Firstly, the placement of a philosophical summary is very important. Even a well-written summary, if placed poorly, will not help a reader. In fact, it could make the reader less enthusiastic about finishing the book. If the author of an autobiography puts his summary in the very first chapter, it will take away space and time from the hook story, and the reader is more likely to decide that it isn’t interesting, or worth the time.
If the writer makes the opposite decision and puts the summary in the middle of the book, the reader will find it, and think that it’s a bit late to be talking about life philosophies after half of the book has already gone by. The happy medium is probably, for most autobiographies, around chapters two or three. In these chapters, the reader already knows that they want to keep reading, yet doesn’t feel like they already have a firm understanding about the author’s opinions on various things.
Autobiographies are usually benefited when their authors include clear, concise philosophical summaries of themselves. If someone is beginning to read an autobiography, and the author has included his basic beliefs and opinions early in the book, the reader will feel as if they know or understand the writer more. This is especially important for autobiographies like Henry David Thoreau’s book Walden, which makes many claims and attempts to persuade readers to adopt a certain viewpoint. Without a summary, Walden is a confusing, unclear book.
THANKS for reading this essay, I’ll post more soon and have a great day.
Anastasia's Blog 