Root of the Week: GRAPH (Tuesday)

Biography (Noun)

A biography is the story of person’s “bio,” or life. Biographers sometimes present their subjects in a flattering light, but often biographies are celebrated for offering a complex picture of an individual—the “warts and all” approach. A nuanced biography is apt to strike readers as more accurate for its inclusion of the flawed as well as the admirable aspects of a personality.

Hagiography, Autobiography, (Noun)

The word hagiography refers to the biography of a saint (in Greek hagios means holy). Many religious traditions produce stories of holy men and women. But a biography may also be described as hagiographic if it appears to present an excessively idealized portrait of an individual. Depictions that make anyone OTHER than an actual saints appear inhumanly perfect tend to invite skepticism, so if a book reviewer describes a biography of a politician or an entrepreneur as hagiographic, that’s usually a diss.