Verisimiltude

verisimilitude: the quality of realism in a work that persuades the reader that he/she is getting a vision of life as it really is

"I was born in Tuckahoe, near Hillsborough, and about twelve miles from Easton, in Talbot county, Maryland. I have no accurate knowledge of my age..."
                                                              -Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglas
                                                                            by Frederick Douglass

Douglass begins his autobiography with a thoroughly factual tone. This evokes the feeling that the book is factual and true-to-life. This is important in an autobiography, as it makes the reader trust the author and believe what he writes. Douglass also wants verisimilitude in his work because he wants those who read it to become incensed at slavery; they will not do this if they believe the book to be extremely subjective.