A biography is a nonfiction text about someone's life that is written by another person.1

Authors write biographies for several reasons: 

• To document the life and achievements of an individual: Biographies are written to show the important moments in a person’s life, including their successes, struggles, and how they helped others.3

• To provide inspiration and motivation: Biographies can encourage readers by showing how someone worked hard, overcame challenges, and achieved their goals. This can help readers feel motivated to pursue their dreams.

• To preserve history and culture: Biographies give readers a glimpse of people from different times and places, showing what life was like and what was important to them.

• To honour and remember someone’s impact: Biographies can be written to show respect and gratitude for someone who made a big difference in the world, so their achievements are remembered for a long time.

Examples of Biographies:

• Ivan was a real gorilla who spent his first twenty-seven years in a mall after being kidnapped in the wild. After being abducted, Ivan truly did live with humans in their home until he grew too big at which point he was transported to a mall in Washington State, in the United States of America. Ivan's sister who was also captured, tragically died. Three decades later, after widespread criticism of his living situation, Ivan was moved to the zoo, where he spent the rest of his days. Ivan, in reality, was also a talented painter, which made him unique. 

• While Ivan's story is rooted in real-life events, much of The One and Only Ivan includes fictional elements. Dialogue, Ivan’s internal thoughts, and characters like Stella, Ruby, and Bob were created by the author, Katherine Applegate. 

• In her author’s note, Katherine Applegate states, 

"When I started to write about the grim facts of Ivan’s solitary existence, a new tale slowly began to take shape. At least on the page, where anything is possible, I wanted to give Ivan (even while captive behind the walls of his tiny cage) a voice of his own and a story to tell. I wanted to give him someone to protect, and the chance to be the mighty silverback he was always meant to be." 

• Therefore, since the book has elements of fiction and is loosely based on a true story, we may consider this book a fictional biography.3