Writing Workshop Writing an Autobiographical Narrative Assignment Prewriting Search Your Memory Choose an Experience Define Your Purpose and Audience Gather Details Organize Details Share the Significance of the Experience Practice and Apply Feature Menu

Assignment: Write an autobiographical narrative that reveals an experience’s significance for you. Writing an Autobiographical Narrative Do you have a relative or a friend who tells the same stories over and over again? Many people like to share stories about events that have a special significance to them or that reveal something important about their lives, values, or beliefs. What story will you tell? [End of Section]

Think about specific, meaningful experiences from your life. a neighborhood park, a vacation spot Writing an Autobiographical Narrative Prewriting: Search Your Memory a special place rode a bike, volunteered the first time you did something a sports event, a family reunion a special occasion [End of Section]

Ask yourself Writing an Autobiographical Narrative Prewriting: Choose an Experience Is this experience important to me? Choose the experience that brings out the most detailed and positive response from you. What specific details can I give about this experience? Is the experience too private or embarrassing to share? [End of Section]

Purpose Writing an Autobiographical Narrative Prewriting: Define Your Purpose and Audience To relate the sequence of events that make up a personal experience To express to your audience the significance of those events

Audience Writing an Autobiographical Narrative Prewriting: Define Your Purpose and Audience Teachers What background information will the audience need to understand the experience? Friends Others who will read your autobiographical narrative ClassmatesParents [End of Section]

List all the vivid details you can recall about events, people, places, thoughts, and feelings. Writing an Autobiographical Narrative Prewriting: Gather Details Events What sequence of events make up the experience? Were there important events that led up to or followed the experience? Tip Match the pace of your narrative to the pace of the actual events—a quick pace for rapid events, a slow pace for more drawn-out events.pace Sequence of events: volunteered for beach clean-up, found an injured turtle and got it help Later events: volunteered at an animal rescue shelter, decided to become a veterinarian

List all the vivid details you can recall about events, people, places, thoughts, and feelings. Writing an Autobiographical Narrative Prewriting: Gather Details Places Where did the events happen? Tip Use concrete sensory details to create effective images of the sights, sounds, and smells of the places you are describing.concrete sensory details Beach on a spring afternoon; cool breeze from the sea; warm, white sand; calm water; salty air

List all the vivid details you can recall about events, people, places, thoughts, and feelings. Writing an Autobiographical Narrative Prewriting: Gather Details People Who was involved in the events? What did those people look like? What did they do and say? Tip Use sensory details to describe actions and gestures. Use dialogue, actual words people say, to show each person’s personality.actions and gesturesdialogue Me—ages fifteen and sixteen Dr. Alice Monroe—animal rescue veterinarian; friendly; gentle with animals; always takes time to explain treatments

List all the vivid details you can recall about events, people, places, thoughts, and feelings. Writing an Autobiographical Narrative Prewriting: Gather Details Thoughts and Feelings What did I think and feel as the events unfolded? Tip Use interior monologue, “thinking out loud,” to share your thoughts with readers.interior monologue Excitement to volunteer, worry about the injured turtle, respect and admiration for the people at the animal rescue shelter [End of Section]

Discuss the events in chronological order, or time order. Writing an Autobiographical Narrative Prewriting: Organize Details Main narrative Discuss events that were part of your meaningful life experience. NextLast Conclusion Discuss events that came after your experience to show how that experience related to other parts of your life. First Background Discuss events that came before your experience to help your audience understand what led up to it.

Use transitional words and phrases to guide your readers through the events in your narrative. Writing an Autobiographical Narrative Prewriting: Organize Details at firstbefore to beginlater thennext afterwardslast Changes in Time aroundnearby across fromnext to besidebehind in front ofunder Changes in Place [End of Section]

Ask yourself Writing an Autobiographical Narrative Prewriting: Share the Significance of the Experience Did the experience change me? If so, how? What did I learn from the experience? Has my perspective, my thoughts and feelings about the event, shifted over time? If so, how?

Rescuing the injured turtle and volunteering at the animal rescue shelter has given me a new respect for animals and a sense of accomplishment and purpose. Write a sentence identifying your controlling impression—the main idea or feeling you want to communicate about your experience. You don’t have to include this sentence in your final draft, but every detail in the narrative should contribute to the controlling impression. [End of Section] Writing an Autobiographical Narrative Prewriting: Share the Significance of the Experience

Writing an Autobiographical Narrative Prewriting: Practice and Apply Follow the guidelines in this section to choose an experience, analyze your audience, and gather and organize details for your autobiographical narrative. [End of Section]

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Writing an Autobiographical Narrative Prewriting: Gather Details Pace quick pace for more rapid events slow pace for more drawn-out events The rescue shelter was very busy. I filed papers. I answered phones. I cleaned cages. The to-do list seemed endless. The turtle seemed scared, so I approached it very slowly and spoke to it in a soothing voice.

Writing an Autobiographical Narrative Prewriting: Gather Details Concrete Sensory Details What senses does the passage appeal to? At the beach clean-up, we found several old tires—the rubber brittle and hot from the sun’s heat—that were breeding grounds for hundreds of buzzing and biting mosquitoes.

Writing an Autobiographical Narrative Prewriting: Gather Details Actions and Gestures I spent several weeks working with Sammy, an older dog that had been abused. At the beginning I used slow, deliberate motions when I approached him, and I always brought him a treat.

Writing an Autobiographical Narrative Prewriting: Gather Details Dialogue Dr. Monroe explained, “Working with abandoned and neglected animals can be rough—sometimes they show up in such bad condition that it just makes you cry. But, watching them heal and learn to trust people again is worth all of the heartache.”

Writing an Autobiographical Narrative Prewriting: Gather Details Interior Monologue I told myself, “If I want to get into veterinary school, I’ve really got to buckle down and study.”