1. Autobiographical Writing Prompts and Pre-writing

2. Do Now
Write down the following assignment. (We will be working on it for the next few weeks while continuing Color of Water. I will be giving you prompts and help in class.).
Write an autobiographical essay about a significant event, phase, or person in your life. Choose a subject that will be engaging for your readers. Write about your subject dramatically and vividly, and make clear what the significance of the event is for you.

3. Brainstorming an Autobiographical Topic
First, list especially memorable brief events of a few hours or, at most, a day. Think of the first time you did something. Think of accidents, surprises, victories, defeats. Think of moments of discovery or awareness.

4. Brainstorming on Autobiographical Topics
List periods of several weeks or months when something important was happening in your life, when you were changing in a significant way. Perhaps participating in a particular group, class, or team challenged you in some way or changed your beliefs or ideas. Perhaps you moved to a new city or school or were ill for a long period. Perhaps you learned something new or developed a new interest. Think of recent phases as well as much earlier ones.

5. Brainstorming an Autobiographical Topic
List significant people in your life. Think of people who taught you something about yourself, who surprised or disappointed you, or who had authority over you.

6. Choosing a Topic
If you haven’t already chosen an autobiographical writing topic, choose one now.
Make sure you choose a topic that will engage readers and which has meaning that you could reflect on in your essay. A topic that will engage your readers is one that contains narrative elements: action, conflict, characters, scene, etc.

7. Probing Your Topic RECALLING FIRST IMPRESSIONS
Write for a few minutes about your very first thoughts and feelings about the event, phase, or person. What happened? Who was there? How did you react? What thoughts did you have? What feelings can you remember? What do these first impressions reveal about you as a person (or the person you were when this event occurred)?

8. Probing Your Topic EXPLORING YOUR PRESENT PERSPECTIVE
Next, shift your focus to the present. What ideas do you now have about the event, phase, or person? Write for a few minutes, trying to express your present thoughts and feelings. How have your feelings changed? What insights do you now have? What does your present perspective reveal about you as a person?

9. Probing Your Topic STATING AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL SIGNIFICANC E
Try writing two or three sentences that state this event’s significance in your life.

10. Probing Your Topic IDENTIFYING PARTICULARS OF THE SCENE
If readers are to imagine the particulars of your scene, you must show them who was there and what the scene looked like. In your mind’s eye, survey the location of your topic, trying to visualize again all the important particulars. List the most important objects and people.

11. Probing Your Topic DETAILING THE SCENE
Choose two or three objects or people from your list, and write about each for a few minutes, detailing each object or person as fully as you can. Try to recall specific sensory detail: size, appearance, dress, way of walking and gesturing, posture, and mannerisms of a person; size , shape, color, condition, and texture of an object. Write down what you see.

12. Probing Your Topic RECONSTRUCTING DIALOGUE
Reconstructed conversations are often important in modern autobiography. If another person plays a role in your topic—even a minor one—reconstruct what the two of you might have said to each other. Keep your dialogue as close to informal talk as you can, and use the following format:
[Your name]: [What you said]
[Other person’s name]: [What the other person said]

13. Restating Autobiographical Significance
Now that you have explored your topic in several ways, write two or three sentences restating its significance in your life. Why is this event, phase, or person still important to you? What do you think you might learn about yourself as you write? What do you want to disclose about yourself to your readers?

14. DRAFTING SETTING GOALS
What do you want to accomplish with this autobiographical essay? How can you present my topic vividly and memorably to my readers? Will you use reconstructed conversation? Will you use description? How will you begin engagingly and hold your reader’s interest? What will make this story interesting and engaging? Will you use surprises and contradictions?

15. DRAFTING
Sketch a plan for your essay. What will you write about in each paragraph? For example, when will you describe each character? When will you reflect on your story?

16. DRAFTING
Write a rough draft of your essay, telling the story and being sure to include the following at some point in your story:
Description of objects in the scene
Description of main characters
What you felt and thought in the moment
What happened first, what happened next, what happened last
Dialogue between characters
A Reflection on what the story meant