memoir
Sign in to savethumb|200px|Title page of Henry David Thoreau|Henry Thoreau's memoir, [[Walden (1854)]]
AI overview
A memoir is a personal account written by someone about their own life experiences and memories. It matters because it allows readers to understand history and human experience through the authentic voice and perspective of someone who lived through significant events or periods.
AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.
Article
12 sectionsContents
- Early memoirs
- From the eighteenth century
- Memoirs today
- Political people
- Scientists
- Ordinary people
- Collections
- Terminology
- See also
- References
- Further reading
- External links
thumb|200px|Title page of Henry David Thoreau|Henry Thoreau's memoir, [[Walden (1854)]]
A memoir (; , ) is any nonfiction narrative writing based on the author's personal memories. The assertions made in the work are thus understood to be factual. While memoir has historically been defined as a subcategory of biography or autobiography since the late 20th century, the genre is differentiated in form, presenting a narrowed focus, usually a particular time phase in someone's life or career. A biography or autobiography tells the story "of a life", while a memoir often tells the story of a particular career, event, or time, such as touchstone moments and turning points in the author's life. The author of a memoir may be referred to as a memoirist or a memorialist.