Biography is the story of someones life as told by someone else.

The features and functions of

a biography are about a persons life, character, temperament, his social situation, his
experiences and things he did. It is about famous people. It is written by someone else to give
information about those famous people. Autobiography is the story of ones life as told by ones.
The features and function of an autobiography is it emphasizes on the subjects development; it
is about well-known people; it is written by the person himself; and it isto get other people to
know writers life
Derived from three Greek words meaning self, life, and write, autobiography is a style of
writing that has been around nearly as long as history has been recorded. Yet autobiography
was not classified as a genre within itself until the late eighteenth century. Robert Southey
coined the term in 1809 to describe the work of a Portuguese poet (Anderson 1, 7; Berryman
71). In his book, Inside Out, E. Stuart Bates offers a functional definition of autobiography as a
narrative of the past of a person by the person concerned (Bates 2).
That definition, however, is too broad for some literary critics. Many, such as Lejeune, a scholar
on autobiography, wish to define the genre more narrowly. Linda Anderson cites Lejeunes
definition of autobiography as [a] retrospective prose narrative produced by a real person
concerning his own existence, focusing on his individual life, in particular on the development of
his personality (Anderson 2). He also thinks that the work must implicitly state itself to be an
autobiography to be included within the genre (Anderson 3).
Other scholars, Bates, for example, do not think that there are any limitations or minimums on
how much of a life must be revealed for it to be classified as autobiography. Many factual
accounts, though not intended to be an autobiography per se, can be categorized as such
because they contain a self-revealed personality, after thorough reconsideration (Bates 5).
Cataloging autobiographies are further complicated because there are some that are
translations and some that are edited. Maupassant even wrote an autobiography of his future
(Bates 2-6).
Despite disagreements concerning how inclusive the category of autobiography should be,
there are characteristics that are common to the majority of autobiographical works (Berryman
71). These features are the grammatical perspective of the work, the identity of the self, and
self-reflection and introspection.
Most autobiographies are written from the first person singular perspective. This is fitting
because autobiography is usually a story one tells about oneself. It would not naturally follow
then that the writer would recount his or her past from a second or third person perspective.
Jean Quigley confirms this point in her book The Grammar of Autobiography by saying that As
soon as we are asked about ourselves, to tell our autobiography, we start to tell stories. We tell
what happened, what we said, what we did (Quigley 144).
The author, the narrator, and the protagonist must share a common identity for the work to be
considered an autobiography (Anderson 3). This common identity could be similar, but is not
identical. The self that the author constructs becomes a character within the story that may not
be a completely factual representation of the authors actual past self (Anderson 3; Porter and
Wolf 4-5; Quigley 106-7).
From the autobiography story of Abe Lincoln Grows Up by Carl Sandburg, it presents the first
twenty years of Lincoln's life, from his birth in a log cabin, through the migrations of the Lincoln
family in search for a better life. It is about a boy born and raised in poverty, with many
hardships and very little formal education, struggles to make something of him. Although the
story ends just as Lincoln leaves home, all readers know that he is destined to become one of
the best known and most loved presidents of the United States.
Sandburg portrays Lincoln as being influenced by his environment. By starting with Lincolns
paternal grandparents, Sandburg shows Lincoln as a reflection of his grandfather, who was also
named Abraham Lincoln. Both were struck with wander-lust, one wanting to be where he could
look from his cabin to the horizons on all sidesand the land all his own and the other wanting
to escape from adversity. Lincolns grandparents were educated enough to write their own
names, but his mother had to make her mark while his father signed his name.
Tom Lincoln was always respected in whatever community he lived. He is described as not
exactly lazy; he was sort of independent, and liked to be where he wasnt interfered with. One
employer of Abraham Lincoln described him in a similar manner: I say he was awful lazy. He
would laugh and talkcrack his jokes and tell stories all the time; didnt love work half as much
as his pay. Despite his dislike of work, Lincoln was constantly running errands and helping his
father.
Lincoln is pictured as being curious and always in search of education. As a young boy, he is
described as hungry to understand the meanings of words. Young Lincoln and his sister
walked eighteen miles a day to school. As Lincoln frequently told his friends, The things I want
to know are in books; my best friend is the man wholl get me a book I am not read. Lincoln
would read anything and everything he could.
As from this book, I would like to conclude that it is ssuitable for children age 9-11. This
autobiography offers an outstanding depiction of American frontier living, describing the
wilderness, the farms, and the settlements which the children can relate to or learn something
new which it also portrays emotion of joys and sorrow of a child (character Abe Lincoln). Activity
can be done to this is to draw their do choral reading in class
Following Lincoln down the Ohio and Mississippi rivers on a flatboat to New Orleans, the reader
also glimpses the world beyond the frontier. As the result, children are curious to learn new
things in life and if grown-ups pave the path of learning more smoothly by using attractive
stories, the stories which are not against human clean nature but convey a moral or real good
experience of the past.
In conclusion, children have an innate love of stories. Stories create magic and a sense of
wonder at the world. Stories teach us about life, about ourselves and about others. Storytelling
is a unique way for students to develop an understanding, respect and appreciation for other
cultures, and can promote a positive attitude to people from different lands, races and religions