Biography and Memoir
From SJCPLSubjectGuides
| Biography Links
Write your own Bio/journaling links |
Biography, Memoir, What's the Difference?
Biography, in general, is someone's life story, written by another person. It is usually supported by documentation (letters, legal papers, etc.) proving the facts that they present, unless they are unauthorized biographies, in which case, anything goes.
Autobiography is the story of someone's life, written by themselves. It also is supported by documentation.
Memoir is sometimes considered the same as autobiography, but it is less formal, less well-documented, and often, about only a segment of a person's life.
Journals or diaries are usually the most informal of all, written for the author and not for an audience. They are not organized in story form, but have individual entries, usually in date order, and are considered support documents for other types of biography.
Contents |
Biography resources @ your library
Best sellers, award winners, classics
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Benjamin Franklin: An American life by Walter Issacson
Diary of a young girl (Anne Frank) by Anne Frank
John Adams by David McCullough
Staff recommendations
Stories of people's lives that our staff couldn't put down. Not all books are in the Biography section.
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O'Keeffe and Stieglitz: An American Romance
East to the Dawn: the Life of Amelia Earhart
Raising Fences: A Black Man's Love Story
Writing your own life story/journaling
Blogging: Keeping an online journal
Blog is short for weblog. A weblog is an online journal. The easiest blogging website to use is Blogger. You fill out a profile about yourself, choose how you want your page to look, and then start writing. Your posts are visible on the internet, and people can add comments, if you allow them.
Blog entries can be focused on life happenings, topics of interest, work, family life, pets. Here is an example:
The library has a blog, too - the SJCPL Blog. Click here to check it out!
SJCPL journaling resources
Making & Keeping Creative Journals
Your Autobiography: More than 300 Questions
Photojournaling and Scrapbooking
Scrapbooking Techniques for Beginners
Quilted Memories: Journaling, Scrapbooking and Creating Keepsakes with Fabric
Bookworks: Books, Memory and Photo Albums, Journals and Diaries Made by Hand
The Photo Scribe: A Writing Guide: How to Write the Stories Behind Your Photographs
