1. Personal Writing Autobiographical Incident Language Arts Mrs. Sellars

2. Personal and Expressive Writing Definition: Writing that conveys the significance of a writer’s ideas, thoughts, and feelings.

3. Principles of Personal Writing Involve the reader in the story. SHOW DON’T TELL! – sensory details – vivid language – rhetorical devices Although the main component of personal writing is the story, details must be selected carefully to support, explain, and enhance the story.

4. Principles of Personal Writing (contd.) The Autobiographical Incident: – Explores an experience important to the writer and shows why it was important. – Draws the reader in at the beginning and concludes in a satisfying way. – Makes the setting clear-where things happen. – Gives a good sense of time, place, and character through vivid sensory details and possibly dialogue. – Helps readers follow the order of events in time.

5. Conventions of Personal Writing Your story should be written in the first person. – 1 st = I, me, my – 2 nd = you – 3 rd =he, she, it Your incident should tell a story and have: – setting – characters – climax – conclusion: lesson, moral, closure

6. Potential Topics for Autobiographical Incident Vacation Birth of sibling Injury Meeting a new friend Award Moving Sporting event Surprise Honor Roll Death of someone special Divorce

7. Examples of Memoirs

10. Excerpt from Soul Surfer http://www.soulsurfer.com/story.html

11. Guidelines Essay should be approximately 1.5-2 pages in length. Your essay cannot be more that two pages! Effective dialogue must be present. Use sophisticated vocabulary words. Sensory details and rhetorical devices should be included.