The Image of Neil Patrick Harris in his 'Choose Your Own Autobiography'. Self-presentation and Conviction of the Reader

Essay from the year 2020 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Literature, grade: 3,0, University of Paderborn (Institut für Anglistik und Amerikanistik), course: Life Storying, language: English, abstract: This essay examines how Neil Patrick Harris's Choose Your Own Autobiography constructs a convincing and likeable self-image. Through various perspectives, humor, and the interactive nature of the narrative, Harris effectively portrays a stable and confident identity that readers are led to believe. This essay aims to prove that in Neil Patrick Harris's Choose Your Own Autobiography readers are made to believe his self-image because the autobiography captures various perspectives on his identity, who arrive at the same conclusion, humour functions as a tool to convey a likeable image of himself, and last but not least, the genre autobiography, as well as the interactivity of the narrative, restrict his self-presentation to his advantage.