autobiography source meaning

How to Define Autobiography

Glossary of Grammatical and Rhetorical Terms

• An Introduction to Punctuation
• Ph.D., Rhetoric and English, University of Georgia
• M.A., Modern English and American Literature, University of Leicester
• B.A., English, State University of New York

An autobiography is an account of a person's life written or otherwise recorded by that person. Adjective: autobiographical .

Many scholars regard the Confessions (c. 398) by Augustine of Hippo (354–430) as the first autobiography.

The term fictional autobiography (or pseudoautobiography ) refers to novels that employ first-person narrators who recount the events of their lives as if they actually happened. Well-known examples include David Copperfield (1850) by Charles Dickens and Salinger's  The Catcher in the Rye (1951).

Some critics believe that all autobiographies are in some ways fictional. Patricia Meyer Spacks has observed that "people do make themselves up. . . . To read an autobiography is to encounter a self as an imaginative being" ( The Female Imagination , 1975).

For the distinction between a memoir and an autobiographical composition, see memoir  as well as the examples and observations below. 

From the Greek, "self" + "life" + "write"

Examples of Autobiographical Prose

• Imitating the Style of the Spectator , by Benjamin Franklin
• Langston Hughes on Harlem
• On the Street, by Emma Goldman
• Ritual in Maya Angelou's Caged Bird
• The Turbid Ebb and Flow of Misery, by Margaret Sanger
• Two Ways of Seeing a River, by Mark Twain

Examples and Observations of Autobiographical Compositions

• "An autobiography is an obituary in serial form with the last installment missing." (Quentin Crisp, The Naked Civil Servant , 1968)
• "Putting a life into words rescues it from confusion even when the words declare the omnipresence of confusion, since the art of declaring implies dominance." (Patricia Meyer Spacks, Imagining a Self: Autobiography and Novel in Eighteenth-Century England . Harvard University Press, 1976)
• The Opening Lines of Zora Neale Hurston's Autobiography - "Like the dead-seeming, cold rocks, I have memories within that came out of the material that went to make me. Time and place have had their say. "So you will have to know something about the time and place where I came from, in order that you may interpret the incidents and directions of my life. "I was born in a Negro town. I do not mean by that the black back-side of an average town. Eatonville, Florida, is, and was at the time of my birth, a pure Negro town--charter, mayor, council, town marshal and all. It was not the first Negro community in America, but it was the first to be incorporated, the first attempt at organized self-government on the part of Negroes in America. "Eatonville is what you might call hitting a straight lick with a crooked stick. The town was not in the original plan. It is a by-product of something else. . . ." (Zora Neale Hurston, Dust Tracks on a Road . J.B. Lippincott, 1942) - "There is a saying in the Black community that advises: 'If a person asks you where you're going, you tell him where you've been. That way you neither lie nor reveal your secrets.' Hurston had called herself the 'Queen of the Niggerati.' She also said, 'I like myself when I'm laughing.' Dust Tracks on a Road is written with royal humor and an imperious creativity. But then all creativity is imperious, and Zora Neale Hurston was certainly creative." (Maya Angelou, Foreword to Dust Tracks on a Road , rpt. HarperCollins, 1996)
• Autobiography and Truth "All autobiographies are lies. I do not mean unconscious, unintentional lies; I mean deliberate lies. No man is bad enough to tell the truth about himself during his lifetime, involving, as it must, the truth about his family and friends and colleagues. And no man is good enough to tell the truth in a document which he suppresses until there is nobody left alive to contradict him." (George Bernard Shaw, Sixteen Self Sketches , 1898)" " Autobiography is an unrivaled vehicle for telling the truth about other people." (attributed to Thomas Carlyle, Philip Guedalla, and others)
• Autobiography and Memoir - "An autobiography is the story of a life : the name implies that the writer will somehow attempt to capture all the essential elements of that life. A writer's autobiography, for example, is not expected to deal merely with the author's growth and career as a writer but also with the facts and emotions connected to family life, education, relationships, sexuality, travels, and inner struggles of all kinds. An autobiography is sometimes limited by dates (as in Under My Skin: Volume One of My Autobiography to 1949 by Doris Lessing), but not obviously by theme. "Memoir, on the other hand, is a story from a life . It makes no pretense of replicating a whole life." (Judith Barrington, Writing the Memoir: From Truth to Art . Eighth Mountain Press, 2002) - "Unlike autobiography , which moves in a dutiful line from birth to fame, memoir narrows the lens, focusing on a time in the writer's life that was unusually vivid, such as childhood or adolescence, or that was framed by war or travel or public service or some other special circumstance." (William Zinsser, "Introduction," Inventing the Truth: The Art and Craft of Memoir . Mariner Books, 1998)
• An "Epidemical Rage for Auto-Biography" "[I]f the populace of writers become thus querulous after fame (to which they have no pretensions) we shall expect to see an epidemical rage for auto-biography break out, more wide in its influence and more pernicious in its tendency than the strange madness of the Abderites, so accurately described by Lucian. London, like Abdera, will be peopled solely by 'men of genius'; and as the frosty season, the grand specific for such evils, is over, we tremble for the consequences. Symptoms of this dreadful malady (though somewhat less violent) have appeared amongst us before . . .." (Isaac D'Israeli, "Review of "The Memoirs of Percival Stockdale," 1809)|
• The Lighter Side of Autobiography - "The Confessions of St. Augustine are the first autobiography , and they have this to distinguish them from all other autobiographies, that they are addressed directly to God." (Arthur Symons, Figures of Several Centuries , 1916) - "I write fiction and I'm told it's autobiography , I write autobiography and I'm told it's fiction, so since I'm so dim and they're so smart, let them decide what it is or isn't." (Philip Roth, Deception , 1990) - "I'm writing an unauthorized autobiography ." (Steven Wright)

Pronunciation: o-toe-bi-OG-ra-fee

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His 414: life-writing and history: diaries, memoirs and autobiographies.

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What is an Autobiography? Definition, Elements, and Writing Tips

POSTED ON Oct 1, 2023

Written by Audrey Hirschberger

What is an autobiography, and how do you define autobiography, exactly? If you’re hoping to write an autobiography, it’s an important thing to know. After all, you wouldn’t want to mislabel your book.

What sets an autobiography apart from a memoir or a biography? And what type of writing is most similar to an autobiography? Should you even write one? How? Today we will be discussing all things autobiographical, so you can learn what an autobiography is, what sets it apart, and how to write one of your own – should you so choose. 

But before we get into writing tips, we must first define autobiography. So what is an autobiography, precisely? 

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This Guide to Autobiographies Contains Information On:

What is an autobiography: autobiography meaning defined.

What is an autobiography? It’s a firsthand recounting of an author’s own life. So, if you were to write an autobiography, you would be writing a true retelling of your own life events. 

Autobiography cannot be bound to only one type of work. What an autobiography is has more to do with the contents than the format. For example, autobiographical works can include letters, diaries, journals, or books – and may not have even been meant for publication. 

An autobiography is what many celebrities, government officials, and important social figures sit down to write at the end of their lives or distinguished careers. 

Of course, the work doesn’t have to cover your whole life. You can absolutely write an autobiography in your 20s or 30s if you’ve lived through events worth sharing!

If an autobiography doesn’t cover the entire lifespan of the author, it can start to get confused with another genre of writing. So what’s an autobiography most similar to? And how can you tell it apart from other genres of writing? Let’s dive into the details. 

What type of writing is most similar to an autobiography?

A memoir is undoubtedly what type of writing is most similar to an autobiography. So what is the difference between an autobiography vs memoir ?

Simply put, a memoir is a book that an author writes about their own life with the intention of communicating a lesson or message to the reader. It doesn’t need to be written in chronological order, and only contains pieces of the author’s life story. 

An autobiography, on the other hand, is the author’s life story from birth to present, and it’s much less concerned with theme than it is with communicating a “highlight reel” of the author’s biggest life events. 

In addition to memoirs, there is also some confusion between autobiography vs biography . A biography is a true story about someone’s life, but it is not about the author’s life. 

Is an autobiography always nonfiction?

When many people define autobiography, they say it is a true or “nonfiction” telling of an author’s life – but that’s not always the case.

There is actually such a thing as autobiographical fiction .

Autobiographical fiction refers to a story that is based on fact and inspired by the author’s actual experiences…but has made-up characters or events. Any element in the story can be embellished upon or fabricated. 

Even the information in a standard “nonfiction” autobiography should be taken with a grain of salt. After all, anything written from the author’s perspective may contain certain biases, distortions, or unconscious omissions within the text. 

So if being nonfiction isn’t a defining characteristic of an autobiography, what is an autobiography defined by? 

The key elements of an autobiography

What’s an autobiography like from cover to cover? It should contain these key elements:

• A personal narrative : It is a firsthand account of the author's life experiences.
• A chronological structure : An autobiography typically follows a chronological order, tracing the author's life from birth to present.
• Reflection and insight : The book should contain the author's reflections, insights, and emotions about key life events.
• Key life events : The book should highlight significant events, milestones, and challenges in the author's life.
• Setting and context : There should be descriptions of the time period, cultural background, and environment to help the reader understand the author’s life.
• Authenticity : The author should be honest and sincere in presenting their life story.
• A personal perspective : An autobiography is written from the author's unique point of view.
• A strong conclusion : The ending of the book should reflect on the author's current state or outlook.

Famous Autobiography Examples

Now that you know what an autobiography is, let’s look at some famous autobiography examples .

The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank (1947)

Perhaps no autobiography is more famous than The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank. Her diary chronicles her profound thoughts, dreams, and fears as she hides with her family in the walls during the Holocaust. 

Anne's words resonate with the enduring spirit of hope amid unimaginable darkness.

The Autobiography of Ben Franklin by Benjamin Franklin (1909)

Benjamin Franklin's autobiography follows Franklin’s life from humble origins to one of America's greatest forefathers. While originally intended as a collection of anecdotes for his son, this autobiography has become one of the most famous works of American literature. 

Long Walk to Freedom by Nelson Mandela (1994)

Long Walk to Freedom narrates Nelson Mandela's epic odyssey from South African prisoner to revered statesman. This masterpiece of an autobiography is a portrait of resilience against the backdrop of apartheid – and his words are a bastion for courage and human rights. 

Now you know what an autobiography is, and some examples of successful autobiographies, so it’s time to discuss what goes into actually writing one. 

Who Should Write an Autobiography?

Celebrity autobiographies are popular for a reason – the people who wrote them were already popular. 

The main purpose of an autobiography is to portray the life experiences and achievements of the author. If you haven’t made any massive achievements that people are already aware of, an autobiography might not be for you. Instead, you should learn how to write a memoir . 

After all, what’s an autobiography worth if no one reads it?

If you have made an important contribution to society, or have amassed a massive following of fans, then writing an autobiography could be a fabulous idea.

An autobiography is what allows you to claim your rightful place in history. It provides a legacy for your life, helps you to better understand your life’s journey, and can even be deeply therapeutic to write. 

But then comes the next problem: how to write an autobiography.

Tips on Writing Your Own Autobiography 

While memoirs are the books that teach life lessons, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t give your autobiography meaning. The best autobiographies paint a vivid tapestry of personal growth and introspection. 

You don’t just want to tell the reader about your life – you want them to feel like they are living it with you.

And it’s not just about painting a picture with your prose. A lot of thought should go into everything from autobiography titles to page count. To get started, here are five tips for writing an autobiography:

• Know your audience : Understand who will read your autobiography and speak to them while writing.
• Be candid and authentic : A life seen through rose-colored glasses isn’t relatable. You should include your failures as well as your triumphs, and humanize yourself so your story resonates with your reader.
• Do your research : Of course you know what happened in your life, but how many details do you actually remember? You may need to sift through photos, archives, and diaries – and interview people close to you. Consider adding the photos to your book. 
• Identify key themes : Identify key events and life lessons that have shaped you. Reflect on how these themes have evolved over time.
• Edit and edit again : Write freely first, then edit rigorously. Seek feedback from trusted individuals and consider professional editing to ensure clarity and coherence in your narrative. NO ONE writes perfectly the first time. 

So there you have it, you are well on your way to understanding (and writing) an autobiography. 

If you'd still like more guidance for writing your autobiography, you can check out our free autobiography template . We can’t wait for you to share your life story with the world. 

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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 .

Related Terms

• Frame Story
• Point of View

• Literary Terms
• Autobiography
• Definition & Examples
• When & How to Write Autobiography

I. What is Autobiography?

An autobiography is a self-written life story.

It is different from a  biography , which is the life story of a person written by someone else. Some people may have their life story written by another person because they don’t believe they can write well, but they are still considered an author because they are providing the information. Reading autobiographies may be more interesting than biographies because you are reading the thoughts of the person instead of someone else’s interpretation.

II. Examples of Autobiography

One of the United States’ forefathers wrote prolifically (that means a lot!) about news, life, and common sense. His readings, quotes, and advice are still used today, and his face is on the $100 bill. Benjamin Franklin’s good advice is still used through his sayings, such as “We are all born ignorant, but one must work hard to remain stupid.” He’s also the one who penned the saying that’s seen all over many schools: “Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.” His autobiography is full of his adventures , philosophy about life, and his wisdom. His autobiography shows us how much he valued education through his anecdotes (stories) of his constant attempts to learn and improve himself. He also covers his many ideas on his inventions and his thoughts as he worked with others in helping the United States become free from England.

III. Types of Autobiography

There are many types of autobiographies. Authors must decide what purpose they have for writing about their lives, and then they can choose the format that would best tell their story. Most of these types all share common goals: helping themselves face an issue by writing it down, helping others overcome similar events, or simply telling their story.

a. Full autobiography (traditional):

This would be the complete life story, starting from birth through childhood, young adulthood, and up to the present time at which the book is being written. Authors might choose this if their whole lives were very different from others and could be considered interesting.

There are many types of memoirs – place, time, philosophic (their theory on life), occupational, etc. A memoir is a snapshot of a person’s life. It focuses on one specific part that stands out as a learning experience or worth sharing.

c. Psychological illness

People who have suffered mental illness of any kind find it therapeutic to write down their thoughts. Therapists are specialists who listen to people’s problems and help them feel better, but many people find writing down their story is also helpful.

d. Confession

Just as people share a psychological illness, people who have done something very wrong may find it helps to write down and share their story. Sharing the story may make one feel he or she is making amends (making things right), or perhaps hopes that others will learn and avoid the same mistake.

e. Spiritual

Spiritual and religious experiences are very personal . However, many people feel that it’s their duty and honor to share these stories. They may hope to pull others into their beliefs or simply improve others’ lives.

f. Overcoming adversity

Unfortunately, many people do not have happy, shining lives. Terrible events such as robberies, assaults, kidnappings, murders, horrific accidents, and life-threatening illnesses are common in some lives. Sharing the story can inspire others while also helping the person express deep emotions to heal.

IV. The Importance of Autobiography

Autobiographies are an important part of history. Being able to read the person’s own ideas and life stories is getting the first-person story versus the third-person (he-said/she-said) version. In journalism, reporters go to the source to get an accurate account of an event. The same is true when it comes to life stories. Reading the story from a second or third source will not be as reliable. The writer may be incorrectly explaining and describing the person’s life events.

Autobiographies are also important because they allow other people in similar circumstances realize that they are not alone. They can be inspiring for those who are facing problems in their lives. For the author, writing the autobiography allows them to heal as they express their feelings and opinions. Autobiographies are also an important part of history.

V. Examples of Autobiography in Literature

A popular autobiography that has lasted almost 100 years is that of Helen Keller. Her life story has been made into numerous movies and plays. Her teacher, Anne Sullivan, has also had her life story written and televised multiple times. Students today still read and learn about this young girl who went blind and deaf at 19 months of age, causing her to also lose her ability to learn to speak. Sullivan’s entrance into Helen’s life when the girl was seven was the turning point. She learned braille and soon became an activist for helping blind and deaf people across the nation. She died in 1968, but her autobiography is still helping others.

Even in the days before my teacher came, I used to feel along the square stiff boxwood hedges, and, guided by the sense of smell, would find the first violets and lilies. There, too, after a fit of temper, I went to find comfort and to hide my hot face in the cool leaves and grass. What joy it was to lose myself in that garden of flowers, to wander happily from spot to spot, until, coming suddenly upon a beautiful vine, I recognized it by its leaves and blossoms, and knew it was the vine which covered the tumble-down summer-house at the farther end of the garden! (Keller).

An autobiography that many middle and high school students read every year is “Night” by Elie Wiesel. His story is also a memoir, covering his teen years as he and his family went from the comfort of their own home to being forced into a Jewish ghetto with other families, before ending up in a Nazi prison camp. His book is not that long, but the details and description he uses brings to life the horrors of Hitler’s reign of terror in Germany during World War II. Students also read “The Diary of Anne Frank,” another type of autobiography that shows a young Jewish girl’s daily life while hiding from the Nazis to her eventual capture and death in a German camp. Both books are meant to remind us to not be indifferent to the world’s suffering and to not allow hate to take over.

“The people were saying, “The Red Army is advancing with giant strides…Hitler will not be able to harm us, even if he wants to…” Yes, we even doubted his resolve to exterminate us. Annihilate an entire people? Wipe out a population dispersed throughout so many nations? So many millions of people! By what means? In the middle of the twentieth century! And thus my elders concerned themselves with all manner of things—strategy, diplomacy, politics, and Zionism—but not with their own fate. Even Moishe the Beadle had fallen silent. He was weary of talking. He would drift through synagogue or through the streets, hunched over, eyes cast down, avoiding people’s gaze. In those days it was still possible to buy emigration certificates to Palestine. I had asked my father to sell everything, to liquidate everything, and to leave” (Wiesel 8).  

VI. Examples of Autobiography in Pop Culture

One example of an autobiography that was a hit in the movie theaters is “American Sniper,” the story of Navy SEAL Chris Kyle. According to an article in the Dallas, Texas, magazine D, Kyle donated all the proceeds from the film to veterans and their families. He had a story to tell, and he used it to help others. His story is a memoir, focusing on a specific time period of his life when he was overseas in the military.

An autobiography by a young Olympian is “Grace, Gold and Glory: My Leap of Faith” by Gabrielle (Gabby) Douglas. She had a writer, Michelle Burford, help her in writing her autobiography. This is common for those who have a story to tell but may not have the words to express it well. Gabby was the darling of the 2012 Olympics, winning gold medals for the U.S. in gymnastics along with being the All-Around Gold Medal winner, the first African-American to do so. Many young athletes see her as an inspiration. Her story also became a television movie, “The Gabby Douglas Story.”

VII. Related Terms

The life story of one person written by another. The purpose may to be highlight an event or person in a way to help the public learn a lesson, feel inspired, or to realize that they are not alone in their circumstance. Biographies are also a way to share history. Historic and famous people may have their biographies written by many authors who research their lives years after they have died.

VIII. Conclusion

Autobiographies are a way for people to share stories that may educate, inform, persuade, or inspire others. Many people find writing their stories to be therapeutic, healing them beyond what any counseling might do or as a part of the counseling. Autobiographies are also a way to keep history alive by allowing people in the present learn about those who lived in the past. In the future, people can learn a lot about our present culture by reading autobiographies by people of today.

List of Terms

• Alliteration
• Amplification
• Anachronism
• Anthropomorphism
• Antonomasia
• APA Citation
• Aposiopesis
• Bildungsroman
• Characterization
• Circumlocution
• Cliffhanger
• Comic Relief
• Connotation
• Deus ex machina
• Deuteragonist
• Doppelganger
• Double Entendre
• Dramatic irony
• Equivocation
• Extended Metaphor
• Figures of Speech
• Flash-forward
• Foreshadowing
• Intertextuality
• Juxtaposition
• Literary Device
• Malapropism
• Onomatopoeia
• Parallelism
• Pathetic Fallacy
• Personification
• Point of View
• Polysyndeton
• Protagonist
• Red Herring
• Rhetorical Device
• Rhetorical Question
• Science Fiction
• Self-Fulfilling Prophecy
• Synesthesia
• Turning Point
• Understatement
• Urban Legend
• Verisimilitude
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Reference management. Clean and simple.

Is an autobiography a primary source?

An autobiography is a primary source. Authors of autobiographies are direct witnesses of the events and time described in the narration. Even though autobiographies are usually written after these events happened, they are still categorized as primary sources given the first-hand information, like letters or photographs, they provide.

➡️  What is a primary source?

➡️  What is a secondary source?

➡️  Is a letter a primary source?

For example, The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank documents her life in hiding from 1942 to 1944 and is one of the world’s most famous autobiographies. This book, although edited, provides direct evidence of Anne Frank's experiences and is, therefore, considered a primary source.

On the other hand, fictional autobiographies are not primary sources in the same sense as legitimate autobiographies. These would be secondary sources when compared to real autobiographies. However, if your research was about fictional biographies and the focus was on their literary interpretation, then they could be primary sources.

How to cite an autobiography

The citation style used will determine the exact citation format. This is how you would cite a 1993 edition of the Anne Frank autobiography in APA:

Frank, A. (1993). Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl (B. M. Mooyaart, Trans.). Bantam; Reissue edition.

Instead of worrying about the correct format of your citation in any given citation style, you can use a reference manager like Paperpile to automatically and correctly generate your citation for you.

Collect your sources and keep them tidily organized in your Paperpile library. Switch between thousands of citation styles and cite your references directly in Google Docs, Microsoft Word, and LaTeX:

Frequently Asked Questions about autobiographies as primary sources

No, an autobiography is a primary source. Authors of autobiographies are direct witnesses of the events and time described in the narration.

Yes, a Long Walk to Freedom by Nelson Mandela is a primary source.

Yes, The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin by Benjamin Franklin is a primary source.

Yes, the Story of My Experiments with Truth by Mahatma Gandhi is a primary source.

Yes, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou is a primary source.

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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 23 Apr. 2024.

Kids Definition

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Autobiography: A Very Short Introduction

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Throughout history, individuals have recorded their own lives and experiences. These personal writings provide an understanding of the ways in which lives have been lived, and the most fundamental accounts of what it means to be a self in the world. Autobiography: A Very Short Introduction defines what is meant by ‘autobiography’, and considers its relationship with similar literary forms such as memoirs, journals, letters, and diaries. Analysing the core themes in autobiographical writing, including confession, conversion, testimony, romanticism, and the journeying self, this VSI discusses the autobiographical consciousness (and the roles played by time, memory, and identity), and considers the relationship between psychoanalysis and autobiography. It also explores the themes of self-portraiture, photography, and performance.

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Libraries | Research Guides

Biographical information.

• Biographical Sources
• Searching for Biographical Sources in NUsearch

Biographical resources

• Online resources
• Print resources
• American National Biography This link opens in a new window There is no need to sign in at website to access this resource. Begin searching or browsing for articles. The American National Biography is the premier, authoritative, historical biographical encyclopedia for the United States. Over 18,700 men and women are included, and the resource is updated quarterly with new entries and revisions of previously published entries to enhance their accuracy and currency. Articles are by established scholars. Living individuals are not included.
• Oxford Dictionary of National Biography This link opens in a new window The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography provides biographies of over 50,000 individuals worldwide who have shaped the history of the British Isles. Access restricted to 3 simultaneous users at a time.
• Gale in Context: Biography This link opens in a new window Gale In Context: Biography is an engaging online experience for those seeking contextual information on the world's most influential people. Biography merges Gale's authoritative reference content with periodicals and multimedia organized into a user-friendly portal experience while allowing users to search for people based on name, occupation, nationality, ethnicity, birth/death dates and places, or gender as well as keyword and full text.
• Current Biography Illustrated This link opens in a new window Current Biography Illustrated contains profiles of individuals living at the time of publication, often at the height of, or even the beginning of, their fame or notoriety. Occasionally a revised biography will be published, and a brief obituary, but published biographies are never revised in light of later events, so a useful source for seeing how individuals were perceived at the time they were active. Illustrations for most individuals are included.
• Chambers Biographical Dictionary International and historical coverage of all areas of human achievement including the arts, science, technology, sport, politics, philosophy and business.
• World Biographical Information System WBIS This link opens in a new window Over 3.6 million short biographical entries for individuals who lived across the world from ancient times to the present. Includes full text images of the original sources, usually older biographical dictionaries. Especially valuable for locating information on hard-to-find individuals from the past.
• Almanac of American Politics Includes profiles of every member of Congress and every governor. It offers in-depth and completely up-to-date narrative profiles of all 50 states and 435 House districts.
• African American Biographical Database This link opens in a new window From July 1, 2023 AABD became a component of ProQuest Black Studies Center. Biographical sketches and essays on African Americans from 1790 to 1950. The Database corresponds to the printed Black Biographical Dictionaries. These sketches have been assembled from biographical dictionaries, yearbooks, directories, histories, personal accounts, and other published sources. The full text of 300 rare books is displayed and searchable in page images, intact with images and illustrations.
• Complete Dictionary of Scientific Biography Provides information on the history of science through articles on the professional lives of scientists. Covers all periods of science from classical antiquity to modern times.
• Gale Literature Resource Center This link opens in a new window Provides access to biographies, bibliographies, and critical analayses of authors from every age and literary discipline. Covers more than 120,000 novelists, essayist, poets, journalists, and other writers, with in-depth coverage of 2,500 of the most-studied authors. Includes links to: Dictionary of literary biography, Contemporary authors, Contemporary literary criticism, and more.
• Palgrave MacMillan Dictionary of Women’s Biography Biographical information about women: historical, current, and worldwide.

• Next: Searching for Biographical Sources in NUsearch >>
• Last Updated: Jul 7, 2023 1:49 PM
• URL: https://libguides.northwestern.edu/biographical

Primary vs. Secondary Sources: Primary vs. Secondary Sources

Primary sources.

Primary sources are materials that are eyewitness accounts or as close to the original source as possible.

Qualitative data:

• What people say. They are usually Speeches , Interviews and Conversations, and they may be captured in Videos, Audio Recordings, or transcribed into text.
• What people write.  These include Autobiographies, Memoirs, Personal Journals and Diaries, Letters, Emails, Blogs, Twitter Feeds and other forms of Social Media.
• Images and Videos.
• Government Documents-- U.S . and rest of the world.
• Laws, Court Cases and Decisions, Treaties.
• Newspapers.

Quantitative data:

• Statistics and Data .
• Polls and Public Opinions .

Please note that a book is simply a format.  You can find both primary and secondary sources published in book form.

Secondary Sources

Secondary sources are interpretations and analyses based on primary sources.

For example, an autobiography is a primary source while a biography is a secondary source.

Typical secondary sources include:

• Scholarly Journal Articles.  Use these and books exclusively for writing Literature Reviews.
• Encyclopedias.
• Dictionaries.
• Documentaries.

Please note that a book is simply a format.  You can find primary and secondary sources published in book form.

When Secondary Sources Become Primary Sources

Often secondary and primary sources are relative concepts.  Typical secondary sources may be primary sources depending on the research topic.

• Intellectual history topics. For example, although scholarly journal articles are usually considered secondary sources, if one's topic is the history of human rights, then journal articles on human rights will be primary sources in this instance.  Similarly, research on the thinking of a scholar will include her published journal articles as primary sources.  
• Historical topics. Magazine articles are secondary sources, but for someone researching the view of judicial punishment in the 1920s, magazines from that time period are primary sources.  Indeed, any older publication, such as those prior to the 20th century, is very often automatically considered a primary source.  
• Newspapers may be either primary or secondary. Most articles in newspapers are secondary, but reporters may be considered as witnesses to an event.  Any topic on the media coverage of an event or phenomenon would treat newspapers as a primary source.  There are so many articles and types of articles in newspapers that newspapers can often be considered either primary or secondary.
• Last Updated: Aug 11, 2023 3:44 PM
• URL: https://subjectguides.library.american.edu/primary

History and Literature: A Guide to Research Resources

• Finding Journal Articles
• English and American literary texts
• Romance language literary texts
• Periodicals
• Primary sources
• Finding Electronic Texts Online

Biographical sources

Biographical dictionaries.

• Literary Guides and Dictionaries
• Dissertations
• Citation Tools
• General Research Aids

American National Biography Online A standard source for U.S. historical biography with over 17,000 individual entries. The ANB Online is fully searchable and includes illustrations, cross-references, and links to external web sites.

African-American Biographical Database Includes biographies of thousands of African Americans from 1790-1950.

Oxford African American Studies Center Browse Biographies for full-text entries from an array of reference sources.

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography The electronic version of the new edition of the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography published in 2004, the sixty volumes of which include 50,000 biographies and some 10,000 images of deceased "men and women who have shaped all aspects of the British past." Enhancements available online include the ability to view articles from the earlier edition of the DNB; a "Themes" section that provides access to "reference lists" of individuals who have held particular offices (e.g., Archbishops of Canterbury) and to essays on various topics (e.g., The General Election of 1964: Forty Years On), and links to relevant web sites.

Biography and Genealogy Master Index The best place to begin a search for biographical information in printed sources, indexing 13.5 million references in almost 3,000 biographical dictionaries and reference works. World Biographical Information System Provides brief identifying information, primarily on pre-20th century figures, but includes contemporary figures as well, with references to entries in biographical dictionaries, many of which are reproduced full-text, on-line. Others are reproduced on microfiche available in the Widener Reference Room. Many of these sources are also in the Widener stacks in their original paper format.

Many countries have major, standard biographical dictionaries.  You can search for them in HOLLIS with  keywords such as Africa biography dictionaries .  Here are some examples:

• Deutsche biographische Enzyklopädie by (DBE) / herausgegeben von Walther Killy ; unter Mitarbeit von Dietrich von Engelhardt ... [et al.]. Call Number: Widener RR 1786.5
• Dictionnaire de biographie française by sous la direction de J. Balteau ... M. Barroux ... M. Prévost ... avec le concours de nombreux collaborateurs ... Call Number: Widener RR 1771.4
• Dizionario biografico degli Italiani by [direttore, Alberto M. Ghisalberti]. Call Number: Widener RR 1781.5
• << Previous: Finding Electronic Texts Online
• Next: Literary Guides and Dictionaries >>
• Last Updated: Jan 24, 2023 4:11 PM
• URL: https://guides.library.harvard.edu/HistLit

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What is an Autobiography?

• Updated on  
• Sep 6, 2021

Are you fond of writing? Then, you might have considered writing an autobiography at some point in your writing journey. An autobiography is a firsthand account of the author’s own life that provides readers with an unparalleled degree of intimacy. Read the full blog to know how to write an autobiography, the difference between an autobiography and a biography, and look at some outstanding examples of autobiographies that everyone must read at least once in their lives.

This Blog Includes:

Autobiography vs. biography vs. memoir, what to include in an autobiography, place your story order, speak in the first person, define your characters, getting the facts right, the little elements, famous autobiographies to read, important tips on writing an autobiography, what is the appropriate length for an autobiography, how to write a short autobiography.

An autobiography is a non-fiction account of a person’s life written from their own perspective by the subject. Autobiographies are a subgenre of biographies, however, unlike a standard biography, which is usually written by someone other than the subject, an autobiography is written by the subject himself/herself. Autobiographies are personal stories written by individuals about themselves. These can be true accounts of noteworthy, unique, or dramatic events. They might be tributes to famous , interesting or inspiring people in society. 

Autobiographie, biographies and memoirs are frequently available in almost every library or bookshop we visit. As a result, the readers are always confused about the difference between each of them. However, we are here to inform you that they are not the same. 

You are not alone in scratching your head, unsure of what to put in your autobiography. After all, knowing what to include and exclude from your life narrative is an important aspect of how to write an autobiography. Do you pay attention to every detail? Is it true that everyone just wants to read long stories? Isn’t it possible that your autobiography will be too long?

The Movie Trailer Method is an excellent approach to think about how to write an autobiography. Focus on what would make the cut for a movie trailer of your life when deciding what to include in your autobiography:

• People with the most influence (like family, friends, mentors, coaches, etc.)
• Important events (like your origin story, vacations, graduations, life turning points, life lessons)
• Moments of emotion (When you were homeless, when you battled a life-threatening condition, or when you fell in love)
• Suspense or drama? (Did you get accepted to Harvard ? Was your first operation a success?)

How to Start Writing Your Autobiography?

It is crucial to consider the critical aspects of an autobiography while writing one since you want a story that is not only representative of your life, but also simple to read and engaging enough that the reader will not want to put the book down. So, what should you include on your list? Here is how you may start your autobiography:

While it may be tempting to repeat a tale in the order in which you remember it, bouncing back and forth in time can be extremely confusing. It’s possible that your ideas may come out jumbled when you start pulling them out, but you must put them in the right chronological sequence. Try to keep it in order, whether you’re starting from childhood – which is the most common starting point – or having a more focused picture of a certain era of your adult life.

People expect an autobiography to be written in the first person since it is about you. When discussing events, you might use ‘I,’ ‘Me,’ or ‘Mine,’ rather than she or he. If you’re sharing a story about a key person in your life, you’ll naturally refer to them as he or she.

Even if this is a non-fiction work, it is still important for the viewer to grasp how you fit into your family and who the people around you are. You’ll need to remember the events as well as bring your characters to life. Make sure to include essential facts about a character’s personality and how they contributed to your tale.

It’s critical to build your location in order to help the audience understand who shared your trip and how they influenced what occurred to you. Where were you while all of this was going on? From major information such as where you were born or raised to minor ones such as the mouth-watering and nostalgic aroma of the Sunday roast cooking in the kitchen as you were playing with your siblings.

When discussing how to write an autobiography, it’s occasionally the tiny details that make work come alive. Telling spontaneous stories is very appropriate. Include them if they are part of your recollection and history. People aren’t simply interested in reading about important events, rather they want to learn about the individuals and what they did. Who they are, what makes them tick; and don’t be afraid to relate a tale about your background, even if you think it’s trivial. Include it if you believe it is relevant.

Here is an exciting list of some of the best-written autobiographies written by famous writers from around the world: 

• The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin by Benjamin Franklin
• Long Walk to Freedom by Nelson Mandela
• The Story of My Experiments with Truth by Mahatma Gandhi
• The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank
• Chronicles, Vol 1 by Bob Dylan
• I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
• Agatha Christie: An Autobiography by Agatha Christie
• Open: An Autobiography by Andre Agassi
• On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King
• A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway

Keep the following pro tips in mind now that you’re set and ready to write your draft copy:

• Allow yourself to be vulnerable. The finest autobiographies are full of defects, weaknesses, quirks, and missteps. Allow your readers to see the genuine ‘you’.
• Skip the sections that are boring. There’s no need to go into great detail about every meal, vehicle ride, or a tense trip to the supermarket. 
• Keep your autobiography focused on the characters. 
• Remember that this is YOUR tale to tell!
• Be (or don’t be) nice to others. Keep in mind that there may be consequences or reactions if you write about people in your narrative.
• Consider a theme to follow ! Many autobiographies are divided into sections based on a common theme. Themes run throughout the autobiography, connecting and uplifting each section.
• Create snippets for your tale (or vignette). Each vignette is a standalone tale with a beginning, middle, and conclusion. Each story builds on the previous one. Instead of informing the reader about the experience, each vignette should be presented in rich sensory language that shows the reader the experience. 
• Pick a tone! Your narrative (like most stories) will most likely contain a range of emotions, but pick one and stay with it.
• Engage the readers! Always consider how you might make each part, chapter, page, paragraph, and phrase more engaging. You want to speak the truth, but it’s up to you how you say it. Suspense, tension, and mystery should all be present. Allow drama to fester until it becomes unbearable. Don’t try to fix problems or relieve tension straight away.

There are no hard and fast rules about how long an autobiography should be, but a good starting point is between 200 and 400 pages. This can help you get your book officially published or promote your self-published book by keeping it in line with what most people expect from novels in general.

A short autobiography is written in the same way as a large autobiography. You just leave out more information from the narrative. You reduced everything down to the bare necessities. Alternatively, you might pick a segment of your life, like in a memoir. This usually entails minimizing the number of characters in your book, lowering the number of events and experiences, and compressing your tale to just a few key times in your life.

We hope you understood all about Autobiography! Connect with Leverage Edu today, our trained experts will help you in choosing the right university and will guide you through the application process. 

Team Leverage Edu

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What Does It Mean to Keep Kosher for Passover When You’re Recovering from an Eating Disorder?

By Emma Specter

I’ve always loved Passover. Okay, not always; my three-quarters Jewish, mostly atheist family and I didn’t throw seders when I was growing up. But ever since college, I’ve been coming together with friends to read the Haggadah (albeit one with a queer, feminist, decidedly modern bent), break matzah apart, dip parsley in salt water, ask the Four Questions, and cheer on the youngest at the table as they found the afikomen. When Bernie Sanders dropped out of the 2020 presidential race on the first night of Passover, I quietly mourned, imagining what it would have been like to see someone in the White House sharing in these ancient traditions, and not just for PR points.

A major component of Passover, I learned as I grew up and graduated and made more Jewish friends—some, raised much more observant than I was—is the ritual of keeping kosher throughout the festival’s eight nights. Leavened bread is verboten, which basically means pasta, cereal, pancakes, cookies—or “carbs,” as I learned to think of these foods in middle school, when the specter diet culture first taught me to eschew them—are off-limits. I can’t help but think of the frustration that chef and author Gabrielle Hamilton recounts in her 2011 memoir, Blood, Bones & Butter , upon taking a job cooking at a summer camp and finding out that many of the girls were “eight years old and already weird about wanting a piece of bread.” I felt that frustration myself, knowing it was the epitome of bullshit to deny myself the foods I loved, but feeling too seduced by the mirage of thinness to live any other way.

Anxious partial Jew that I am, I’m always looking for ways to “confirm” that I’m doing things correctly on Jewish holidays. (Seriously, just ask me about my challah game .) But as someone who has struggled with disordered eating—and, specifically, binge eating disorder —for over a decade, I’ve always known that cutting out any food, even just for a week, and for spiritual reasons, would likely lead me right back to the worlds of bingeing, compensatory calorie-counting, and obsessive exercising I’d worked so, so hard to leave behind me.

All that changed this year, probably because my relationship with my faith has changed. Even as I mourn the violence in Gaza, the ongoing Israel–Hamas war has made me feel more connected to my Jewish faith than ever. I want to yoke myself more tightly to its traditions, if only to remind myself (and the loved ones I observe Passover with) that Judaism encompasses far more than any country or ideology or military ever could. I’m no longer comfortable with my connection to the Jewish faith being merely “cultural”; I want to observe some of the customs my ancestors did, like fasting or keeping kosher on specific holidays, to tether myself to what it means to be an active, open-eyed Jew in this world, one who learns from the pain of the past while also fighting for a liberated future.

By Leah Faye Cooper

By Christian Allaire

By Juan A. Ramírez

I woke up on Monday, the first night of Passover, thinking about food, as I so often do. Unlike five years ago, when I might have begun the day calculating the calorie content of the banana and black coffee I’d allow myself for breakfast, now I menu-plan from bed with abandon, often going into the kitchen to whip up a stack of pancakes or pour myself a bowl of the full-fat cereal I never used to buy from the grocery store. On Monday, toast with almond butter sounded appealing before I remembered the bread was off-limited. So, I made a green smoothie instead before heading off to Pilates, knowing that I was enacting virtually every Los Angeles cliché known to man but not really caring.

In the middle of my Pilates class, however, something shifted. I’d gulped down my protein-rich smoothie before getting on my Reformer, knowing that I would need the sustenance, but my legs and arms soon started shaking when I held them up in the class’s guided poses. I’d seen this before, back in the days when I used to eat one RX Bar and then beeline to barre classes I couldn’t afford to attempt to work off the paltry “carb content.” I was always shaky and nauseous and pale in class, watching the lithe beauties around me do everything perfectly as I tried to ignore how, well, hungry I was. Now I’m healthy enough to know how to deal with that hunger—I immediately went home from class and made myself a huge, delicious bowl of fried rice—but when I was in the grips of my eating disorder, faintness and frailty were…well, not the goal , necessarily, but certainly acceptable side effects of my quest for thinness.

As relatively healed as I feel right now, I won’t lie; the moment freaked me out a little. I knew the reasons behind my hunger weren’t the same, but I was still edgy the rest of the day, annoyed at my body for “keeping the score,” as bodies are wont to do, while I tried to keep kosher. Was it possible that I would I backslide into an ED mindset—or even a full binge-eating episode—if I kept playing games with my food, even if those “games” were quite literally handed down by the Torah?

When I sat down to seder at my friend Sophie‘s house that night, though, the discomfort of the day melted away. I was surrounded by Jews and what my married-to-a-Jewish-woman goyische friend calls “Jewish culture appreciators,” and as we sang, cried, ate, laughed, and spread hearty helpings of Irish butter on Sophie’s dad’s perfectly charred homemade matzoh, I was reminded that fasting or keeping kosher wasn’t about isolating myself, as my eating disorder had forced me to do. It was instead about sharing something small and essential in common with your mishpocha , a term I’ve come to understand as “large, loud, blended family.”

I don’t know if I’ll keep kosher next Passover, or fast next Yom Kippur, but I want to, if only to feel closer to my lineage and offer something (however small) in sacrifice for the joy and love and chaos of my adult life. If I don’t, though, I know it’s also okay, because I alone write the rules of my spiritual life and identity. If I want to skip the fast for my mental and physical health, or eat trayf , or occasionally work on Shabbat (okay, I’m trying to quit this one), or support the students organizing for a free Palestine around the country, the God I choose to believe in won’t cast me out for it, so long as I show up for the community around me and do my best to learn more each year about my Jewish faith than I did at the preceding year’s seder table. To borrow a phrase from my Borscht Belt-adjacent forebears: “Good enough, right?”

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Nusrat Imrose Tisha, Mostofa Sarwar Farooki’s ‘Something Like an Autobiography’ Sets Channel 4 Deal (EXCLUSIVE)

By Naman Ramachandran

Naman Ramachandran

• ‘Homeland’s’ David Harewood Clarifies ‘I Don’t Support or Condone Blackface’ After Interview Comments: ‘It Is a Grotesque Distortion of Race and Should Always Be Condemned’ 12 hours ago
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Bangladeshi filmmakers  Mostofa Sarwar Farooki  and  Nusrat Imrose Tisha ‘s “Something Like an Autobiography” has been acquired for U.K. broadcast by Channel 4 .

The film had its world premiere at the 2023 Busan International Film Festival, where was in the prestigious Jiseok competition. It was also a part of the South Asian icon strand at the 2023 Mumbai Film Festival.

Popular on Variety

The title, a nod to Kurosawa Akira’s celebrated memoir, is also reflective of the real lives of Farooki and Tisha, a real-life celebrity couple who are the most recognized filmmaker and actor in Bangladesh, respectively.

“This is a special film for me and Tisha. Personal, embarrassing and rewarding at the same time. I am happy the film will be seen by the Channel 4 audience. Hope they will be able to connect with the universal theme although portrayed through local details,” Farooki told Variety .

The film is produced by Redoan Rony for Bangladeshi streaming platform Chorki and co-produced by Nina Lath, Anna Katchko and Tisha. It is a part of Chorki’s 12-film project “Ministry of Love.”

Chorki CEO Rony said: “Channel 4 is an esteemed broadcaster. We are glad that they chose our film to showcase it to their audience. Chorki always wants to make quality films and series. This is a clear sign we are moving in the right direction.”

“Something Like an Autobiography” plays next at the Sydney Film Festival.

Farooki’s “Last Defenders of Monogamy” is also part of the “Ministry of Love” anthology.

Next up for Farooki is U.K.-based Hindi and English-language romance “To Hell With Love,” which recently participated in the first edition of India’s Cinevesture International Film Festival’s project market.

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Hamas terrorism and US antisemitism cast shadow over Passover for American Jews

A society that turns the other cheek in the face of those who persecute jews, because they are jews, will ultimately lose their freedoms for all..

Jews will gather Monday for the  Passover Seder as we have for centuries. Children are taught to ask four questions with the opening, “Why is this night different from all other nights?” But this year, there is a fifth question American Jewish families will ask at their Seder table: “What is our place today in America?”

This year, Jews will celebrate Passover in the shadow of Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel − the bloodiest day for Jews since the Holocaust − and amid the largest surge in antisemitism ever in the United States.

As we celebrate our freedom from Egypt, we will think about the Jews who are hostages in Gaza, taken captive solely because they are Jews. We will cry as we retell the biblical-era atrocities against our ancestors that rhyme with the brutality of our present-day foes.

For American Jews, our current anxiety is not only out of concern for our Israeli brothers and sisters. It also is because we are shocked by those who have taken to the streets to praise Hamas and denounce Jews. 

Unprecedented “protests” have been mounted outside synagogues , and Jewish-owned businesses have been vandalized . And of course, there is the over-the-top animus on university campuses , where Jewish students and faculty are harassed and threatened without consequence to the perpetrators.

Our shared humanity: My students rioted after I said, 'I stand with Israel.' Here's how we came together after.

New questions will be asked at this year's Passover Seder

In this context, in this moment,  every  American Jewish family will ask at their Seder table: “Is the golden age of American Jewry over?” A teenager will turn to a grandparent and ask: “Are we watching a replay of 1930s Germany here?”

These questions will be asked by Orthodox Jews, who are acutely tuned to the patterns of Jewish history, which tells of “golden ages” that have come and gone for centuries.

And these questions will be asked by liberal Jews, who might have reservations about how Israel has prosecuted its war against Hamas but have even greater reservations about their erstwhile friends and colleagues siding with Hamas.

These Jews have fought on the front lines of many progressive causes − for racial, economic, women’s, LGBTQ+ and other rights. Now, they find themselves abandoned by alleged allies when it was time to stand against Jews being victims of rape and murder.

We thought our son was alive. Release Hamas hostages and spare others our pain.

While the Haggadah provides answers to the four traditional Passover questions, it leaves this question of this moment unanswered. That answer will depend on the American people and how we, collectively, right our course and respond to this decisive moment in American Jewish history.

But the Passover story makes one thing clear: In the age-old fight between good and evil, good will triumph.

There’s a reason the Passover Seder is the most observed Jewish ritual across the full spectrum of Jews. It holds a message of promise that the Jewish people will endure in the face of unimaginable evil. Great empires − Greek, Roman, Ottoman and British − have come and gone, but we Jews remain.

Non-Jews gravitate toward the Passover story for the same reason. Indeed, Exodus makes a frequent cameo in America’s founding story. In 1776, Ben Franklin proposed  a national seal with the image of “Moses standing on the shore, and extending his hand over the sea” with the motto “Rebellion to Tyrants is Obedience to God.”

From the abolitionist era to the Civil Rights Movement, the idea of people being delivered from servitude to freedom captured the American imagination.

Americans can stand with Jews against evil and tyranny

Today, Americans have an opportunity to side with good and freedom over evil and tyranny. A society that turns the other cheek in the face of those who persecute Jews, because they are Jews, will ultimately lose their freedoms for all.

From university administrators to the White House to the average man on the street, this is a decisive moment for all of us. Our choice as a country will not only determine what happens to the Jewish people, but what happens to the American people as well.

Nathan J. Diament is executive director of Public Policy for the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America .

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April’s Pink Moon: When to see it? Origins and spiritual meaning explained

April's so-called pink moon is nigh. here's what it means and how it offers you optimal conditions to become the best version of yourself..

As one of the most prominent celestial events of the year, the Pink Moon is almost here. Despite its name, the lunar marvel - the second full moon of the spring - isn’t actually pink-tinted. The April full moon will rise today, i.e. on Tuesday, and will be visible until Thursday. The overall fourth full moon of the year marks the beginning of the Jewish holiday Passover, lending the event another name - Passover Moon.

This year's first full moon of April is positioned in the Scorpio constellation, a water sign associated with intimacy, self-empowerment, vulnerability, rebirth and sexuality. The April 23 full moon is all about the renewal of energy.

Here's what we know about the Pink Moon.

When is the 2024 Pink Moon?

This year's celestial event isn't merely relegated to the focus on the Moon. Other celestial bodies like Mars, Saturn and Mercury will also be visible.

According to NASA , it will reach peak illumination at 7:49 pm EDT on April 23 but will be visible all through Thursday morning. Other names of the event refer to it as the Sprouting Grass Moon, Egg Moon, Fish Moon, the Pesach or Passover Moon, the Hanuman Jayanti Festival Moon, and Bak Poya - all names seeking inspiration from various cultures.

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Additionally, the Christian ecclesiastical calendar also refers to the first full moon after the spring equinox as the Paschal Moon, which helps determine the date of Easter. This means Easter follows on the Sunday after the Paschal Moon/Easter Moon. While for 2024, Easter already occurred on March 24, sometimes the April full moon also secures that title.

Why is it called the Pink Moon?

NASA notes that in the 1930s, the Maine Farmers' Almanac started publishing Native American names for each month's moon.

Following this almanac's trend, the April full Moon became the Pink Moon because the tribes of the northeastern United States called it that. Their decision was inspired by the wildflower herb moss pink/ creeping phlox/ moss phlox/ mountain phlox - an eastern USA native that is one of the earliest to bloom in spring. It has pink petals.

Pink Moon spiritual meaning

As the Pink Moon is positioned in Scorpio, all previously mentioned energies associated with it get amplified collectively. Representing renewal, it also accentuates a period of self-discovery, making it the perfect time to discard old and redundant habits that serve you nothing positive.

Also read | Alec Baldwin slaps anti-Israel protester's phone on being hounded to say ‘Free Palestine’ in coffee shop

The Scorpio energy is directly entangled with the aspect of maximising everything. Therefore, it becomes the perfect time to let go of old patterns, negativity and qualms about anything. It offers the best period to use everything at your disposal for personal spiritual growth.

Moreover, the Moon's pink colour also supposedly symbolises healing, love, and a time to invest in positivity, intimacy and compassion.

After the Pink Moon sighting, the Aquariids meteor shower is expected to peak on May 5 afternoon. April 29 will serve as the last evening Jupiter will be above the west-northwestern horizon. Other moon positions include waxing, which will be pass by Pollux on May 12, Regulus on May 15, and Spica on May 19.

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Dismissed Trump Jurors Describe Intense Days in a Glaring Spotlight

Two prospective jurors who were excused contacted The New York Times to describe their experience in the fraught environment of an unprecedented trial.

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By Maggie Haberman

• Published April 21, 2024 Updated April 23, 2024

Follow our live coverage of Trump’s hush money trial in Manhattan.

The two Manhattan residents were led into the courtroom to fulfill a foundational civic duty: to be interviewed as prospective jurors.

But in the room when they arrived was a defendant, Donald J. Trump, unlike any in American history.

Both would-be jurors, a man and a woman, were eventually excused. But the experience thrust them into the spotlight in a way they never had imagined.

One was challenged by Mr. Trump’s lawyers over his past social media posts relating to the former president. The other has a medical practice that she could not shut for six weeks while serving on the jury.

While they were not chosen as jurors, their experiences illustrate the intensity of the attention focused on Mr. Trump’s trial — and on the first jury to ever weigh the fate of a former United States president in a criminal proceeding.

Both contacted The New York Times only after they were excused from serving. Though the court’s rules protecting prospective jurors’ identities end when they are dismissed from serving, The Times is withholding their names and most identifying characteristics about them.

Like the other prospective jurors who were considered, both included detailed personal information on the juror questionnaires they filled out, including where they work.

They were made to answer those questions by speaking into a microphone in open court; soon, both were blindsided as details of their lives ricocheted around the internet. They said they were frustrated that so much attention was devoted to prospective jurors and ascertaining information about them.

While they later learned that the judge in the case, Justice Juan M. Merchan, had ordered the redaction of some of the information jurors were ordered to reveal publicly, they felt that he had acted too late. As with many things connected to the trial, the rhythms and even some of the parameters are being written in real time.

Their experiences mirrored some that other prospective jurors who were dismissed have described. One, a man who gave his name as Mark to NBC News, said he had “satirized Mr. Trump often in my artwork,” and because of that, he had expected not to be chosen.

A woman who gave her name as Kara, who said the nature of her job made serving extremely difficult, told NBC News that she realized the gravity of serving on any criminal jury, but particularly this one.

Seeing Mr. Trump in person, she said, was “very jarring.” He was, she realized, just “another guy.”

One of the prospective jurors who spoke with The Times, the man, did not immediately realize what case he was involved in when he was led into the courtroom on the 15th floor of the Manhattan criminal courthouse. The woman had a sense a week earlier, having read a news story about the trial beginning the week she was supposed to respond to a juror summons.

The man, sitting a few rows behind the prosecutors’ table when the two were part of the first panel of 96 prospective jurors brought into the courtroom Monday afternoon, felt a sense of calm about five minutes into being there. Trump was simply a defendant, he thought. It was a business-records trial. Prosecutors were on one side, the defense lawyers on the other.

The woman was struck by the fact that Mr. Trump stood and waved to prospective jurors, she said, as he and his lawyers were introduced to the group. It felt more to her like the behavior of a campaigning candidate than of a criminal defendant. (Mr. Trump, of course, is both.)

Both were put off by efforts by Mr. Trump’s lead lawyer, Todd Blanche, to assess prospective jurors’ views of Mr. Trump. The man said Mr. Blanche seemed “folksy” in a way he found disingenuous, while the woman was sharper, describing a “witch hunt” to root out people sympathetic to Democrats on the panel — a phrase Mr. Trump uses often to criticize the various prosecutors investigating his conduct.

The man in particular was frustrated that he was asked about past social media posts in which he had been critical of Mr. Trump, which Mr. Blanche’s team raised and which Justice Merchan ultimately agreed meant the man should be excused.

The man believed he could have been fair and resented the implication that he could not have been. Both he and the woman, who said they believed in the system of jury service, noted that they had begun the day taking sworn oaths vowing to render a fair and impartial judgment on the evidence. The man believed his own views — especially views from years ago — had no bearing on his ability to judge the evidence. If anything, he said, he would have been hyper-conscious in doing so.

Both had realized the magnitude of what serving on that jury would mean.

But they were also conscious of the threats and blowback that could come with weighing evidence against Mr. Trump — particularly with their personal details traceable in public. And both had concerns about being chosen because of that; the man in particular said his spouse had been worried.

Both would have valued being part of the historic trial. But both also had a sense of relief that they were not picked.

Maggie Haberman is a senior political correspondent reporting on the 2024 presidential campaign, down ballot races across the country and the investigations into former President Donald J. Trump. More about Maggie Haberman

Our Coverage of the Trump Hush-Money Trial

News and Analysis

Manhattan prosecutors delivered a raw recounting of Donald Trump’s seamy past  as they debuted their case  against him, reducing the former president to a co-conspirator in a plot to cover up three sex scandals that threatened his 2016 election win. Here are five takeaways .

Trump has assembled a team of defense lawyers with extensive experience representing people charged with white-collar crimes to defend him. Here’s a look at his defense team .

With support from demonstrators in Lower Manhattan spotty so far, Donald Trump issued a call to “rally behind MAGA,”  and suggested the poor turnout was a result of a plot against his supporters.

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Key Inquiries: Trump faces several investigations  at both the state and the federal levels, into matters related to his business and political careers.

Case Tracker:  Keep track of the developments in the criminal cases  involving the former president.

What if Trump Is Convicted?: Could he go to prison ? And will any of the proceedings hinder Trump’s presidential campaign? Here is what we know , and what we don’t know .

Trump on Trial Newsletter: Sign up here  to get the latest news and analysis  on the cases in New York, Florida, Georgia and Washington, D.C.

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A bitcoin halving is imminent. Here's what that means.

By Aimee Picchi

Edited By Anne Marie Lee

Updated on: April 19, 2024 / 4:50 PM EDT / CBS News

Bitcoin is expected to go through a "halving" within the next day or two, a preprogrammed event that could impact production of the world's largest cryptocurrency. 

A halving, which occurs about every four years, was designed by bitcoin's creator,  Satoshi Nakamoto , to effectively reduce by half the reward that miners of the digital token receive. The idea is that by cutting in half the amount bitcoin miners currently make for their efforts, fewer bitcoins will enter the market, creating more scarcity of the cryptocurrency.

That's sparked some speculation that the halving could cause a surge in demand and push up the price of bitcoin, which has already risen almost 50% since year start. Much of the credit for bitcoin's recent rally is given to the early success of a new way to invest in the asset —  spot bitcoin ETFs, which were only approved by U.S. regulators in January. 

Here's what to know about bitcoin's "halving."

What exactly is bitcoin "halving"?

Bitcoin miners get a fixed reward when they successfully validate a new block on the bitcoin blockchain. That reward is currently 6.25 bitcoin, worth about $402,000, based on today's trading price for the token. 

After the halving, miners will receive 3.125 bitcoin for achieving the same goal. As a result, the rate at which new bitcoins enter the market should also fall, slowing the supply of coins. According to limits set by Satoshi Nakamoto, only a maximum of 21 million bitcoins will ever exist, of which more than 19.5 million have already been mined, leaving fewer than 1.5 million left to be created.

When was the last bitcoin halving?

The last such event happened in May 2020, when bitcoin's price stood at around $8,602, according to CoinMarketCap. 

By May 2021, the value of bitcoin had surged almost seven-fold to almost $57,000. 

When will the next halving occur? 

Halving is scheduled to occur regularly after the creation of every 210,000 "blocks" — where transactions are recorded — during the mining process, that are added to the blockchain.

While there aren't any set calendar dates for this to occur, it generally works out to roughly once every four years. The latest estimates expect the next halving to occur sometime late Friday or early Saturday.

What do expert say could happen with bitcoin's price after the next halving?

Some believe that it will be a non-event for bitcoin's price because the cryptocurrency has already experienced a big run-up this year.

"Investors, traders and speculators priced-in the halving months ago," said Nigel Green, the CEO of financial services firm deVere Group, in an email. "As a result, a significant portion of the positive economic impact was experienced previously, driving up prices to fresh all-time highs last month."

Still, others say that bitcoin could get a bump, at least longer-term. Growing demand due to the new ETFs, combined with the supply shock of the next halving, could help push bitcoin's price even higher, said Bitwise senior crypto research analyst Ryan Rasmussen.

"We would expect the price of bitcoin to have a strong performance over the next 12 months," he said. Rasmussen notes that he's seen some predict gains reaching as high as $400,000, but the more "consensus estimate" is closer to the $100,000-$175,000 range.

What is the halving's impact on bitcoin miners?

Miners will likely be pressed to become more energy efficient, or may need to raise new capital, experts said. 

In its recent research report, Bitwise found that total miner revenue slumped one month after each of the three previous halvings. But those figures had rebounded significantly after a full year, thanks to spikes in the price of bitcoin as well as larger miners expanding their operations.

Time will tell how mining companies fare following this next looming halving. But Rasmussen is betting that big players will continue to expand and utilize the industry's technology advances to make operations more efficient.

—With reporting by the Associated Press.

Aimee Picchi is the associate managing editor for CBS MoneyWatch, where she covers business and personal finance. She previously worked at Bloomberg News and has written for national news outlets including USA Today and Consumer Reports.

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Taylor swift details meaning behind ‘the tortured poets department’ songs.

Swift offered a track-by-track experience for "Fortnight," "Florida!!!," "Who's Afraid of Little Old Me?," "My Boy Only Breaks His Favorite Toys" and "Clara Bow."

By Lexy Perez

Associate Editor

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Taylor Swift is breaking down the meaning of some of her new songs.

New on Amazon Music, Swift offers a track-by-track experience of some of the songs featured on her newly released album The Tortured Poets Department . Through the playlist experience, the singer revealed the inspiration behind songs “Fortnight” featuring Post Malone, “Florida!!!” with Florence + the Machine, “Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me?,” “My Boy Only Breaks His Favorite Toys” and “Clara Bow.”

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“This period of the author’s life is now over, the chapter closed and boarded up,” she continued. “There is nothing to avenge, no scores to settle once wounds have healed. And upon further reflection, a good number of them turned out to be self-inflicted. This writer is of the firm belief that our tears become holy in the form of ink on a page. Once we have spoken our saddest story, we can be free of it. And then all that’s left behind is the tortured poetry.”

Swift later surprised fans by releasing a secret “double album” expansion of  The Tortured Poets Department  with 15 extra songs. “It’s a 2am surprise:  The Tortured Poets Department  is a secret DOUBLE album,” Swift wrote on Instagram. “I’d written so much tortured poetry in the past 2 years and wanted to share it all with you, so here’s the second installment of  TTPD: The Anthology . 15 extra songs. And now the story isn’t mine anymore… it’s all yours.”

Below is what Swift had to say.

“Fortnight”

When announcing the song as the first single from the album, Swift explained her adoration for Post Malone, writing on Instagram  alongside a photo with him: “I’ve been such a huge fan of Post because of the writer he is, his musical experimentation and those melodies he creates that just stick in your head forever. I got to witness that magic come to life firsthand when we worked together on ‘Fortnight.'”

“My Boy Only Breaks His Favorite Toys”

“It’s a metaphor from the perspective of a child’s toy, being somebody’s favorite toy until they break you and then don’t want to play with you anymore. Which is how a lot of us are in relationships where we are so valued by a person in the beginning, and then all of the sudden, they break us or they devalue us in their mind. We’re still clinging on to ‘No no, no. You should’ve seen them the first time they saw me. They’ll come back to that. They’ll get back to that.’ So it’s kind of like a song about denial really so that you could live in this world where there’s still hope for a toxic, broken relationship.”

“Florida!!!”

“I think I was coming up with this idea of what happens when your life doesn’t fit or the choices you’ve made catch up to you and you’re surrounded by these harsh consequences and judgment and circumstances did not lead you to where you thought you would be? And you just want to escape from everything you’ve ever known. Is there a place you could go?” Swift explained.

“Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me?”

“So being in the public eye since I was a young teenager, there’s a lot that that does to your perception of the world, your perception of yourself. The idea that the world has this sense of ownership and not just a right but they feel they have a responsibility to judge you and critique you and to weigh in and that can really toy with you,” Swift said. She said the song was one she wrote alone at the piano “in one of those moments when I felt sort of bitter about all the things we do to our artists as a society and as a culture” which, she said, is concept explored on the album. She added, “What do we do to our writers, and our artists, and our creatives? We put them through hell. We watch what they create, then we judge it. We love to watch artists in pain, often to the point where I think sometimes as a society we provoke that pain and we just watch what happens.”

She said at times she can feel like she’s a “witch in a haunted house” when she’s unable to cope using her normal coping mechanisms. “This song was just a very very true way that I feel sometimes and it’s always good when you can be honest about those things.”

“Clara Bow”

Physical copies of the new album also reportedly include  a handwritten poem Stevie Nicks wrote  for Swift, featured on the LP gatefolds or CD booklets. The poem’s header reads, “For T — and me…” and throughout the poem, Nicks seemingly sets the stage for songs about heartbreak.

“He was in love with her/ Or at least she thought so/ She was brokenhearted/ Maybe he was too/ Neither of them knew. She was way too hot to handle/ He was way too high to try —/ He couldn’t even see her/ He wouldn’t open his eyes/ She was on her way to the stars/ He didn’t say goodbye,” the poem reads.

Listen to the track-by-track experience on Amazon Music  here .

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