what is an autobiography grade 5

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Education Standards

Utah core english language arts (2011).

Learning Domain: Writing

Standard: Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, descriptive details, and clear event sequences.

Standard: With some guidance and support from adults, use technology, including the Internet, to produce and publish writing as well as to interact and collaborate with others; demonstrate sufficient command of keyboarding skills to type a minimum of two pages in a single sitting.

Autobiography Rubric

5th grade autobiography unit.

This is a lesson plan can be used to add technology to your classroom. Students will creae an Narrative autobiography in both a media form and a 5 paragraph essay. 

Students will be writing an autobiography in an in person lesson that requires them to learn and understand steps of an autobiography, publish a written copy, and publish a form of technology to go along with their lesson that will be presented to the class. Students can use pages, iMovie, or Garageband to create their technology piece.

Background for Teachers

To teach this lesson you will need an understanding of the 5th grade writing process as well as what needs to be taught to teach autobiography writing. You will also need a basic understanding of how to use pages, iMovie, and Garageband.

Step 1 - Goals and Outcomes

Step 1: Goals and Outcomes

Students will be able to write a 5 paragraph autobiography and present their life story to the class using a form of media/technology. 

Writing Standard 3

Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, descriptive details, and clear event sequences.

Orient the reader by establishing a situation and introducing a narrator and/or characters; organize an event sequence that unfolds naturally.

Use narrative techniques, such as dialogue, description, and pacing, to develop experiences and events or show the responses of characters to situations.

Use a variety of transitional words, phrases, and clauses to manage the sequence of events.

Use concrete words and phrases and sensory details to convey experiences and events precisely.

Provide a conclusion that follows from the narrated experiences or event

Writing Standard 6

With some guidance and support from adults, use technology, including the Internet, to produce and publish writing as well as to interact and collaborate with others; demonstrate sufficient command of keyboarding skills to type a minimum of two pages in a single sitting.

Step 2 - Planning Instruction

Prior to beginning their autobiographies tell students that an autobiography tells the story of someone’s life written by that person. To get ideas flowing about their own life students can create an ABC list of things about themselves. Ex. A is for apples which is my favorite fruit. U is for Utah because that is where I live. Students could create this using words or pictures.

Step 3 - Instruction

Students will fill out a graphic organizer to plan their autobiographies. They should start with a brainstorm where they can reflect on who they are and what they want to include in their autobiography. Remind students they will be telling their life story in narrative form. When they tell the story it will flow in order from their first part of life, growing up, their family, to their next part of life like school, and friends, etc. 

Things they can brainstorm: 

Family Members

Favorite Family Memory

Hopes and Dreams for the Future

Interesting Facts about themselves

Schools attended and teachers

Current Hobbies and Talents

Favorite School Memories

Favorite things like; food, sport, school subject, candy, TV show, movie, book, restaurant, music, super hero. Etc…

Remind students a narrative should include:

Beginning: This is where you will introduce yourself. Remember you are to tell the story of your life, so go in chronological order. Tell events in the order they happened. 

Middle: Each body paragraph will progress to different major events in your life. Start with your family, school and friends, and end with what makes you unique. Remember to keep this in a narrative story-like format, of your life.

End: This is the conclusion of your autobiography. Here you wrap up your thoughts and leave lasting impressions with your reader. 

Their 5 paragraph graphic organizer should include:

Introduction: Introduce my name, age and where I was born. Include one or two interesting facts about myself.

First, 

This paragraph will be about my family. Dad and Mom, brothers and sisters. Tell a story about a favorite family memory. 

Next, 

This is about school and friends. 

Then, 

What makes me unique? Interesting story about something that has happened to me, 

In conclusion,

Where am I currently in life? What am I doing daily? Activities, jobs, sports…

*Once their graphic organizers are complete they will type a final copy.

Last: 

Students can use ipads, computers, or class ipods to take pictures of the things they want to use in their digital presentation. They may also bring pictures from home that they may want to use. Baby pictures, family events, etc. 

Students can then choose if they want to create a flyer in pages of their life, an imovie with pictures and descriptions of their life, or a podcast recorded reading of them telling their life story in Garageband. 

Step 4 - Assessments

Attached is a Rubric for the students 5 paragraph autobiography as well as the Rubric for their media presentation. Part of their assessment will also be presenting to the class. This is attached to the media presentation rubric.

Media Presentation Rubric for Autobiography

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How to Write an Autobiography

Last Updated: May 7, 2024 Fact Checked

This article was co-authored by Gerald Posner . Gerald Posner is an Author & Journalist based in Miami, Florida. With over 35 years of experience, he specializes in investigative journalism, nonfiction books, and editorials. He holds a law degree from UC College of the Law, San Francisco, and a BA in Political Science from the University of California-Berkeley. He’s the author of thirteen books, including several New York Times bestsellers, the winner of the Florida Book Award for General Nonfiction, and has been a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in History. He was also shortlisted for the Best Business Book of 2020 by the Society for Advancing Business Editing and Writing. There are 8 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources. This article has been viewed 2,286,443 times.

What's your story? Anyone who has lived a full life has something fascinating to share with the world. The trick to writing an autobiography is to treat it like any good story: it should have a protagonist (you), a central conflict, and a cast of fascinating characters to keep people engaged. You may want to think about a certain theme or idea that has been present in your daily life to revolve your story around. Read on to learn how to craft the story of your life and polish your writing to make it sing.

Mapping Out Your Life

• Your autobiography doesn't have to begin with your birth. You may want to include some family history as well. Write down information about your ancestry, your grandparents' lives, your parents' lives, and so on. Having information about your family history will help readers get a sense of how you became the person you are.
• What happened when you were a teenager? What led you to make the decisions you made?
• Did you go to college? Write about those transitory years, too.
• Write about your career, your relationships, your children, and any big life-altering events that occurred.

• Teachers, coaches, mentors, and bosses are extremely influential in people's lives. Decide whether someone who has been a role model (or the opposite) for you will figure into your story.
• Ex-boyfriends and girlfriends might co-star in some interesting stories.
• What enemies have you had in life? Your story will be boring if you don't include some conflicts.
• Offbeat characters such as animals, celebrities you've never met, and even cities are often points of interest in an autobiography.

• The childhood story. Whether your childhood was happy or traumatic, you should include a few anecdotes that give a picture of who you were and what you experienced at the time. You can tell the story of your childhood by breaking it down into smaller anecdotes that illustrate your personality - your parents' reaction when you brought home a stray dog, the time you climbed out of the window at school and ran away for 3 days, your friendly relationship with a homeless person living in the woods… get creative.
• The coming of age story. This heady and often sensual period in a human's life is always of interest to readers. Remember that it's not about writing something unique; everyone comes of age. It's about writing something that resonates with readers.
• The falling in love story. You could also write the opposite of this, the never-finding-love story.
• The identity crisis story. This usually occurs in the 30s or 40s and is sometimes referred to as a mid-life crisis.
• The story of facing down some force of evil. Whether it's your battle with addiction, a controlling lover, or a madman who tried to kill your family, you've got to write about conflict you've experienced.

• Write as though you're opening your heart to a trusted friend, in prose that's clear, strong and not too cluttered with vocabulary words you rarely use.
• Write so that your personality is revealed. Are you funny? Intense? Spiritual? Dramatic? Don't hold back; your personality should come through in the way you tell your story.

• Don't always cast yourself in a positive light. You can have foibles and still be the protagonist. Reveal mistakes you've made and times when you've failed yourself and other people.
• Reveal your inner thoughts. Share your opinions and ideas, including those that may spark controversy. Be true to yourself through your autobiography.

Crafting a Narrative

• What's your central conflict? What's the biggest obstacle life presented that took years to overcome or come to terms with? Maybe it's an illness you were diagnosed with at an early age, a relationship wrought with turmoil, a series of career setbacks, a goal you worked for decades to achieve, or any other number of things. Look to your favorite books and movies for more examples of conflicts.
• Build tension and suspense. Structure the narrative so that you have a series of stories leading up to the climax of the conflict. If your central conflict is trying to reach the goal of competing in the Olympics for skiing, lead up to it with stories of small successes and plenty of failures. You want your readers to ask, will she make it? Can he do it? What's going to happen next?
• Have a climax. You'll get to the point in your story when it's time for the conflict to come to a head. The day of the big competition has arrived, a showdown happens with your worst enemy, your gambling habit gets the better of you and you lose all your money - you get the picture.
• End with a resolution. Most autobiographies have happy endings because the person writing the story lived to tell the tale - and hopefully get it published. Even if your ending isn't cheerful, it should be deeply satisfying. You somehow accomplished your goal or won the day. Even if you lost, you came to terms with it and gained wisdom.

• You could frame the entire autobiography with reflections from the present, telling your story through a series of flashbacks.
• You could begin the story with a poignant moment from your childhood, go backward to tell the story of your heritage, move forward to your college years, and launch into the story of your career, with anecdotes from your childhood sprinkled in for comic relief.

• Consider ending chapters on a poignant or suspenseful note, so people can't wait to start the next one.
• The beginnings of chapters are a good place to take a bird's eye view of your past, describe the setting of a place, and set the tone for what's to come.

Editing the Book

• You can stretch the truth about your own goals and intentions, but don't include fabricated conversations with real people, or altered versions of events that really happened. Of course, you won't remember everything perfectly, but you should reflect reality as best you can.
• Get permission to use people's names or quote them if you're including content on what other people said or did. Some people don't appreciate appearing as a character in someone else's autobiography, and you should respect that by altering the way you describe them or changing their names if necessary. [6] X Research source

• If several people recommend cutting a certain section, strongly consider making the cut.
• Try to get opinions from people outside your circle of family and friends. People who know you might try to spare your feelings, or they might be biased - especially if they appear in the story.

• Bossy Pants , by Tina Fey.
• My Confession , by Leo Tolstoy.
• A Long Walk to Freedom , by Nelson Mandela.
• The Sound of Laughter , by Peter Kay. [7] X Research source

Publishing Your Story

• If you don't want to pay for a publishing service, you can still create a nice copy of your book by taking it to a copy store and having it printed and bound.

• Start the query letter with an airtight blurb succinctly describing the highlights of the book. Situate your book in the correct genre, and describe what will make it stand out from the rest. Tell the agent why you think he or she is the right person to shop your book around to publishers.
• Send sample chapters to agents who show interest.
• Sign a contract with an agent you trust. Make sure to read the contract carefully and check into the agent's history before signing anything.

Agents open doors and help propel your work forward. "I'll admit that it's not easy to get an agent, but becoming successful in anything requires perseverance."

• Many publishers don't accept unsolicited manuscripts or queries. Make sure you only send letters to publishers that accept them.
• If a publisher decides to move forward with a book deal with you, you'll need to sign a contract and set up a schedule for editing, designing, proofreading, and finally publishing the book.

Writing Help

Expert Q&A

• Your biography can also include a dedication, foreword, vital statistics, chronology sheets, family tree, and epilogue. Thanks Helpful 7 Not Helpful 0
• If the purpose of your autobiography is to pass on your story to your heirs, consider including memorabilia (e.g. pictures, heirlooms, medals, mementos, letters, etc.) and putting your story in a scrapbook format. Of course, you may not be able to copy the memorabilia that accompanies your autobiography, so you still have to think about what you intend to do with your original work and other items, such as medals or bulky heirlooms. Thanks Helpful 6 Not Helpful 0
• Make your story vivid but don't get bogged down in unimportant details. While you want your autobiography to be memorable, you don't want it to be boring. Too many details—listing everyone that was at a party or trying to include all the events of each day—will bog the story down. Thanks Helpful 5 Not Helpful 1

• Be aware of what constitutes libel. If you write something defamatory or maliciously untrue about another person in an autobiography that you intend to publish, consider changing his or her name (if still living). Otherwise, you might find yourself facing a lawsuit. If you're unsure about what to change, consult a lawyer who specializes in libel. Thanks Helpful 5 Not Helpful 0

You Might Also Like

Expert Interview

Thanks for reading our article! If you'd like to learn more about writing as a career, check out our in-depth interview with Gerald Posner .

• ↑ https://theamericanscholar.org/how-to-write-a-memoir
• ↑ https://self-publishingschool.com/how-to-write-an-autobiography/
• ↑ https://blog.reedsy.com/narrative-arc/
• ↑ https://cdn5-ss8.sharpschool.com/UserFiles/Servers/Server_222705/File/Parents%20and%20Students/Star%20Works/How%20to%20write%20an%20Autobiography.pdf
• ↑ https://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/jun/04/how-to-write-a-memoir-jeanette-winterson-and-helen-macdonald
• ↑ https://www.writersdigest.com/online-editor/defamation-and-invasion
• ↑ https://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2013/feb/07/biographies-autobiography-nielsen-2001
• ↑ https://www.pw.org/literary_agents

About This Article

To write an autobiography, start by making a timeline of your most important life events that you feel you could write about. Then, identify the main characters in your life story, including family members, ex-boyfriends or girlfriends, friends, and enemies. Once you have your cast of characters, pull life events from your timeline, such as a story from your childhood, a coming of age story, a love story, or a triumphant story. Write about these events and then connect them with a cohesive plot by writing in your own voice and being honest with the reader. To learn more about how to edit and publish your autobiography once it's finished, keep reading! Did this summary help you? Yes No

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How to write an Autobiography

A Complete Guide to Writing an Autobiography

A quick scan of the bestseller lists will quickly reveal that we are obsessed with the lives of other people.

Books by and about actors, politicians, and sports stars regularly top the charts as we seek to catch a glimpse into the lives of remarkable people.

While many of these books are written by professional writers after meticulous research ( biographies ), just as many are written by the person themselves (autobiographies) – albeit often with a ghostwriter’s help.

Today we are going to show you how to write an autobiography that tells a great life story.

WHAT IS AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY?

Autobiography is a subcategory of the biography genre and, strictly speaking, it’s a life story written by the subject themselves.

Autobiographies are sometimes confused with memoirs and it’s no surprise as the two share many features in common. For example, both are written in the first person and contain details of the subject’s life.

However, some clear distinctions can be made between the two.

For example, a memoir usually explores a specific period of a person’s life, whereas an autobiography tends to make an account of the person’s life from their earliest years right up to the time of writing.

Autobiographies aren’t just the preserve of the celebrities among us though, each of our lives is a story in and of itself. Whether or not it’s a good story will depend largely on the telling, which is what this article is all about.

A COMPLETE UNIT ON TEACHING BIOGRAPHIES

Teach your students to write AMAZING BIOGRAPHIES & AUTOBIOGRAPHIES using proven RESEARCH SKILLS and WRITING STRATEGIES .

• Understand the purpose of both forms of biography.
• Explore the language and perspective of both.
• Prompts and Challenges to engage students in writing a biography.
• Dedicated lessons for both forms of biography.
• Biographical Projects can expand students’ understanding of reading and writing a biography.
• A COMPLETE 82-PAGE UNIT – NO PREPARATION REQUIRED.

  WHAT ARE THE MAIN FEATURES OF AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY?

Once students have a good grasp of what an autobiography is, we need to ensure they are familiar with the main features of the genre before they begin writing.

Let’s take a look at some of the main technical elements of an autobiography:

Purpose of an Autobiography:

To give an account of the person’s life so far

Tense: Mostly written in the past tense, but usually ends in the present tense and sometimes shifts into the future tense at the very end.

Structure of an Autobiography:

●     Usually written in chronological order

●     Uses time connectives such as before, then, after that, finally, etc

●     Uses the names of real people and events

●     Is specific about times, dates, places, etc

●     Includes personal memories and specific details and descriptions

●     Reflects on how positive and negative experiences shaped the author

●     Gives an insight into the thoughts, feelings, and hopes of the author

●     May include some relevant photographs

●     Usually ends with a commentary on life, reflections on significant large events, and hopes and plans for the future.

When teaching these specific features, you may wish to compile a checklist with the students that they can subsequently use to assist them when writing their autobiography.

PRACTICAL ACTIVITY:

One great way to help your students to internalize the main features of the genre is to encourage them to read lots of autobiographies. Instruct the students to be conscious of the different features discussed above and to identify them in the autobiography as they read.

If you have compiled a checklist together, students can check off the features they come across as they read.

When they have finished reading, students should consider which features were well done in the book and which were missing or had room for improvement.

TIPS FOR WRITING A GREAT AUTOBIOGRAPHY

As we know, there is more to a genre of writing than just ticking off the main features from a checklist.

To write well takes time and practice, as well as familiarity with the features of the genre. Each genre of writing makes different demands on our skills as a writer and autobiography are no different.

Below, we will look at a step-by-step process for how students can best approach the task of writing their autobiography, along with some helpful hints and tips to polish things up.

Let’s get started!

 HOW TO START AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY WRITING TIPS:

Tip #1: brainstorm your autobiography.

The structure of an autobiography is somewhat obvious; it starts at the beginning of the subject’s life, works its way through the middle, and ends in the present day.

However, there’s a lot in a life. Some of it will be fascinating from a reader’s point of view and some of it not so much. Students will need to select which events, anecdotes, and incidents to include and which to leave out.

Before they begin this selection process in earnest, they need to dump out the possibilities onto the page through the process of brainstorming. Students should write down any ideas and sketches of memories that might be suitable onto the page.

While they needn’t write trivial memories that they know definitely won’t make the cut, they should not set the bar so high that they induce writer’s block.

They can remove the least interesting episodes when making the final selection later in the writing process. The main thing at this stage is the generation and accumulation of ideas.

TIP #2: CREATE AN OUTLINE OF YOUR AUTOBIOGRAPHY

After students have selected the most compelling episodes from their brainstorming session, they’ll need to organize them into the form of an outline.

One good way to do this is to lay them out chronologically on a simple timeline. Looking at the episodes in such a visual way can help the students to construct a narrative that leads from the student’s earliest childhood right through to the present day.

Students need to note that an autobiography isn’t just the relating of a series of life events in chronological order. They’ll need to identify themes that link the events in their autobiography together.

Themes are the threads that we weave between the cause and effect of events to bring shape and meaning to a life. They touch on the motivation behind the actions the author takes and fuel the development growth of the person.

Some themes that might be identified in an outline for an autobiography might include:

●     Overcoming adversity

●     Adjusting to a new life

●     Dealing with loss

●     The importance of friendship

●     The futility of revenge

●     The redemptive power of forgiveness.

These themes are the big ideas of a person’s life story. They represent how the events shape the person who is now sitting writing their story. For students to gain these insights will require the necessary time and space for some reflection.

For this reason, autobiography writing works well as a project undertaken over a longer period such as several weeks.

TIP #3: DO THE BACKGROUND RESEARCH ON YOUR AUTOBIOGRAPHY

Even though no one knows more about the topic of an autobiography than the author, research is still a necessary part of the writing process for autobiographies.

Using the outline they have created, students will need to flesh out some of the details of key events by speaking to others, especially when writing about their earliest experiences.

The most obvious resources will be parents and other family members who were privy to the joys of babyhood and their earliest childhood.

However, friends and ex-teachers make excellent sources of information too. They will enable the student to get a different perspective on something they remember, helping to create a more rounded view of past events.

For older and more advanced students, they may even wish to do some research regarding historical and cultural happenings in the wider society during the period they’re writing about. This will help to give depth and poignancy to their writing as they move up and down the ladder of abstraction from the personal to the universal and back again.

When students make the effort to draw parallels between their personal experiences and the world around them, they help to bridge the gap between author and reader creating a more intimate connection that enhances the experience for the reader.

TIP #4: FIND YOUR VOICE

Students need to be clear that autobiography is not mere personal history written dispassionately and subjectively.

For their autobiography to work, they’ll need to inject something of themselves into their writing. Readers of autobiography especially are interested in getting to know the inner workings of the writer.

There is a danger, however. Given that autobiographers are so close to their material, they must be careful not to allow their writing to denigrate into a sentimental vomit. To counter this danger, the student author needs to find a little perspective on their experiences, and following the previous tip regarding research will help greatly here.

A more daunting obstacle for the student can lie in the difficulties they face when trying to find their voice in their writing. This isn’t easy. It takes time and it takes lots of writing practice.

However, there are some simple, helpful strategies students can use to help them discover their authentic voice in their writing quickly.

1. Write to a close friend or family member

All writing is written to be read – with the possible exception of journals and diaries. The problem is that if the student is too conscious of the reader, they can find themselves playing to the audience and getting away from what it is they’re trying to express. Showboating can replace the honesty that is such a necessary part of good writing.

A useful trick to help students overcome this hurdle is to tell them to imagine they are writing their autobiography to an intimate friend or family member. Someone who makes them feel comfortable in their skin when they are around. Students should write like they’re writing to that person to who they can confide their deepest secrets. This will give their writing an honest and intimate tone that is very engaging for the reader.

2. Read the writing out loud

It’s no accident that we talk about the writer’s ‘voice’. We recognize the actual voice of people we know from its many qualities, from its timbre, tone, pacing, accent, word choice, etc. Writing is much the same in this regard.

One great way to help students detect whether their writing captures their authentic voice is to have them read it out loud, or listen to a recording of their work read out loud.

While we don’t necessarily write exactly as we speak – we have more time to craft what we say – we will still be able to recognize whether or not the writing sounds like us, or whether it’s filled with affectation.

As the student listens to their own words, encourage them to ask the following questions:

●     Does this sound like me?

●     Do the words sound natural in my voice?

●     Do I believe in the events related and how they were related?

Finding their real voice in their writing will help students imbue their writing with honesty and personality that readers love.

TIP #5: DRAFT, REDRAFT AND REFINE YOUR AUTOBIOGRAPHY

In the first draft, the brushstrokes will be large and broad, sweeping through the key events. The main notes of the tune will be there but with sometimes too much ornamentation and, at other times, not enough. This is why redrafting is an essential part of the writing process.

Students should understand that every piece of writing needs redrafting, editing , and proofreading to be at its best. There are no masterpieces full-borne into the world in a single draft.

For many, the tightening-up of a piece will involve the merciless cutting out of dead words. But, for some, the redrafting and refining process will demand the adding of more description and detail.

For most, however, it’ll be a little from column A and a little from column B.

Often, it’s difficult for students to get the necessary perspective on their work to be able to spot structural, grammar , punctuation, and spelling errors. In these instances, it can be best to enrol the eyes of a friend or family member in the role of editor or critic.

One effective way of doing this in class is to organize the students into pairs of editing buddies who edit each other’s work in a reciprocal arrangement.

These ‘edit swaps’ can be continued through to the proofreading stage and the final, polished piece.

A COMPLETE UNIT ON TEACHING FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE

FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE  is like  “SPECIAL EFFECTS FOR AUTHORS.”  It is a powerful tool to create  VIVID IMAGERY  through words. This  HUGE UNIT  guides you through completely understanding  FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE .

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (26 Reviews)

A Final Thought

Employing the 5 tips above will go a long way to ensuring a well-written and engaging autobiography.

While autobiography is a nonfiction genre, it is clear that with its emphasis on narrative, it has much in common with other fictional genres. So, it’s important when teaching autobiography that students learn to recognize the important role of storytelling in this genre too.

As with all good story-telling, there are some necessary elements to include, including a plot of sorts, a cast of characters, and an exploration of some central themes. For this reason, teaching autobiography often works well after the students have completed a unit on fictional story writing.

When all is said and done, the best way a student can ensure their autobiography is worth a read is to ensure they find the story within their own life.

After all, we’re obsessed with the lives of other people.

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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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Guidelines for Writing an Autobiography for Elementary Students

Betsy beacom.

Young children enjoy telling stories about themselves and their lives, so working with them on writing an autobiography can be an effective approach to teaching writing in general. Elementary school children's conceptual and writing abilities vary dramatically by age and stage, so pre-writing and writing activities should be geared to grade level. Third-, fourth- and fifth-graders can approach the writing of autobiographies similarly, yet more advanced students should be able to write more complex sentences and exhibit higher-order thinking.

Explore this article

• Teaching the Concept of Autobiography
• Third Grade
• Fourth Grade
• Fifth Grade

1 Teaching the Concept of Autobiography

Beginning writers are often advised to write about what they know best, and schoolchildren learning narrative writing are no different. Before beginning the unit on writing autobiographies, discuss with students what an autobiography is: a narrative of a person's life written by himself . Be sure students understand the difference between autobiography and biography, which is a narrative of a person's life written by someone else . Choose a short, grade-appropriate biography and autobiography, and read both with the class. Discuss the differences in perspective between the two genres, especially examining the qualities of the first-person account of a life.

2 Third Grade

For third-graders, writing is still a relatively new skill, so begin your unit on writing autobiography with a focus on different methods of information gathering. Constructing a timeline helps children organize events and memories visually, which will lead to organization in writing. Interviewing other members of his family can provide a student with facts about important events in his own life as well as about his family heritage. The student will also have memories he will want to write about. Brainstorm with the class about what questions might be useful to ask family members. Provide students with worksheets to fill out with questions about who they are and what in their lives has shaped them.

3 Fourth Grade

As with third-graders, fourth-graders will find the development of a personal timeline useful as a first step in assembling and organizing information about their lives. Interviews and worksheets to gather data work for this grade level as well. Once the timeline has been established, ask students to create a written outline based upon it. They can then map out the autobiography by creating categories they will flesh out with details of each event. Suggested categories are a history of events in the student's life; the student's likes, dislikes and favorite things to do; and what the student wishes for his future.

4 Fifth Grade

Fifth-graders are able to start with the timeline as an organizational tool and begin constructing paragraphs with topic sentences based on the categories they have developed. As part of the prewriting stage of the autobiography project, pair students with partners and ask them to share their timelines with each other, to gather feedback on which events might be best to develop in their written narratives. Talk with students about whether they see a "theme" or "arc" in their life stories; such a theme can help to create an organizing thread throughout the written autobiography.

• 1 ReadWriteThink: Lesson Plan: Creating Family Timelines: Graphing Family Memories and Significant Events
• 2 Teachers.net: Lesson Plans: Personal Life Timeline

About the Author

Betsy Beacom is a writer and editor with experience in education, marketing, Internet content, social media, the performing and visual arts, literature and more. She holds bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees in literature, has taught English at Yale University and has more than 20 years' experience writing and editing.

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Autobiography Writing Guide

Autobiography Examples

Last updated on: Nov 20, 2023

Autobiography Examples – Detailed Outline and Samples

By: Barbara P.

Reviewed By: Melisa C.

Published on: Mar 22, 2023

We all have stories to tell. And, for some of us, the only way we feel like we can get our story out there is by writing it down. Some people may believe that an autobiography is something only famous people write about themselves but that is not true. 

In fact, anyone who has a story worth telling can write an autobiography. 

If you are assigned to write an autobiography in your high school or college and you are confused about where to start, don’t panic. 

You are at the right place.

Explore this detailed guide to understand the concept of writing an autobiography. It will also provide you with some great autobiography examples for a better understanding.

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What is an Autobiography?

An autobiography is a kind of the self-written story of a person's life. This type of narration has various aims and objectives that depend on the kind of writing that you decide to go with.

Moreover, it has different types. A writer can choose any of them on the basis of what he wants to include in his story.

AUTOBIOGRAPHY OUTLINE (PDF)

AUTOBIOGRAPHY TEMPLATE (PDF)

Struggling to understand the basics of autobiography? Check out this how to write an autobiography to understand the key prerequisite of autobiographies. 

Autobiography Types

Below-mentioned is the four main types of autobiography. These include:

1. Traditional Autobiography –  It is a complete story that covers all life experiences including birth, childhood, and adulthood. You can write it for personal use. However, if you feel that your life can be inspiring for others, you can also write it for the wider public.

2. Memoir –  It focuses on describing a specific event, relationship, time period, or place that has an effect on your personality and life. For example, it may include your hometown or an important relationship.

3. Personal Essay –  It is the idea of sharing your life story with the audience in a way that they feel as if they were a part of it. Similarly, it also describes two aspects including the event and how it affected the beliefs.

4. Confessional –  Some people find comfort in writing about their mistakes and sins. Thus, they write this type of autobiography so that people will learn from their mistakes and avoid them.

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Examples are an essential way to learn something in less time. Therefore, we have stated some examples for you to write your autobiographies. These will also help to learn about a proper autobiography template and structure.

Have a look at these autobiography examples to get a better understanding.

Cultural Autobiography Examples

CULTURAL AUTOBIOGRAPHY (PDF)

Educational Autobiography Examples for Students 

EDUCATIONAL AUTOBIOGRAPHY (PDF)

Autobiography Examples For Class 6

Autobiography Examples For Grade 7

Autobiography Examples For College Students

Autobiography Examples About Yourself

Autobiography Examples Ks2

Famous Personality Autobiography

The autobiography of benjamin franklin is one example of a famous personality autobiography. Similarly, these famous autobiography examples will provide you with everything to get started with your famous personality autobiography.

FAMOUS PERSONALITY AUTOBIOGRAPHY (PDF)

Funny Autobiography

FUNNY AUTOBIOGRAPHY (PDF)

High School Autobiography

HIGH SCHOOL AUTOBIOGRAPHY (PDF)

Literary Autobiography Example

Literary Autobiography

Personal Autobiography

PERSONAL AUTOBIOGRAPHY (PDF)

Professional Autobiography

PROFESSIONAL AUTOBIOGRAPHY (PDF)

Struggling to understand the difference between memoir and autobiography? Check this guide with memoir vs autobiography examples to differentiate between the two terms.

Scientific Autobiography

SCIENTIFIC AUTOBIOGRAPHY (PDF)

Short Autobiography Examples for Students

SHORT AUTOBIOGRAPHY (PDF)

Autobiography Examples Books

Autobiography example books provide a detailed insight into the life of an individual. Through these real-life stories, readers get to know more about a person's experiences and how they overcame challenges. 

Book Autobiography Sample

Spiritual Autobiography Examples

Spiritual autobiographies are a great way to reflect on one's spiritual journey and the lessons learned along the way. Here is an example to help you out.

Spiritual Autobiography Sample

The Dos and Don'ts of an Autobiography

A successful autobiography indicates the author’s ability to present a worthwhile story. There are a wide variety of things that you can talk about while writing your personal narratives.

However, the following are some dos and don'ts of writing an autobiography that will help in refining your writing skills.

Some dos of writing an autobiography are:

• Understanding the Intended Audience

There is a huge difference when you are writing an autobiography for your friends or a group of strangers. Because it requires extensive details about life events and experiences. Thus, make sure to include facts that you consider significant.

• Developing A Core Concept

It is essential to identify the central theme of your autobiography. Moreover, a well-structured outline is also a proper way of associating one event with another. It will also set the interest of the readers by keeping the story consistent from the beginning to the end.

• Do Tell the Truth

Do not portray yourself as the hero or villain of the story. Instead, tell the truth and acknowledge your mistakes by exposing your strengths and weaknesses.

• Revising and Editing

Read aloud what you have written and do some editing. Check if your ideas flow logically and look out for interrupting thoughts.

• Do Seek Feedback

Ask your friends and family to read your work and provide you with feedback. Understand the difference between fair criticism and forced judgment.

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Don’ts of Writing an Autobiography

Below mentioned are some don'ts of writing an autobiography.

• Do Not Mention Unnecessary Details

Include relevant details and struggles when narrating your life story. Avoid adding unnecessary details. Instead, share the information that is directly related to your story.

• Stop Worrying About Others

Your story may contain some details that can have a negative effect on others. Do not worry about them and rearrange all the details.

Moreover, remember that you are not here to please everyone. Thus, avoid writing for a broader audience and make your story too generic and specific for the readers.

• Discuss Why Your Story Is Inspiring

If your main goal is to inspire people with your story, show them how you felt instead of telling them directly. Allow the audience to come to the conclusion through your writing style.

• Avoid Copying Someone's Story

It is a big mistake to copy someone's work to make your story compelling. Find the hook and unique points that are marketable. Also, think of all these details before you begin writing.

Autobiographies aim to educate and inform others in some ways. This blog has provided all the essential details to write an autobiography. You can generate even more samples of autobiography through our FREE AI-based paper writer . 

If you are still looking up “ who can write my essay? ”, relying on a professional expert is a good option. Make sure you select a reliable and top-ranked writing service, 5StarEssays.com . We guarantee you high-quality write essay services with zero percent plagiarism.

Give us a chance and place your order now by contacting our professional writers through the live chat option.

Literature, Marketing

Dr. Barbara is a highly experienced writer and author who holds a Ph.D. degree in public health from an Ivy League school. She has worked in the medical field for many years, conducting extensive research on various health topics. Her writing has been featured in several top-tier publications.

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• How to Write an Autobiography - A Complete Guide

• Know the Different Types of Autobiography Here

• Autobiography Format for Students - A Detailed Guide

• Autobiography vs. Memoir: Definitions & Writing Tips

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Main Points - Autobiography | Class 5 Writing | English

• Start with an introduction: Begin your autobiography by introducing yourself and providing some background information, such as your name, age, and where you live. This will help set the context for the rest of your story.
• Use simple language: Write in clear and age-appropriate language that is easy for a fifth-grade student to understand. Avoid using complex vocabulary or jargon that may confuse your readers.
• Focus on key events: Select a few important....

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Example 1 - Autobiography | Class 5 Writing | English

I am an elegant wristwatch created with precision and care by skilled craftsmen. My life began in a bustling watch factory , where I was assembled with utmost attention to detail. Once complete, I was proudly displayed in a jewellery store among my fellow timekeepers, ....

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Example 2 - Autobiography | Class 5 Writing | English

                                                           H oney Bee I am a honey bee , a small yet vital member of the natural world. My life began as a tiny egg, carefully laid by my queen mother in the safe confines of our hive. After hatching and maturing, I embraced my role as a worker bee , diligently serving my colony....

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Example 3 - Autobiography | Class 5 Writing | English

                     Elephant I am a majestic elephant , a gentle giant born and raised in the lush, vibrant forests of Asia. My life began as a small, vulnerable calf, protected and nurtured by my loving elephant family . As I grew, I developed strong bonds with my relatives, learning valuable lessons.....

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Year 5-6 Autobiography

Subject: English

Age range: 7-11

Resource type: Lesson (complete)

Last updated

12 June 2020

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Model, planning model and blank plan for writing an autobiography in Year 5 and 6. The model and the plan are colour coordinated so that children can relate the plan to the text.

The video was created for Year 6 students during lockdown so it may work well as a holiday writing project.

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Not Lost in a Book

Why the “decline by 9” in kids pleasure reading is getting more pronounced, year after year..

Those of us who believe in the power of books worry all the time that reading, as a pursuit, is collapsing, eclipsed by (depending on the era) streaming video, the internet, the television, or the hula hoop. Yet, somehow, reading persists; more books are sold today than were sold before the pandemic. Though print book sales were down 2.6 percent in 2023, they were still 10 percent greater than in 2019 , and some genres—adult fiction, memoirs—rose in sales last year.

But right now, there’s one sector of publishing that is in free fall. At least among one audience, books are dying. Alarmingly, it’s the exact audience whose departure from reading might actually presage a catastrophe for the publishing industry—and for the entire concept of pleasure reading as a common pursuit.

Ask anyone who works with elementary-school children about the state of reading among their kids and you’ll get some dire reports. Sales of “middle-grade” books—the classification covering ages 8 through 12—were down 10 percent in the first three quarters of 2023 , after falling 16 percent in 2022 . It’s the only sector of the industry that’s underperforming compared to 2019. There hasn’t been a middle-grade phenomenon since Dav Pilkey’s Captain Underpants spinoff Dog Man hit the scene in 2016. New middle-grade titles are vanishing from Barnes and Noble shelves, agents and publishers say, due to a new corporate policy focusing on books the company can guarantee will be bestsellers.

Most alarmingly, kids in third and fourth grade are beginning to stop reading for fun. It’s called the “Decline by 9, ” and it’s reaching a crisis point for publishers and educators. According to research by the children’s publishers Scholastic, at age 8, 57 percent of kids say they read books for fun most days; at age 9, only 35 percent do . This trend started before the pandemic, experts say, but the pandemic accelerated things. “I don’t think it’s possible to overstate how disruptive the pandemic was on middle grade readers,” one industry analyst told Publishers Weekly . And everyone I talked to agreed that the sudden drop-off in reading for fun is happening at a crucial age—the very age when, according to publishing lore, lifetime readers are made. “If you can keep them interested in books at that age, it will foster an interest in books the rest of their life,” said Brenna Connor, an industry analyst at Circana, the market research company that runs Bookscan. “If you don’t, they don’t want to read books as an adult.”

What’s causing the Decline by 9? It might be screens, but it’s not only screens. It’s not like kids are suddenly getting their own phones at age 9; recent survey data from Common Sense Media reveals that phone ownership holds steady, at around 30 percent, among kids aged 8 and 9. (It isn’t until they reach 11 or 12 that the majority of American kids have their own phone.) Indeed, several people I spoke to mentioned that middle-graders’ lack of phones created a marketing problem in an era when no one at any publishing house has any idea how to make a book a bestseller other than to hope it blows up on TikTok. “BookTok is imperfect,” said Karen Jensen, a youth librarian and a blogger for School Library Journal, “but in teen publishing it’s generating huge bestsellers, bringing back things from the backlist. There’s not anything like that right now for the middle-grade age group.”

“It’s not like we want these kids to have phones, that’s not the solution,” one executive in children’s books told me ruefully. “But without phones, we’re really struggling to market to them.”

Traditionally, middle-grade book discovery happens via parents, librarians, and—most crucially—peers. At recess, your best friend tells you that you have got to read the Baby-Sitters Club , and boom, you’re hooked. That avenue for discovery evaporated during the pandemic, and it hasn’t come back. “The lag in peer-to-peer recommendations seems to be lingering,” said Joanne O’Sullivan, a children’s book author and PW reporter. “Kids are back in school, so why aren’t they sharing recommendations with each other? Why aren’t they as enthusiastic about books as they were prepandemic?”

Experts I spoke to pointed to any number of causes for middle-graders’ lost love of reading. Yes, screen time is an issue: “We know that screen time increased for many kids during that initial phase of the pandemic,” said Circana’s Connor. “Some of that increased screen time still remains, even though the pandemic is mostly behind us.” Or, as O’Sullivan asked, “Is this generation just iPad babies?”

But others also pointed to the way reading is being taught to young children in an educational environment that gets more and more test-focused all the time. “I do not blame teachers for this,” said O’Sullivan, but the transformation of the reading curriculum means “there’s not a lot of time for discovery and enjoyment in reading.” She noted a change I, too, had noticed: Reading in the classroom has moved away from encouraging students to dive into a whole book and moved toward students reading excerpts and responding to them. “Even in elementary school, you read, you take a quiz, you get the points. You do a reading log, and you have to read so many minutes a day. It’s really taking a lot of the joy out of reading.”

Of course, even many teachers and librarians who buck the curricular pressure—who dream of fostering a love of aimless, testless reading in their young charges—are finding that substantially more difficult in 2024. “Libraries are getting defunded,” said O’Sullivan. “Librarians are being let go. In some states, teachers can’t even keep a classroom library because they have to protect themselves from book bans.” As Jensen wrote in a recent blog post , it sure doesn’t help the children’s book industry when “chat rooms and library board meetings fill up with a small handful of people calling librarians Marxist communist groomers.”

It all adds up to an environment where kids are less passionate about reading and, even if they somehow do get excited, they’re less likely to discover the book that will keep them excited. What are publishers trying to do about it? They’re doubling down on the kinds of books that have been hits for middle-grade readers over the past few years: graphic novels and illustrated novels. Graphic novels, comics published in trade-book form, are a sales bright spot; last year they made up a quarter of all middle-grade sales. And “illustrated novels” have only become more and more popular since the birth of Jeff Kinney’s Wimpy Kid in 2007. Pilkey’s Captain Underpants and Dog Man books live somewhere in that graphic novel/illustrated-book mode—blocks of simple text followed by pages of drawings—and more and more, publishers are looking for light, funny stories-with-pictures that can help uncertain readers make the leap from picture books to big-kid books.

It’s great that the kids who love these books—or Spider-Man comics, or manga, or for that matter off-putting kid-lit “histories” about tragedies that happened in my lifetime —are reading something . For sure! Yet I can’t help but be worried that the kinds of books that changed my life between ages 8 and 12 are falling by the wayside. Is there room for the thoughtful, serious, beautiful young-person’s novel in 2024? Can you publish Bridge to Terabithia in the age of Captain Underpants?

It does seem to be just a little harder to sell that kind of novel these days. “Editors are looking for highly illustrated projects, shorter word counts, a bit more humor and adventure,” said Chelsea Eberly, director of the children’s book agency Greenhouse Literary . Connor was more blunt: “Maybe you think a book about a school shooting is really important,” she said, “but kids want to read a fun book. That’s what kids want today—they want to have fun.”

“If you’re an established author and you have an established reputation” for serious, heartfelt books, said O’Sullivan, you’ll be fine. But if you’re a new author who’s written a quiet, issue-oriented debut, “you might have to think about adapting, in a way.” A publisher might, for example, suggest bringing an illustrator aboard.

One side effect: Those established authors with established reputations tend to be white. The younger, newer authors who are being dissuaded by the market from writing unillustrated non-comedies? They’re increasingly people of color, thanks to the industry’s notably successful attempts at diversification over the past five to 10 years. The result may be a two-tiered system of awards-worthy book publishing, as older, whiter writers continue to publish moving, sensitive novels, while younger, Blacker authors are shut out of that particular market. “When you make it harder for new writers to break through, you’re perpetuating the problems that children’s publishing has been trying to address,” said Jensen.

For her part, Eberly, the book agent, doesn’t think the supply of serious, “award-winning” books will dry up. “Knowing the editors that I sell to, those are the types of books they want to shepherd into the world.” The danger, she says, isn’t that publishers will stop publishing such books; it’s that children won’t be able to find them due to book bans and pressure on librarians and teachers. Which books face the most challenges from book banners? Books by Black and queer authors.

What nearly everyone I spoke to in children’s publishing agrees would solve the problem in a snap is a new blockbuster, the kind of Harry Potter –style success that raises all boats. The industry can’t depend on Captain Underpants forever, even though, as Connor noted, “The devil works hard, but Dav Pilkey works harder.” While more than one person I spoke to expressed an existential fear—what if that next blockbuster never comes? What if we’re in the post-children’s-blockbuster era?—Eberly was more sanguine. “I don’t worry that we’re not going to have another blockbuster,” she said. “I’m hoping that the tent expands. I’ve always kind of hated it when there’s only one tentpole, like Harry Potter or whatever. I want there to be more tentpoles with room for more people underneath.”

Here is what Stormy Daniels testified happened between her and Donald Trump

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Porn performer Stormy Daniels took the witness stand Tuesday in the hush money case against former President Trump, who looked on as she detailed their alleged sexual encounter and the payment she got to keep it quiet.

Prosecutors allege Trump paid Daniels to keep quiet about the allegations as he ran for president in 2016. Her testimony aired them very publicly as the presumptive Republican presidential nominee seeks to win the White House again.

Trump denies having sex with Daniels , and his lawyers unsuccessfully pushed for a mistrial midway through her testimony.

It was a major spectacle in the first criminal trial of a former American president, now in its third week of testimony in Manhattan.

Here are some takeaways from Daniels’ testimony:

Who is Stormy Daniels?

The case centers on a $130,000 payment to Daniels from Trump’s then-lawyer, Michael Cohen, in the final weeks of Trump’s 2016 campaign. Prosecutors say it was part of a scheme to illegally influence the campaign by burying negative stories about him.

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His lawyers have sought to show that Trump was trying to protect his reputation and family — not his campaign — by shielding them from embarrassing stories about his personal life.

Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, told jurors that she started exotic dancing in high school and appearing in adult films at age 23, eventually moving to direct more than 150 films and winning a roster of porn industry awards.

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Meeting Trump

Daniels testified she first met and chatted with Trump at a 2006 Lake Tahoe celebrity golf outing where her studio was a sponsor.

He referred to her as “the smart one” and asked her if she wanted to go to dinner, she said. Daniels testified that she accepted Trump’s invitation because she wanted to avoid dinner with her co-workers and thought it might help her career. Trump had his bodyguard get her number, she said.

When they met up later in his penthouse, she appreciated that he seemed interested in the business aspects of the industry rather than the “sexy stuff.” He also suggested putting her on his TV show, “The Apprentice,” a possibility she hoped could help establish her as a writer and director.

She left to use the bathroom and was startled to find Trump in his underwear when she returned, she said. She didn’t feel physically or verbally threatened but realized that he was “bigger and blocking the way,” she testified.

“The next thing I know was: I was on the bed,” and they were having sex, Daniels recalled. The encounter was brief but left her “shaking,” she said. “I just wanted to leave,” she testified.

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Payments for silence

Daniels was asked if Trump ever told her to keep things between them confidential, and said, “Absolutely not.” She said she learned in 2011 that a magazine had learned the story of their encounter, and she agreed to do an interview for $15,000 to make money and “control the narrative.” The story never ran.

In 2016, when Trump was running for president, Daniels said she authorized her manager to shop the story around but did not initially receive interest from news outlets. She said that changed in October with the release of the “Access Hollywood” tape in which Trump bragged about grabbing women sexually without asking permission . She said she learned that Cohen wanted to buy her silence.

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Mistrial push

Midway through her testimony, Trump’s lawyers moved for a mistrial.

Defense lawyer Todd Blanche argued that Daniels’ testimony about the alleged encounter and other meetings with him had “nothing to do with this case,” and would unfairly prejudice the jury.

The judge rejected it, and he faulted defense attorneys for not raising more of their objections while she was testifying.

Before Daniels took the stand, Trump’s lawyers had tried to stop her from testifying about the encounter’s details, saying it was irrelevant in “a case about books and records.”

Prosecutors countered that Daniels’ testimony gets at what Trump was trying to hide and they were “very mindful” not to draw too much graphic detail. Before Daniels took the stand, they told the judge the testimony would be “really basic,” and would not “involve any details of genitalia.”

While the judge didn’t side with Trump’s lawyers, he acknowledged that some details were excessive. The objections could potentially be used by Trump’s lawyers if he is convicted and they file an appeal.

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Cross-examination

Trump’s lawyers tried to attack Daniels’ credibility, suggesting she was motivated by money and that her account has shifted over the years.

“Am I correct that you hate President Trump?” defense lawyer Susan Necheles asked Daniels at one point. Daniels acknowledged she did.

“And you want him to go to jail?” the lawyer asked.

“I want him to be held accountable,” Daniels said. Pressed again whether that meant going to jail, she said: “If he’s convicted.”

The defense pressed Daniels on the fact that she owes Trump hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees stemming from an unsuccessful defamation lawsuit, and on a 2022 tweet in which she said she “will go to jail before I pay a penny.” Daniels dug in at times in the face of pointed questions, forcefully denying the idea that she had tried to extort money from Trump.

Trump whispered frequently to his attorney during Daniels’ testimony, and his expression seemed to be pained at one point as she recounted details about the dinner she says they shared. He shook his head and appeared to say something under his breath as Daniels testified that Trump told her he didn’t sleep in the same room as his wife.

On the way out of the courthouse, Trump called it “a very revealing day.” He didn’t address Daniels’ testimony explicitly but claimed the prosecutors’ case was “totally falling apart.”

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Jarring split screen

Trump’s appearance in court Tuesday, like all other days he’s stuck in the courtroom, means he can’t be out on the campaign trail as he runs for president a third time. It’s a frequent source of his complaints, but Daniels’ testimony in particular might underscore how much of a distraction the trial is from the business of running for president.

While Trump was stuck in a Manhattan courthouse away from voters and unable to speak for much of the day, President Biden was attending a Holocaust remembrance ceremony and condemning antisemitism .

It’s an issue Trump has sought to use against Biden in the campaign by seizing on the protests at college campuses over the Israel-Hamas war .

Associated Press writer Price reported from New York, Whitehurst from Washington. AP writers Michael Sisak, Jennifer Peltz, Jake Offenhartz and Alanna Durkin Richer contributed to this story.

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Judy Oppenheimer, early biographer of Shirley Jackson, dies at 82

Her 1988 book, “Private Demons: The Life of Shirley Jackson,” explored the brief, tortured life of the author best known for her short story “The Lottery.”

Judy Oppenheimer, a writer and journalist best known for a biography exploring the brief, tortured life of author Shirley Jackson, whose short story “The Lottery” became one of the most widely read works in 20th-century American fiction, died May 1 in Baltimore. She was 82.

She had Parkinson’s disease and bone cancer, said her son Toby Oppenheimer. She died at an assisted-living community.

Ms. Oppenheimer began her career at The Washington Post, her hometown newspaper, where she was promoted from “copy girl” to reporter in the 1960s. She later worked for the Philadelphia Daily News before returning to the Washington area and freelancing while raising her two sons.

She attracted broad notice in 1988 with her debut book , “ Private Demons: The Life of Shirley Jackson .” It was the first biography of the author most famous for “The Lottery,” which sparked a furor when it appeared in the New Yorker magazine in 1948.

Set in an unnamed present-day New England town, the story depicts an annual ritual in which the townspeople gather to stone one of their members to death. Early readers reacted in horror and in anger — as though Jackson had accused them of conforming in some way to the banal evil on display.

Jackson generally answered queries about the story obliquely, though she once wrote that she had “hoped, by setting a particularly brutal rite in the present and in my own village, to shock the readers with a graphic dramatization of the pointless violence and general inhumanity of their own lives.”

In the decades that followed, “The Lottery” became a mainstay of literary anthologies and high school and college reading lists.

In its fame, the story came to overshadow the rest of Jackson’s literary output, which included, most notably, “The Haunting of Hill House” (1959), a Gothic thriller about a woman on the edge of madness that was adapted into a 1963 movie, “The Haunting,” starring Julie Harris and Claire Bloom. Jackson also wrote the novels “The Bird’s Nest” (1954) and “We Have Always Lived in the Castle” (1962).

She diverged from the darkness of her fiction to write “Life Among the Savages” (1953) and “Raising Demons” (1957), both witty portrayals of domestic life drawn from her experience as the mother of four children. After struggles with substance abuse, Jackson died in 1965, at age 48, of cardiac arrest.

In interviews with the author’s children, other relatives, friends and acquaintances, Ms. Oppenheimer explored Jackson’s life, starting with her rearing by an often critical mother who neither understood nor appreciated her daughter’s psychological depths.

“She was not the daughter her mother wanted; that much was clear from the start,” Ms. Oppenheimer wrote in the biography’s opening passage. “Shirley Jackson was born … into comfort, pleasant surroundings, and social position, but to parents who never truly knew what to make of her, not in childhood and not throughout her entire forty-eight years.”

Ms. Oppenheimer examined the possibility that Jackson had been sexually abused as a child and documented her strained marriage to the literary critic Stanley Edgar Hyman. She delved into Jackson’s imaginative powers and what Ms. Oppenheimer characterized as her “clairvoyance,” into her fears and anxieties and her sensitivity to the condition of mental frailty.

The result, book critic Christopher Lehmann-Haupt wrote in the New York Times , was a “lively but harrowing biography.” In Ms. Oppenheimer’s telling, he wrote, “right to the end, the story of Shirley Jackson’s life retains its urgency, and we read even the happy passages with a sense of impending disaster.”

In 2016, another biographer, literary critic Ruth Franklin, expanded on existing scholarship with the book “Shirley Jackson: A Rather Haunted Life.”

Judith Altman, one of three daughters, was born in Washington on Jan. 20, 1942. Her mother was a math teacher, and her father worked for the Labor Department.

When Judy was 9, her family moved to Arlington, Va., where she graduated from what was then Washington-Lee High School in 1959 . She received a bachelor’s degree in American thought and civilization from George Washington University in 1963.

She and her husband, Jerry Oppenheimer, worked together at the Philadelphia Daily News — he as an investigative journalist, she as a movie critic — before their first son was born and they moved back to the Washington area. The marriage ended in divorce.

Ms. Oppenheimer freelanced for publications including The Post , Washingtonian magazine , the Village Voice, Ms. magazine, Salon , Slate and the Forward . She also worked on the staff of the Baltimore Jewish Times.

Survivors include her two sons, Jesse Oppenheimer of Los Angeles and Toby Oppenheimer of Brooklyn; a sister; and three grandchildren.

Toby Oppenheimer inspired his mother’s second book , “ Dreams of Glory: A Mother’s Season With Her Son’s High School Football Team ” (1991), chronicling a year of football at Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School in Maryland.

Ms. Oppenheimer had harbored no interest whatsoever in a sport that she regarded — until her son began to play — as little more than an exercise in brutality. To her surprise, she discovered that she “purely adored the entire wild, maddened, electric, power-pumping totality of this game.”

“A coach would later tell me at length about the need to unearth the buried animal when training players, the animal that lies dormant in our soul,” Ms. Oppenheimer continued. “Well, football released my animal, too.”

In writing the book, Ms. Oppenheimer pursued her reporting with classic shoe-leather rigor, with one exception: In deference to her son’s wishes, she never entered the inner sanctum of the locker room.