A travelogue is

Step 1: Analyze the question The question asks for the definition of a travelogue, a literary term.

Step 2: Explain the concept The word comes from "travel" + "-logue" (from the Greek logos, meaning discourse or account). A travelogue is a piece of writing, or sometimes a film or talk, that describes the writer's experiences, observations and impressions during a journey. It is usually non-fiction and written in the first person.

Examples include Mungo Park's Travels in the Interior Districts of Africa and Paul Theroux's Dark Star Safari.

Step 3: Evaluate each option

• A. A record of the writer's experience during a journey. Correct. It matches the definition exactly.
• B. The account of the experiences of an individual during his lifeline. This describes a biography or autobiography, which covers a whole life rather than a journey.
• C. The account of the travails of a character in a novel. This is just a plot element or narrative description, not a genre.
• D. A variant of a novel written in a free style on a writer's journey. This is misleading. A travelogue is typically non-fiction, not a variant of the novel. The "journey" idea is right, but the claim that it is a novel form is wrong.

Step 4: Answer

Exam tip: Break the word apart. Travel + logue (an account) means an account of travel. Likewise, biography means an account of a life, and monologue means an account or speech by one person. For genre-definition questions, watch for options that describe a different genre, like B (autobiography) here.