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Understanding the different forms of Creative Nonfiction will make us more familiar with the total facet of creative nonfiction as a literary piece. In short, these forms of storytelling employ the creative writing techniques of literature, such as poetry and fiction, to retell a true story to create a cohesive story, but so are poetic elements like conceit and juxtaposition. From the autobiographies of Mark Twain and Benvenuto Cellini, to the more experimental styles of modern writers like Karl Ove Knausgård, creative nonfiction has a long history and takes a wide variety of forms. Common iterations of the creative nonfiction genre include Autobiography and Literary Journalism. In this lesson, you are expected to understand and analyze autobiography and memoir as a form of creative nonfiction. The three primary forms of creative nonfiction both tells a life story and still confusing since they all share a very similar characteristic. Simply put, a biography is the life history of an individual, written by someone else. An autobiography is the st
ory of a person’s life, written by that person. And a memoir is a collection
of memories written by the person themselves (Blurb, 2020). Try to activate your prior knowledge about biography, autobiography, and memoir. Are they just the same with the elements and techniques that you have learned in your Creative Writing class?
LEARNING TASK 1
. Using the the K-W-L chart, write down on the first column (K) the things you know about
“biography, autobiogra
phy, and memoir
”, while on the second column,
write the things that you want to learn about the said word. Leave the last column blank as you will do this on the latter part of the lesson. Do this in your notebook.
BIOGRAPHY, AUTOBIOGRAPHY, and MEMOIR What I know What I want to know What I Learned
Week 9-10
FORMS OF CREATIVE NONFICTION: BIOGRAPHY, AUTOBIOGRAPHY AND MEMOIR
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FORMS OF CREATIVE NONFICTION: BIOGRAPHY, AUTOBIOGRAPHY AND MEMOIR
The three primary forms of creative nonfiction both
tells a life story
and still confusing since they all share a very similar characteristic. Simply put, a biography is the life history of an individual, written by someone else. An
autobiography is the story of a person’s life, written by that person. And a memoir is a coll
ection of memories written by the person themselves (Blurb, 2020). A
biography,
also called a bio, is a non-fiction piece of work giving an objective account of
a person’s life. The main difference between a biography vs. an autobiography is that the auth
or of a biography is not the subject. Examples of famous biographies include:
•
His Excellency: George Washington
by Joseph J. Ellis
•
Einstein: The Life and Times
by Ronald William Clark
•
Princess Diana
–
A Biography of The Princess of Wales
by Drew L. Crichton An
autobiography
is the story of a person’s life written
by that person. Because the author is also the main character of the story, autobiographies are written in the first person. The purpose of an autobiography is to portray the life experiences and achievements of the author. Therefore, most autobiographies
are written later in the subject’s life.
Examples of famous autobiographies include:
•
The Story of My Life
by Helen Keller
•
The Diary of a Young Girl
by Anne Frank
•
Losing My Virginity
by Richard Branson
Memoir
comes from the French word mémoire, meaning memory or reminiscence.
Similar to an autobiography, a memoir is the story of a person’s life written by that person.
The difference between a memoir vs. an autobiography is that a memoir focuses on reflection and establishing an emotional connection, rather than simply presenting the facts around their life. The author uses their personal knowledge to tell an intimate and emotional story about the private or public happenings in their life. The topic is intentionally focused and does not include biographical
or chronological aspects of the author’s life unless they are
meaningful and relevant to the story. Examples of famous memoirs include:
•
Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt
•
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
•
Personal Memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant by Ulysses S. Grant