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Books Quiz - Genre - Autobiographies 4 (Questions)

This quiz looks at how autobiographies follow a person through different stages of life, from early memories to work, friendships and later experiences.

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Fascinating Fact:

Autobiographies often cover childhood, family background, education, work and important relationships.

In Specialist Books, autobiographies are studied as crafted life stories. Writers organise real events into a readable narrative, choosing which experiences to highlight and how to reflect on them for the reader.

Key Terms

Life stage: A period in a person’s life, such as early years, school days or later adulthood, used to organise the story.
Supporting relationship: A family, friendship or work connection that strongly influences the writer’s experiences.
Narrative focus: The main area of life the writer chooses to emphasise, for example career, travel or personal change.

Frequently Asked Questions (Click to see answers)

What parts of life are usually described in an autobiography?

An autobiography usually moves through a person’s life in order, picking out key memories from their early years, education, working life and major events that shaped who they became.

Why are other people so important in autobiographies?

Other people matter because family, friends and colleagues often influence decisions, provide support or create conflict. Describing these relationships helps readers understand the writer’s choices and feelings.

How can reading autobiographies help students in English?

Reading autobiographies helps students explore real voices, practise close reading and think about structure, viewpoint and tone while also learning about different times, places and experiences.

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A Funny Way to Make a Living! is the title of the autobiography of which member of the Dad's Army cast?

[ ]	Clive Dunn
[ ]	Ian Lavender
[ ]	Arthur Lowe
[ ]	Bill Pertwee

Who wrote Confessions of an English Opium Eater?

[ ]	Daniel Defoe
[ ]	Aldous Huxley
[ ]	Charles Lamb
[ ]	Thomas de Quincey

Which comedian wrote the 2006 autobiography Common as Muck?

[ ]	Roy 'Chubby' Brown
[ ]	Julian Clary
[ ]	Billy Connolly
[ ]	Harry Enfield

Menace is the title of the 2004 autobiography of which former fast bowler?

[ ]	Curtly Ambrose
[ ]	Dennis Lillee
[ ]	Jeff Thomson
[ ]	Courtney Walsh

Which inventor called his 2006 autobiography Against the Odds?

[ ]	Trevor Baylis
[ ]	Christopher Cockerell
[ ]	James Dyson
[ ]	Clive Sinclair

Which American writer called her 1933 book The Autobiography of Alice B Toklas?

[ ]	Natalie Barney
[ ]	Mina Loy
[ ]	Dorothy Parker
[ ]	Gertrude Stein

Which Northern Irish politician wrote the 2001 autobiography Before the Dawn?

[ ]	Gerry Adams
[ ]	Martin McGuinness
[ ]	Ian Paisley
[ ]	David Trimble

Which former Goon wrote a volume of autobiography titled Peace Work, which begins just after he's been demobbed?

[ ]	Michael Bentine
[ ]	Spike Milligan
[ ]	Harry Secombe
[ ]	Peter Sellers

Which BBC war correspondent wrote the autobiography The Kindness of Strangers?

[ ]	Kate Adie
[ ]	George Alagiah
[ ]	Martin Bell
[ ]	Brian Hanrahan

10.

What is the title of Jimmy Nail's 2005 autobiography?

[ ]	A Geordie Lad
[ ]	A Geordie Soul
[ ]	A Northern Lad
[ ]	A Northern Soul

Books Quiz - Genre - Autobiographies 4 (Answers)

A Funny Way to Make a Living! is the title of the autobiography of which member of the Dad's Army cast?

[ ]	Clive Dunn
[ ]	Ian Lavender
[ ]	Arthur Lowe
[x]	Bill Pertwee

He played the ARP Warden, William Hodges

Who wrote Confessions of an English Opium Eater?

[ ]	Daniel Defoe
[ ]	Aldous Huxley
[ ]	Charles Lamb
[x]	Thomas de Quincey

It was first published in the London Magazine in 1821, then in book form the following year

Which comedian wrote the 2006 autobiography Common as Muck?

[x]	Roy 'Chubby' Brown
[ ]	Julian Clary
[ ]	Billy Connolly
[ ]	Harry Enfield

Brown's real name is Royston Vasey, and this was chosen as the name for the fictional town in the comedy TV show The League of Gentlemen in which he makes some cameo appearances

Menace is the title of the 2004 autobiography of which former fast bowler?

[ ]	Curtly Ambrose
[x]	Dennis Lillee
[ ]	Jeff Thomson
[ ]	Courtney Walsh

The title is a reference to the classic Beano comic character Dennis the Menace

Which inventor called his 2006 autobiography Against the Odds?

[ ]	Trevor Baylis
[ ]	Christopher Cockerell
[x]	James Dyson
[ ]	Clive Sinclair

He invented the bagless vacuum cleaner

Which American writer called her 1933 book The Autobiography of Alice B Toklas?

[ ]	Natalie Barney
[ ]	Mina Loy
[ ]	Dorothy Parker
[x]	Gertrude Stein

Toklas was Stein's lifelong partner

Which Northern Irish politician wrote the 2001 autobiography Before the Dawn?

[x]	Gerry Adams
[ ]	Martin McGuinness
[ ]	Ian Paisley
[ ]	David Trimble

The autobiography is one of 15 books to have been written by Adams

Which former Goon wrote a volume of autobiography titled Peace Work, which begins just after he's been demobbed?

[ ]	Michael Bentine
[x]	Spike Milligan
[ ]	Harry Secombe
[ ]	Peter Sellers

He also wrote poetry with one of his works, On the Ning Nang Nong, being voted the nation's favourite comic poem in 1998