The story of a person's life written by that person. Folk ballads, which usually tell of an exciting or dramatic episode, were passed on by word of mouth for generations before being written down. The story of John Henry was passed down from primarily in musical form. Literary ballads, which usually have known authors, are written in imitation of folk ballads. The account of a person's life written by someone other than the subject.
Biographies can be short or book-length.
The part of the plot where the main character meets a tragic end. A person or other creature in a literary work. The Kid Nobody Could Handle. In direct characterization , the story s narrator makes statements about a character s personality. In indirect characterization , a character s personality is revealed through his or her words and actions and through what others think and say about him or her.