Writing Lives: Literary Biography - Cambridge Contexts in Literature

Writing Lives: Literary Biography Author/s: Midge Gillies Writing Lives takes as its focus life writing, both autobiography and biography, discussing these genres specifically within the contexts of the lives and literary careers of writers, past and present. In addition to exploring the key characteristics of life writing, the book also examines the relationship between the lives of authors and the influence of these lives both on their own writing and on the reception of their work by contemporary and later readers. The book traces the origins of literary biography from its early roots to its position as a best-selling genre in its own right. Features: Each title includes a wide-ranging yet carefully levelled introductory discussion of a literary period, genre or theme, to provide students with an excellent introduction to an area of literature. Helps students to address the new assessment objective 4 ('demonstrate understanding of the significance and influence of the contexts in which literary texts are written and received') - worth up to 35% of the A level qualification under new guidelines. Discussion questions and end-of-section tasks offer an invaluable resource for self study as well as helpful exam preparation. A mini-anthology of texts and extracts saves teachers time searching for appropriate 'wider reading' texts.