By reading biographies, people can satisfy their curiosity about well-known individuals and can experience historical events as though they were actually present. A good biography presents the facts about a person's life. This information includes what the subject did and how the individual influenced the period in which he or she lived. A biography also should describe the subject's personality and provide an explanation for why he or she acted in certain ways. Biographers help make their writings accurate by learning as much as possible about their subjects.
Biographers use such research materials as diaries, personal letters, and autobiographies.
A good biographical work should be objective and balanced, but these goals cannot always be achieved. For example, a biographer might not be able to write about all aspects of the subject's life because of a lack of research material. Many individuals do not leave diaries or letters, or such materials may have been lost or destroyed. Types of essays Essay is a short, nonfictional composition that presents the writer's opinion or analysis of a particular subject. Essays make up a major form of literature that includes many types of writing, such as book reviews, magazine articles, and newspaper editorials.