Text Structure / Biography

A biography is a type of narrative nonfiction that tells a person's life story or part of it. Author's often use chronological, or time order structure. Author's often include specific dates and times. The purpose for reading a biography is to learn about significant events in a person's life.

Biographies tell about famous people, or ordinary people who have done exciting things. They usually center on one person's life and how they have contributed to the world.

Since biographies are real-life stories, they are considered a genre of non-fiction books. Genres are categories or types of books that have similar characteristics. Non-fiction books give information, and biographies give facts specifically about important people.

Biographies often include the dates that the person was born (and died, if they're no longer living) and accomplished something. They describe a person's importance to the world or why they are famous.

Biographies may describe the person's early life. They include descriptions of the person's personality and what they were like, so the reader can feel like they have met the person in real life. Biographies also use photos to show what a person looked like at different times in their life.

You can find biographies about presidents, athletes, writers, civil rights leaders, inventors, and anyone who has made a contribution to society throughout history. You can find biographies in books or online.