelm Wundt, Principles of Physiological Psychology , trans. Edward Bradford Titchener (1874; 5 th edn, London: Swan Sonnenchein; New York: Macmillan, 1904), 14. Alan Kim suggests that it was the introduction, by Wundt, of empirical methodologies to the study of psychology which brought about its evolution into a distinct discipline, contrary to Wundt’s own view that it was a branch of philosophy (Alan Kim, ‘Wilhelm Maximilian Wundt’, Stanford Encyclopaedia of Philosophy, ed. Edward N. Zalta (Winter 2014), http://plato.stanford.edu [last accessed 1 September 2016]). See Wan-chi Wong, ‘Retracing the Footsteps of Wilhelm Wundt: Explorations in the Disciplinary Frontiers of Psychology and in Völkerpsychologie ’, History of Psychology, 12/4 (2009), 229–265, for a detailed overview of Wundt’s work.

Robyn Fivush and Katherine Nelson, ‘Culture and Language in the Emergence of Autobiographical Memory’, Psychological Science, 15/9 (2004), 573–577 (573).

E. Nesbit, Wings and the Child , or, The Building of Magic Cities (New York: Hodder and Stoughton, 1913), 4. Wings and the Child was in part an account of Nesbit’s contribution to the Children’s Welfare Exhibition, held in London from 31 December 1912 to 11 January 1913. See Jenny Bavidge, ‘Exhibiting Childhood: E. Nesbit and the Children’s Welfare Exhibitions’, in Childhood in Edwardian Fiction: Worlds Enough and Time, ed. Adrienne E. Gavin and Andrew F. Humphries (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2009), 125–142, for more information on Nesbit’s contributions to the Exhibition and on its position within Steedman’s analysis of the child’s interiority in the period.

Gabrielle Simcock and Harlene Hayne, ‘Breaking the Barrier? Children Fail to Translate Their Preverbal Memories into Language’, Psychological Science, 13/3 (2002), 225–231 (225). However, memory itself is not dependent on language; very young children can remember experiences which they subsequently forget with the onset of childhood amnesia. See Robyn Fivush and April Schwarzmueller, ‘Children Remember Childhood: Implications for Childhood Amnesia’, Applied Cognitive Psychology, 12/5 (1998), 455–473, for an analysis of this observation. Charles Fernyhough cites a BBC survey on childhood memories, conducted in 2006, many of the responses to which seem to contradict the findings presented by Simcock and Hayne (Charles Fernyhough, Pieces of Light: The New Science of Memory (London: Profile Books, 2012), 12). He also describes two experiments in which children were able to remember and recount, in words, experiences which had occurred before they had acquired the language relevant to those experiences (Fernyhough, 81–83, discussing Aletha Solter, ‘A 2-Year Old Child’s Memory of Hospitalization during Early Infancy’, Infant and Child Development, 17/6 (2008), 593–605). In response to the results of the BBC survey, Hayne suggested that although none of her research has confirmed the existence of preverbal memory, ‘she cannot rule…out’ the possibility without further research (‘In my Pram I Remember’, The Memory Experience: BBC Radio Four, www.bbc.co.uk [last accessed 10 September 2016]).

Nesbit, ‘My School-days’, GOP, 876 (Oct. 1896), 28.

Nesbit, ‘My School-days’, GOP , 881 (Nov. 1896), 106.

Burnett, The One I Knew the Best of All: A Memory of the Mind of a Child (New York: Charles Scribner’s, 1893), 7. Subsequent citations will be given in parentheses.

Nesbit, Wings , 5

James Sully, Studies of Childhood (London: Longmans, 1895), 14.

James Sully, Studies, 2. Lyubov G. Gurjeva discusses Sully’s acknowledged debt to women’s expertise on children and childhood (‘James Sully and Scientific Psychology, 1870–1910’, in Bunn, Lovie, and Richards, 72–94, esp. 88–91), but does not discuss the use he makes of their published work on the subject.

Sully, Studies, 16, n. 1. The One I Knew the Best of All was published two years before the first edition of Studies of Childhood , but the latter had in fact been written, and published in the form of essays in various periodicals, during the 1880s. See Gurjeva, 78–81.

Sully, Studies, 4.

James Sully, ‘The Story of a Child’, Longman’s Magazine, 19/110 (Dec.1891), 200–14 (201).

Nesbit, ‘My School-days’, GOP, 891 (Jan. 1897), 264–266 (264.

Nesbit, Wings , 16.

Nesbit, ‘My School-days’, GOP, 891 (Jan. 1897), 264.

Nesbit, Wings , 5.

Sully, ‘Story’, 200.

Sully, ‘Story’, 201.

Loesberg, 199. See Sanders, 1–27, on the additional charges female autobiographers were susceptible to in the nineteenth century.

Shuttleworth, ‘Inventing a Discipline: Autobiography and the Science of Child Study in the 1890s’, Comparative Critical Studies, 2/2 (2005), 143–163 (159).

Shuttleworth, ‘Inventing a Discipline’, 153.

Loesberg, p.199.

Sully, ‘George Sand’s Childhood’, Longman’s Magazine, 15/86 (1889), 149–64 (149).

Sully, ‘A Girl’s Religion’, Longman’s Magazine, 16/91 (May 1890), 89–99 (90); and Studies, 507.

Sully, Studies, 513, emphasis added.

Sully, Studies, 489.

Shuttleworth, ‘Inventing’, 154.

Wayne Dennis, Introduction to ‘Melville Ballard (1839–1912): Recollections of a Deaf Mute (1881)’, in Historical Readings in Developmental Psychology , ed. Wayne Dennis (New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts, 1972), 101–102 (101).

I refer to William James as W. James hereafter, to avoid confusion with his brother Henry James, whose work I discuss in Chap. 6 .

W. James, Principles , 256.

W. James, ‘Thought Before Language: A Deaf-Mute’s Recollections’, Philosophical Review, 1/6 (1892), 613–624 (613).

W. James, ‘Recollections’, 623.

Interestingly, W. James also implies—like Nesbit, Burnett, and Sully—that language enables the autobiographer to recollect what was pre-linguistic. He notes that d’Estrella recalls how his teacher ‘used to make me write about what I did before I came to school’ (where he learned language) and insists that ‘[i]t helped me much thus to repeat the memory. Ever since my recollections have been the same, though the words have changed now and then to get better style and more definite meanings in language’ (622). It is precisely language which has made d’Estrella’s memory reliable.

James Sully, ‘Baby Linguistics’, The English Illustrated Magazine, 14 (Nov. 1884), 110–18 (111). Subsequent citations will be given in parentheses.

Shuttleworth, ‘Inventing a Discipline’, 144. These essays initiated the wave of so-called baby biographies from which scientific Child Study emerged. See Wayne Dennis, ‘A Bibliography of Baby Biographies’, Child Development, 7/1 (1936), 71–3.

William Preyer, The Mind of the Child Part II: The Development of the Intellect (New York: Appleton, 1895), 3.

Sully, Studies, 160.

Bavidge, 139.

Nesbit, ‘My School-days’, GOP, 881 (Nov. 1896), 106; Nesbit, GOP, 908 (May 1897), 534–535 (534.

Suzanne Rahn, ‘News from E. Nesbit: The Story of the Amulet and the Socialist Utopia’, English Literature in Transition, 1880–1920, 28/2 (1985), 124–144 (143).

Paul De Man, ‘Autobiography as De-Facement’, in The Rhetoric of Romanticism (New York: Columbia University Press, 1984), 67–81 (70 and 71).

De Man, 71.

See Trevor Harley, The Psychology of Language: From Data to Theory (1995; 2 nd edn, East Sussex: Psychology Press, 2001), especially 3–4, for a discussion of the problem of language in contemporary psychology.

George Stout A Manual of Psychology (1899; 4 th edn, London: University Tutorial Press, 1932), 539.

Stout, 539.

Wundt, 17–18.

Jacqueline Rose, The Case of Peter Pan: Or, The Impossibility of Children’s Literature (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1993), 8.

Hippolyte Taine, ‘On the Acquisition of Language by Children’, Mind, 2/6 (1877), 252–259 (253).

Taine, 257.

This marks a small but telling departure from Darwin. Both Darwin and Taine associate emotions with the early stages of racial or individual development. However, Taine implies that to identify with childish emotion imbues the adult with the child’s intuitive insight. Darwin asserts that the human expression of emotion supports ‘the conclusion that man is derived from some lower animal form’ (Charles Darwin, The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals (London: Watts, 1934), 171). For Darwin, the human expression of emotion is evidence of an animal ancestry which many considered debasing. For Taine, the adult expression of emotion is evidence of a childhood which many saw as transcendent.

Gurjeva, 73.

Frances Wilson, ‘Romantic Autobiography’, in The Cambridge Companion to Autobiography, ed. Maria diBattista and Emily O. Wilson (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2014), 71–86 (71 and 72–73).

Herbert Spencer, On Education, ed. F. A. Cavenagh (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1932), 82–83.

Nesbit, Wings, 124. Subsequent citations will be given in parentheses.

David Herman, ‘Narrative Theory and the Sciences of Mind’, Literature Compass , 10/5 (2013), 421–436 (421).

The magic city in Nesbit’s novel of the same title serves a similar purpose. Magically transported into a miniature city made from household materials, the protagonist, Philip, comes to a better understanding of his changed circumstances following his sister’s marriage (Nesbit, The Magic City (Radford, VA: Wilder, 2010).

Jenny Bourne Taylor, ‘Between Atavism and Altruism: The Child on the Threshold in Victorian Psychology and Edwardian Children’s Fiction’, in Children in Culture: Approaches to Culture , ed. Karín Lesnick-Oberstein (Basingstoke: Macmillan, 1998), 89–121 (103).

Bavidge, 135.

Erica Rothwell, ‘“You Catch it if You Try to do it Otherwise”: The Limitations of E. Nesbit’s Cross Written Vision of the Child’, Children’s Literature, 25 (1997), 60–70 (62 and 66).

Alison Lurie, Don’t Tell the Grown Ups: Subversive Children’s Literature (Boston: Little, Brown, 1991), 100.

See Beth Rodgers, ‘Competing Girlhoods: Competition, Community, and Reader Contribution in The Girl’s Own Paper and The Girl’s Realm ’, Victorian Periodicals Review , 45/3 (2012), 277–300, for more information on the constructed and actual readership of these periodicals.

Terri Doughty, ‘Introduction’, in Selections from The Girl’s Own Paper, 1880–1907, ed. Terri Doughty (Plymouth: Broadview Reprint Edition, 2004), 7–14, at p.7.

Nesbit, ‘My School-days’, GOP, 924 (Sept. 1897), 788–789 (788.

Nesbit, ‘My School-days’, GOP, 924 (Sept. 1897), 789.

Fivush and Nelson, 575.

Charles Darwin, The Descent of Man and Selection in Relation to Sex , ed. James Moore and Adrian Desmond (London: Penguin, 2004), 209–10.

Sully, ‘Linguistics’, 116.

Sully, ‘Linguistics’, 116; 117.

Sully, Studies, 181.

Sully, Studies, 180.

Collins, 151.

Stout, 268. Subsequent citations will be given in parentheses.

Paidologist , 1 (1899), 4, emphasis added, quoted in Shuttleworth, ‘Inventing’, 147.

Shuttleworth, ‘Inventing’, 147.

Claudia Castañeda, Figurations: Child, Bodies, Worlds (Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2002), 1.

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Laing, R. (2024). The Child: Non-precocity in Autobiography. In: The Precocious Child in Victorian Literature and Culture. Palgrave Studies in Nineteenth-Century Writing and Culture. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-41382-7_3

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