Amazon books biography autobiography handout

Autobiography Definition

An autobiography (awe-tow-bye-AWE-gruh-fee) is a self-written biography.

Amazon books biography autobiography handout

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 au