Comparison of an Autobiography and a Biography - Essay Example

Topic: Comparison of an autobiography and a biography Name ID no Unit code and name Lecturer name Assignment No Due Date Looking at autobiography and biography, the two terms are closely related. This is because the two terms refers to writing about a person’s life. The term biography refers to writing that has been written by an author concerning someone else life. The writer of biography is someone who is well versed with the life of the one they are writing about. This can be through research or contribution by the subject being written about. Autobiography refers to work written by the author about their own life. An autobiography is in most cases written by the writer based on his own memories. This essay will compare an autobiography and biography of Julian Assange to bring out the comparison between the characteristic of biography and autobiography. This will be accomplished by first giving the contrasts on the two and then looking on how they are related. Biographies are written in the second or third person tense unlike autobiographies which are written in the first person tense. This is evident by looking at Julian Assange biography and autobiography. In The Biography Channel (2013), “Julian Assange was born on July 3, 1971” while in his Autobiography, Assange (2010) talks in first person tense, “I realized there was a social element in this...” The point of view in which the story is written is the most important difference between the two. Having the first person tense in the autobiography makes it possible to know more about the author. There is a feeling that the author is talking directly to the person reading the autobiography making it closer to the reader. Another major difference is the author. Autobiographies are written by the author about themselves. The story is the authors own based on his experiences and memories from childhood to his present. In contrast, biographies are written by other people on a person whom they know or have researched about. Biographies in most cases are on important people who did not write autobiographies in their life. This is evident on celebrities as they rarely write a book on themselves. Julian Assange wrote his own autobiography though using the services of a ghost writer but his biography was written by someone else (Assange, 2010). An autobiographer writes on his own mind, memories making it easier to more about his perception about life. This makes it one to feel as if the author is revealing his life to the one reading in a personal manner. This is in contrast with the biography which utilizes many points of views giving a more complete picture on the author. Looking at Julian Assange autobiography, it talks about his life story creating an intimate connection with the reader. This is different when it comes to biography (Andrew, 2011). His biography gives his life in according to different views. The life analysis is done through outsider perspective and collected information. Looking at the permission to write, another contrast occurs. The biography can be authorized or unauthorized depending whether its subject has agreed for publication or not. This contrasts with autobiography since the subject is its author. When writing the autobiography, the writer is writing on his own life hence no need of permission. An unauthorized biography can easily contain errors since the authors rely only on their own research. The autobiography of Julian Assange presents a rare case in which the autobiography is unauthorized. This occurred as the author did not approve publisher to publicize his work. His biography is a classic example of authorized bibliography (Assange, 2010). An autobiography is not complete in nature as it can not contain the complete life of the person who is writing is. In most cases, the autobiography contains the important part of the person life. The author of an autobiography mostly concentrates on the issues which are positive in his life and may leave some details. The left out details may be defaming or unpopular. The biography is complete in nature and in most case end with the life cycle of the person. To write the biography, the author has to look deep for the information regarding the individual. Some of this information may be classified making biography more comprehensive. In Julian Assange autobiography, he describes his life events leaving out details about charges such as sexual assault in Sweden (Andrew, 2011). His biography is more detailed and it in it one gets to know that he was charged with assault. Despite these differences, biographies and autobiographies have some similarities. Both focus on same pertinent information such as time of birth, place of birth, childhood, adulthood, place of schooling, level of education as well as occupation and time of death if available. The two focuses on the entire lifetime and the events in chronological order. Looking at both biography and autobiography of Assange, his life and events are given in chronological order the two looks at his place of birth which is Townsville in Australia and the year of birth in July 1971. Same information on occupation as founder of Wiki leaks and passions are given in the two (David & Luke, 2011). It’s important to know that these are books written about the life of someone and events involved. The classifications of the two are same. Both autobiographies and biographies are classified as non fiction. The information given should only be truth based on real life of the subject. Julian Assange biography and autobiography gives a true account on his life. The credibility of the two relies on how truthful is the information given by the author. Biography and autography are related in that both talks about same person. A person reading both autobiography and biography of Julian Assange should get same information in both especially the date of events and other facts based on his life. When the information differs, a controversy is created. By reading both, one gets similar chronology of events though in his life. For example the fact that Assange was founder of wiki leaks is expressed in both (Andrew, 2011). The year of events such as birth, schooling, marriage and other should not be contradicting in both. They should be based on evidence that can be proved. Both autobiographies and biographies are written from time consuming research which has been done thoroughly. This is done by the author so that those reading them can be able to know more about the people they want to know and get the real information with as much details as possible. Julian Assange biography has an intense research regarding his life from childhood to the present position. The biography is structured in a way which proves all his life events actually took place. This can only be achieved by the author doing research in all the subject aspects. This applies also to autobiographies. For one to write their own life story, there involves in-depth analysis and remembrance of life events (Andrew, 2011). In conclusion, biographies and autobiographies are two publications which are closely related. The relationship exists despite the contrasts that are exhibited. This relationship is through the context of the two. Use of tenses creates a sharp contrast that is evident in the biographies and autobiographies. Biographies have different set of permissions in writing them as opposed to autobiography as has been explained. Also the information given by the autobiography is more complete and comprehensive. This is due to author of autobiography expressing himself according to what he wants to share and leaving out some details. Though distinct, they are common in many ways such as, they talk of the same person, are all based on the life story of an individual and also the fact that they rely on facts. References Andrew, F. 2011, The Most Dangerous Man in the World: The Inside Story On Julian Assange and WikiLeaks, Melbourne, Melbourne Univ. Publishing, Viewed 15 Sep 2013, David, L., & Luke, H. 2011, WikiLeaks: Inside Julian Assange's War on Secrecy, New York, Guardian Books, Viewed on 15 Sep 2013, . Julian Assange, 2010, Julian Assange: The Unauthorized Autobiography, Edinburgh, Canongate Books, Viewed 15 Sep 2013, The Biography Channel, 2013, ‘Julian Assange’, The Biography Channel website, Accessed 15 Sep 2013, < http://www.biography.com/people/julian-assange-20688499.> Read More