Bonjour je suis en terminale L et je commence à préparer mes oraux du bac. Pourriez vous relire mon oral de littérature étrangère s'il vous plait ? merci d'avance pour votre aide The
autobiography is a literary style, used by the author in order to write about
his personal life and story. The writer, the narrator and the protagonist are
the same person. So, the I-narrative form is used. There is also the
utilisation of the past tenses. Indeed, the events related happened years ago,
they precede the moment when the author write his book. Nevertheless, he can
make comments using the present tense, like does for example Stefen Fry in his
novel by commenting and looking critically to the child he was, his actions,
emotions, reactions… So, we can say that there are two narrations: me before,
me now.
In the
autobiography, the progression is, generally, chronological.
Autobiography
can be presented in many different forms:
Pictures,
like the cover of Janet Frame’s novel, paintings like Norman Rockwell’s
paintings, novels like Roal Dalh or Stefen Fry, poems like William Cliff, music
like Barbara, diaries like Go ask Alice…
The
autobiography can have many different goals. The author can write to relieve
himself, to make a reflection about himself, to look back on his life, to
justify his choices, his mistakes.
He can
also testify on a time, a society, or he can pass a general message (like
Stefen Fry, who says that the whole world is lying or in Go Ask Alice, who say
that it's bad to take drugs because it’s created some addictions). The author
can also transmit things to people, with his personal experience of life.
The
autobiography brings freedom to the writer. Indeed, he can choose what he wants
to say or not, and in which way he does it.
This
freedom is especially present in diaries.
Indeed,
in first place used as a purely personal function, the author confides his
thoughts to himself, so he has control on what he wants to write, or what he
wants to say to himself.
In Go
Ask Alice (the author is a teenager, and her name is never said in the whole
book in order to preserve the anonymity), the author chooses not to write her
diary every day and she chooses to write generally about drugs, her resentment
about it and about the lack of drugs.
As for
him, Stefen Fry, when he wrote his autobiography, chose to focus on his first
lie, because it was an important and very significant event for him.
However,
this freedom does not do everything. Indeed, there is a charter to respect,
which unites the writer and the reader. This charter stipulate that the author
must say all the truth and only the truth; without hiding, changing or
inventing anything.
He
must shows himself in his true colors, taking the risk to be ridiculous or to
exhibit his defects. The readers, as for them, must believe everything the
author says, without any proofs. They must trust the author.
Nevertheless,
this charter cant’s be always respected, even if it’s very rarely. Indeed, over
time, we leaving out some informations or details about our life, our existence
( like, our childhood ).
We can
deduce that the author adds, invent or arrange probably frequently some
elements of his text.
Furthermore,
the author can, deliberately, hide some elements of his life, or facets of
himself. Or, on the contrary, exaggerate some fictionals.
All
this elements breaks this autobiographical deal and shows that there are some
limits at the autobiography and at the confidence that the reader must give in
the author’s words.
Furthermore,
the author can’t tell all his life and all the details, it would be too very
long. So, I must do some choices. But, the choices are subjective and doing
choices amounts to don’t say all the things and to hide some elements, and it’s
opposite at the autobiography.
To
make some choices, the author must order and organize his souvenirs, his
thoughts…
CCL :
Across a person’s life, the reader search a general truth about the human
condition.
We are
curious to know people’s life, but not every people’s life, just famous people.
Everyone can’t write an autobiography or
cant’s interest the readers.
autobiography is a literary style, used by the author in order to write about
his personal life and story. The writer, the narrator and the protagonist are
the same person. So, the I-narrative form is used. There is also the
utilisation of the past tenses. Indeed, the events related happened years ago,
they precede the moment when the author write his book. Nevertheless, he can
make comments using the present tense, like does for example Stefen Fry in his
novel by commenting and looking critically to the child he was, his actions,
emotions, reactions… So, we can say that there are two narrations: me before,
me now.
In the
autobiography, the progression is, generally, chronological.
Autobiography
can be presented in many different forms:
Pictures,
like the cover of Janet Frame’s novel, paintings like Norman Rockwell’s
paintings, novels like Roal Dalh or Stefen Fry, poems like William Cliff, music
like Barbara, diaries like Go ask Alice…
The
autobiography can have many different goals. The author can write to relieve
himself, to make a reflection about himself, to look back on his life, to
justify his choices, his mistakes.
He can
also testify on a time, a society, or he can pass a general message (like
Stefen Fry, who says that the whole world is lying or in Go Ask Alice, who say
that it's bad to take drugs because it’s created some addictions). The author
can also transmit things to people, with his personal experience of life.
The
autobiography brings freedom to the writer. Indeed, he can choose what he wants
to say or not, and in which way he does it.
This
freedom is especially present in diaries.
Indeed,
in first place used as a purely personal function, the author confides his
thoughts to himself, so he has control on what he wants to write, or what he
wants to say to himself.
In Go
Ask Alice (the author is a teenager, and her name is never said in the whole
book in order to preserve the anonymity), the author chooses not to write her
diary every day and she chooses to write generally about drugs, her resentment
about it and about the lack of drugs.
As for
him, Stefen Fry, when he wrote his autobiography, chose to focus on his first
lie, because it was an important and very significant event for him.
However,
this freedom does not do everything. Indeed, there is a charter to respect,
which unites the writer and the reader. This charter stipulate that the author
must say all the truth and only the truth; without hiding, changing or
inventing anything.
He
must shows himself in his true colors, taking the risk to be ridiculous or to
exhibit his defects. The readers, as for them, must believe everything the
author says, without any proofs. They must trust the author.
Nevertheless,
this charter cant’s be always respected, even if it’s very rarely. Indeed, over
time, we leaving out some informations or details about our life, our existence
( like, our childhood ).
We can
deduce that the author adds, invent or arrange probably frequently some
elements of his text.
Furthermore,
the author can, deliberately, hide some elements of his life, or facets of
himself. Or, on the contrary, exaggerate some fictionals.
All
this elements breaks this autobiographical deal and shows that there are some
limits at the autobiography and at the confidence that the reader must give in
the author’s words.
Furthermore,
the author can’t tell all his life and all the details, it would be too very
long. So, I must do some choices. But, the choices are subjective and doing
choices amounts to don’t say all the things and to hide some elements, and it’s
opposite at the autobiography.
To
make some choices, the author must order and organize his souvenirs, his
thoughts…
CCL :
Across a person’s life, the reader search a general truth about the human
condition.
We are
curious to know people’s life, but not every people’s life, just famous people.
Everyone can’t write an autobiography or
cant’s interest the readers.