Autobiography Essay Examples

"Tell me about yourself" is a phrase most people get petrified by — and that’s no wonder. How can you tell about X years of your life in a few sentences? And imagine if you need to tell a dozen people about yourself at the same time?

 Chances are, you will twist some facts and probably mess up the chronology, to say nothing of giving the facts that have nothing to do with the reason you were asked about yourself in the first place. That’s where writing an autobiography essay can come in very handy. One condition, though — if it’s written well. Let’s break down what it is, how to write an autobiography essay correctly, and what to do if you need it ‘for yesterday’.

What is an autobiography essay?

In a nutshell, an autobiography essay is a narrative story about your life and the most important events that took place at a particular time. We like to say that an autobiography is a synopsis of one’s life, accurately pinned down to 1-2 A4 pages.

Who needs to have a sample of an autobiography essay?

Even though the word ‘essay’ immediately refers to an academic and educational context, with autobiography, it’s not the case. The thing is, autobiography essay examples are used for various purposes, in different spheres, and by many people. Let’s briefly enumerate the most common cases.

You need a sample of autobiography essay if you want to:

• Apply to a college/university. Smart students are the most valuable assets for any educational establishment, as they push its rating higher. This is why high scores aren’t enough to make your persona appealing for the commission — they want to see if you’re willing to walk an extra mile.
• Apply for a job. Autobiography essay samples can tell a lot about the candidate at the selection stage. This is why many HR managers require them.
• Win an educational grant. The organizations want their grant to be used by the most fitted people, for whom it’s not just extra cash. Autobiography helps them select those.
• Apply for a scholarship. The same.
• Participate in the art exhibition. If you’re a new name in the art industry, you have to pronounce it aloud so the people remember. Your autobiography essay can do it, as you will write about what inspired you for a particular artwork and what catapulted your art path.
• Apply for a visa (usually, working type). That’s a rare case, but an embassy/administration can demand this document to make sure you don’t just emigrate for no apparent reason.
• Get your book published. Again, the publisher wants to see your commitment to writing.
• Register as a politician or join a party. Look at it as doing their job on checking your background easier. They wouldn’t want to accept someone that doesn’t support their core principles and ideas through actions.
• Register at a union. The same.
• Do the class assignment. Sometimes you need an autobiography essay sample just to get away with the homework.  

As you see, it’s not only about getting your homework done — you have to know how to write an autobiography essay because you’ll need one at some point in your life. Learn how to write a stellar autobiography today!

How to write a good autobiography essay?

First, what is a good autobiography? The answers to that may vary. In our opinion, a good autobiography essay example is the one that fully corresponds to its objective. What do we mean by that?

From the previous part, you’ve seen that autobiographies can be used for different purposes. If you apply for college, they want to read more about your academic achievements and success more than anything else. If you write it to participate in the art contest, they won’t be much interested in what school you’ve finished (if any at all). However, they will care about your relationship to art throughout your life.  

As it’s with writing any piece well, the process requires a few preparatory steps. We define 4 major ones.

1. Check out good autobiography narrative essay examples

You’ve probably read a few memoirs already, as they’re becoming more and more popular with the rise of celebrity culture. There are autobiographies from sportspeople, business moguls, artists, musicians, writers, etc. — just walk in the bookstore, and you’ll see. Pick up a few written (or co-written) by the people you admire — and you’ll get the gist of how to do it to hook up the reader. Take the following list as a recommendation but always research those public figures that you like.

• Patti Smith — Just Kids
• Michelle Obama —  Becoming
• The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin — Benjamin Franklin
• Losing My Virginity: The Autobiography — Richard Branson
• Long Walk to Freedom — Nelson Mandela
• Walk Through Walls — Marina Abramovic

2. Understand the why

It has to deal with the reason you were asked to submit an autobiography sample essay. At this point, you need to understand what the potential reader is expecting to see or want to read. The autobiography essay example for college will differ from the one you need to submit to some art center, which means you’ll need to figure out what to focus on more.

3. Write out the most important moments and dates

Depending on your objective, you can break down your life into a row of milestones regarding it. In a college autobiography essay example, you’ll probably mention the high school, your achievements, competitions, awards you won, and everything that will show your will to learn and pursue further. The scholarship autobiography essay examples will focus more on what scholarship you’ve already won, what you’ve achieved, and what’s your relationship with a particular subject.

4. Plan your writing

In an autobiography, you usually describe your life in chronological order, and it can be a good starting point for planning your essay. From childhood until the present day, you’ll probably divide your writing into childhood, teen age, and adulthood.

5. Write thesis statement

Your thesis must be arguable; it must state a claim or refute a claim about your issue. A thesis must have some chance of being true in order to be debatable. It should not, however, be widely recognized as true; instead, it should be a statement that people can disagree with. It's important to remember that a thesis includes both an observation and an opinion:

observation + opinion (the "why") = thesis

Seeing if your thesis creates a powerful antithesis is an excellent approach to determine how strong it is.

Common thesis pitfalls:

• A thesis in the form of a fragment.
• A thesis that is overly broad.
• A thesis that is phrased as a question. (The thesis is usually derived from the solution to the question.)
• Extraneous information is included in a thesis.
• A thesis that begins with the words "I believe" or "In my opinion."
• A thesis that deals with a tired or cliched topic.
• A thesis that includes phrases that lead to erroneous generalizations (all, none, always, only, everyone, etc.)

Autobiography essay outline: The smart way to write it

If you wonder how to start an autobiography essay, we say this: start with structuring it. The standard solution is going for a 3-part structure: an introduction, main body, and conclusion.

• As the name implies, you introduce yourself to a reader, so s/he can understand a bit about you from reading this short 2-4 sentence passage. Keep the autobiography essay introduction short, to the point, focusing on your objective.
• Main body.Here you can divide it into a few sections that cover particular periods of your life, but don’t forget to make it interesting. Even if there weren’t much going on in your life, you still could write an interesting story. Take as much time and as many pages as you need to describe what you chose. The main rules that apply: make it easy-to-read, keep paragraphs short, and follow chronological order to lead the reader through your life.  
• How to end an autobiography essay, you’ll ask? By writing a short paragraph that you want to leave your readers with. It may be a lesson you’ve learned from a situation or saying thank you to the people who took the time to read about you more. Summarize your ideas and write a sentence that supports your objective.

For creative applications, you can deviate from this structure and focus on your ability to create an interesting story. If that’s not the case, stick with this go-to universal solution.

Autobiography Essay Examples

1. Autobiography of a Simple Girl…Yeah Right.

2. The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin-Response Paper

3. Autobiographical Criticism on Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller

Autobiography essay format: Tips to keep it easy-to-read

We’ve covered the structure and outline part, but there are a few more things to consider for writing a perfect read.

1. Write from the first person. Any autobiography example essayis a narrative from the first person (“I”) perspective. It’s important to be consistent with it in your writing.
2. It’s usually written in prose. However, creative minds can try to write it as a poem but again — it depends on the context.
3. It uses past tenses. Writing autobiographies mean describing your life in the past from the position in the present. Don’t mix and match tenses unless there is a stylistic purpose for doing so. Past simple will do well in 85% of cases.
4. Cover the period you’re asked about. Sometimes, the people are interested in a certain time span of your life (student years, for instance). Pay attention to that, too, to avoid writing out a lengthy text the readers will skip anyway.

Stuck with writing an autobiography essay? We can help!

Writing a professional or educational autobiography essay isn’t easy, and when the time pressure is applied, it seems a mission impossible. That’s where we can help! Instead of thinking out the structure, the objective, dealing with format issues, and proofreading it over and over, you can simply mention the most important events you’d like to highlight — and we’ll do the rest. How do you know we can deliver great work? Check out these autobiography examples essay — and see it for yourself.

Autobiography Essay Topics

Autobiography Essays About Myself

1. Characteristics of myself
2. Myself as a Leader
3. Story About Myself
4. A Time That I Felt Proud Of Myself
5. A Critical Evaluation of Myself
6. How I Met Myself
7. Do i consider myself a leader or a manager?

Helpful videos about How to Write an Autobiography Essay

1. How to Write an Autobiography

2. My Autobiography

3. Essay About Myself: Ultimate Writing Guide | EssayPro

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