Library & Innovation Centre

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 LEVEL 1: ​
brief, basic information laid out in an easy-to-read format. May use informal language. (Includes most news articles)

  The life story of an individual, as written by himself, is called autobiography. It differs from biography in that the person presents himself to his readers as he views himself and as he wants to be understood by others. The autobiographer’s most useful source of information is his own memory, aided by diaries, notes, letters, and papers to help him recall information, impressions, and events chronologically.

Autobiography. (2016). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved from http://school.eb.com.au.db.plcscotch.wa.edu.au/levels/middle/article/273025

​For further information on the literary genre Autobiography go to  Encyclopaedia Britannica

  The word 'Autobiography' is of Greek origin which literally translates to self–life-to write. This form of writing dates back to 400 A.D. when a Christian missionary, Saint Augustine wrote one. However, the original term was coined around 1800 A.D. when an English poet Robert Southey first used it.

(n.d.). Retrieved September 06, 2016, from http://www.buzzle.com/articles/autobiographies/

For further reading go to http://www.buzzle.com/articles/autobiographies/

  Chinese Cinderella Study Guide

The novel is an abridged version of Mah's first book, Falling Leaves, which provides a more detailed look into her years at university in England. Beyond the personal story of Mah's early years, Chinese Cinderella presents a vivid picture of the cultural amalgamation that was early 20th century China thanks to the ramifications of a war-ravaged time.

  Mao Zedong

(1893–1976). A Chinese military and political leader, Mao Zedong was the driving force behind his nation’s Communist revolution. Although he is considered an important revolutionary thinker, his policies did great harm to China and its people in the second half of the 1900s.

  Cultural Revolution

The period of the Cultural Revolution, which lasted from 1966 until 1977, was one of the most difficult in Chinese history. China’s leader, Mao Zedong, had led a revolution that brought a form of government called Communism to the country in 1949. He launched the Cultural Revolution in order to maintain that system.

  Children of the Revolution

I read Falling Leaves and Spider Eaters back to back on two consecutive nights. Despite their superficial similarities both are "true tales" of a young woman's life in the wake of the upheavals of China's twentieth-century revolutions, both have been compared (erroneously) to Jung Feng's Wild Swans--who books could not be more dissimilar. 

  Qin Shi Huang: The ruthless emperor who burned books By Carrie Gracie
BBC News, Beijing

There are two Chinese leaders whose final resting place is thronged by tourists - Mao Zedong and Qin Shi Huang, the emperor of terracotta soldier fame. But they also have another thing in common - Qin taught Mao a lesson in how to persecute intellectuals.

  The Genre of Autobiography: Definition and Characteristics

...In his book, Inside Out, E. Stuart Bates offers a functional definition of autobiography as “a narrative of the past of a person by the person concerned” (Bates 2).