Question

In which style may an autobiography be written?
(a) Formal
(b) Informal
(c) Semi-Formal
(d) All of the above

Answer 1

Hint: Recall what an autobiography means. The options given describe certain ways of writing, choose the one in which autobiographies are generally written.
Complete answer:
An autobiography refers to a book consisting of the life-story of a person, X, written by X himself. For example- The Story of My life by M. K. Gandhi
Now, let’s look at an autobiography in detail-
i. It is written by a person about his own life. Hence, he is allowed to use any kind of language and style.
ii. It is usually written in the first-person narrative. First-person pronouns include I, we and us.
iii. Many writers tend to write formal autobiographies while some writers choose to write informal autobiographies.
In the given question- We can conclude that an autobiography can be written in formal, informal and semi-formal style. Hence, all of the above options are correct.
Now, let’s examine the given options-
Option a- ‘Formal’ refers to a professional autobiography that is usually brief and smaller in size. Hence, it is an incorrect option.
Option b- ‘Informal’ refers to a casual autobiography that is usually lengthier in size and provides a vast life-detail of the author’s life. Hence, it is an incorrect option.
Option c- ‘Semi-Informal’ refers to a mix of formal and informal autobiography. Hence, it is an incorrect option.
Option d- ‘All of the above’ is the correct option because all of the given options include the appropriate writing style.
The correct answer is Option ‘d’.

Note: Always remember that an autobiography is a self-account, whereas a biography is written by another person. Also, the writing style, narrative, etc are based on the writer’s choice.