【Biography】 , 【life】 , 【memoir】 , 【autobiography】 , 【confessions】 are comparable when they mean a more or less detailed account of the events and circumstances of a person’s 【life】 .

【Biography】 is the technical, neutral term for this kind of writing or for an example of it; the term suggests neither length nor brevity of treatment, neither factuality nor in- terpretation of facts, neither partisanship nor detachment, for it may be characterized by any of these qualities, but it does imply that the course of a career is covered at least in its main events.

【Life】 usually suggests a fuller and more intimate treatment than  【biography】 ; a work so designated may, however, be written on a brief scale or be drawn out so that very little is escaped.

【Life】 is often used in place of 【biography】 when the author especially wishes to suggest a vivid or graphic or interpretive account or to imply the addition of firsthand material (as letters or ajournai); the term is also often used in the combination " 【life】 and times" as the title for a 【biography】 placing the subject in the background of his period.

【Memoir】 (or often the plural memoirs) refers to a 【biography】 written by one who has intimate knowledge of its details; although it does not necessarily imply that the subject of the 【biography】 is the writer, it very frequently does so.

Also, 【memoir】 may suggest reminiscences of a whole or of part of a 【life】 ; the term therefore carries no promise of completeness, or fullness, but it does connote a more personal approach than 【biography】 or, usually, than 【life】 .

【Autobiography】 refers to a 【biography】 of oneself typically written toward the end of one’s 【life】 or at the completion of one’s active career. 【Autobiography】 usually implies some distinction in the writer and a demand for or the desire to give information about the personalities and events of his time or about the background of the events in which he has played a part. The term is seldom used in the titles of books and is preferred as a designation of a type.

【Confessions】 as a type belong to the genre of 【autobiography】 . 【Confessions】 are usually written by a person who desires to avow fully the experiences of his 【life】 , both shameful and creditable. The motive of such a book is as varied as the books themselves; thus, to give extremes, the 【Confessions】 of St.

Augustine were written for the glorification of God, who has brought him out of a 【life】 of sin; the 【Confessions】 of Rousseau were written to reveal truly and sincerely all his experiences without reference to the opinions of men.