Autobiographical Narrative Introduction A Writer’s Checklist Choosing an experience Recalling details Arranging details A Writer’s Model Your Turn: Write an autobiographical narrative

Introduction Suppose you were asked to describe an interesting experience that you’ve had. What would you choose? skateboarding? festivals? new friends?

I remember when I got my first pet. Introduction You write an autobiographical narrative to share with readers an experience from your life. The events and details you include will tell what happened and how you felt about it. I remember when I got my first pet. Writing an autobiographical narrative can also help you discover your feelings about your experience.

A Writer’s Checklist When you write an autobiographical narrative, you should: Choose an important experience from your life that you would like to share with others Recall descriptive details that will help readers understand the experience and its importance Arrange your details in chronological order

Choosing an experience Begin by choosing an experience that you would like to write about. You can brainstorm topic ideas by recalling emotional or memorable experiences talking with family and friends looking through old diaries, journals, or picture albums

Choosing an experience Once you have a few topic ideas, you can narrow the choices by asking yourself the following questions: Is this an important experience for me? Can I recall the events of the experience clearly and in order? Can I tell my audience what I learned from the experience?

Choosing an experience The final step in evaluating a topic idea is to think about whether you are comfortable sharing the experience with others. This is how one student, David, finally decided on his topic: My family canoe trip would make a good topic because I learned an important lesson from the experience. I remember many details about it, and I feel comfortable sharing them with an audience.

Recalling details Begin to flesh out your topic by recalling descriptive details about the experience you have selected. Your autobiographical narrative should include both action details and sensory details.

Recalling details Action details tell about the events that occurred the words that people said We listened to a safety presentation, buckled our life jackets, and got ready to drop our canoes into the water. Mom said, “I can’t wait to get started!”

Recalling details Sensory details describe the things that you hear see feel taste smell I gazed up at the tall trees along both sides of the river. They gave us shade from the hot sun. There was also a cool breeze blowing across the water.

Recalling details Below are examples of action and sensory details that David used to describe the beginning, middle, and end of his autobiographical narrative. ACTION DETAILS SENSORY DETAILS Beginning: We arrive for the canoe trip and set off down the river. We can’t paddle straight. hot summer day; shade from trees, cool breeze blowing across the water Middle: I start to argue with my sister; we run the canoe into the shore. our parents far ahead, waiting for us; my shouting End: We decide to cooperate. “We’ve got to work together.” cool breeze; feeling of racing smoothly down the river

Arranging details After you have gathered details, you can begin arranging them to tell your story. Most narratives are written in chronological order, or the order in which they actually occurred.

Arranging details To help arrange your details in chronological order, draw a road map. A road map traces the important steps of your experience from beginning to end. arrive for family canoe trip get in canoe with my sister can’t steer our canoe down the river argue with my sister decide to work together to steer canoe

Arranging details You can also arrange events and details in a time line. 12:15 pm—we struggle to paddle down the river 12:40 pm—I spot my parents’ canoe in the distance 12:45 pm—argument begins and we run into shore 12:50 pm we agree to work together and head back down the river

Arranging details Once you have arranged your events and details, you can write about them in chronological order, as well. The first part of your essay should describe the beginning of the experience. Beginning The second part should describe the middle of the experience. Middle End The third part should describe the end of the experience.

A Writer’s Checklist Use the checklist as you look at the following Writer’s Model and as you evaluate your own autobiographical narrative. Remember to: Choose an important experience from your life that you would like to share with others Recall descriptive details that will help readers understand the experience and its importance Arrange your details in chronological order

It was a hot summer day in the middle of July It was a hot summer day in the middle of July. My family walked quickly up to the boat ramp. We would be taking two canoes on a trip down the river. My parents would be in one canoe, and my sister and I would be in the other. details to set the scene None of us had ever taken a canoe trip, and we all felt excited to finally do it. We listened to a safety presentation, buckled our life jackets, and got ready to drop our canoes into the water. Soon, we climbed into the canoes and shoved off into the river. background information

As we began our trip down the river, I gazed up at the tall trees along both sides of the river. They gave us shade from the hot sun. beginning of experience sensory details There was also a cool breeze blowing across the water. However, it soon became clear that something was wrong. My parents’ canoe glided easily across the water. On the other hand, my sister and I sent our canoe back and forth across the river. We went from one bank to the other. We couldn’t seem to steer our canoe along a straight line. action details

Our struggles continued, and I could feel the frustration building between us. In the distance, I could see our parents waiting for us to catch up. middle of experience sensory details I began to call out instructions to my sister. “You’re paddling all wrong!” I shouted. Not surprisingly, she disagreed. “I’m doing it right; you’re the one who’s messing up,” she said and began to tell me how to paddle. Soon, we started arguing and stopped paddling completely. The next thing I knew, we ran straight into the shore. action details

I could smell the mud along the river’s edge where our canoe had landed. A ray of sun made my face feel hot. I felt my anger rising, but my sister remained calm. end of experience sensory details She suggested that we stop arguing and giving orders. “We’ve got to work together,” she said. I agreed, and we pushed back into the water. Instead of orders, we called out encouragement. We matched our paddling so that we were soon racing smoothly down the river, ahead of our parents. action details

I learned an important lesson on our canoe trip that day I learned an important lesson on our canoe trip that day. When my sister and I argued and gave orders, we couldn’t make it down the river. By not working together, we failed to steer the canoe. Not cooperating also kept us from enjoying an experience we had looked forward to for a long time. When we set aside our differences and decided to cooperate, it became easy to paddle the canoe together. We still look back with pride on the valuable lesson we learned that day. importance of experience

Your Turn: Write an autobiographical narrative Write an autobiographical narrative based on one of the prompts below. • Write about a frightening situation or a time when you faced one of your biggest fears. •  Write about an experience in which you had to admit that you were wrong.

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