Final answer:
An autobiography is a self-written account of one's life story, encompassing significant events, experiences, and lessons throughout the author's entire life or substantial parts of it. It presents a personal narrative of the author's experiences, unlike a biography, which is written by someone else.
Step-by-step explanation:
An autobiography is defined as a person's life story written by that person. This work of creative nonfiction encompasses the entirety of the author's life or significant parts of it. An autobiography is distinct from a biography, which is the story of a person's life written by someone else. In a sense, an autobiography is a self-written biography, providing a personal perspective on the author's experiences, accomplishments, and life lessons. This would include a full narrative of their life, unlike memoirs or personal narratives which tend to focus on specific periods, events, or themes within a person's life.
For example, The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass is an autobiography because it was written by Frederick Douglass about his own life. In contrast, a work like The Story of My Life written by Helen Keller is also an autobiography, detailing her personal journey and experiences. While memoirs and personal narratives are similar to autobiographies, they typically concentrate on a smaller slice of an individual's life and are more thematic, aiming to convey a specific message or lesson learned through a series of reflective personal accounts.