Describing an important event in your life . . .From Reading to Writing In “The Great Rat Hunt” by Laurence Yep, a boy learns an important truth about his father’s view of life. In “Flying,” Reeve Lindbergh achieves a greater understanding of her father.

Autobiographical Incident

Describing an important event in your life . . .

Autobiographical Incident

For both writers, an experience taught them not only about their fathers but also about themselves. Writing an autobiographical incident, or firsthand account, can help you to see an important event in your life more clearly.

B a s i c s i n a B o xAutobiographical Incident at a Glance

RUBRIC STANDARDS FOR WRITING

A successful autobiographical incident should• focus on one well-defined incident

• grab readers’ attention at the beginning

• provide background information for the incident

• use elements such as plot, character, and setting as appropriate

• make the order of events clear

BeginningBeginning

Introduces the incident, including the people involved and the setting

End

• Tells the outcome and importance of the incident

• Presents the writer’s feelings about the experience

MiddleMiddle

• Describes the incident using descriptive details and dialogue

• Makes the importance clear

• use descriptions or dialogue as appropriate

• include precise language and specific details

• show why the experience was important

• have a strong conclusion that summarizes the importance of the incident

What is all knowledge but recorded experience?

Thomas Carlyle19th-century writer

What is all knowledge but recorded experience?

Thomas Carlyle19th-century writer

Writing Your Autobiographical Incident1 Prewriting

Check your old diaries.

Track down friends’ letters that you’ve saved.

Try asking each person in your family to name an event in your life that he or she remembers.

To choose your autobiographical incident,

Writing Your Autobiographical Incident1 Prewriting

Planning Your Autobiographical Incident Essay

1. Freewrite about the incident. Take a few

minutes to write down everything that you

remember about the incident. What happened?

When? Where? Who was involved? How did you

feel at the time?

Planning Your Autobiographical Incident Essay

2. Fill in the details. Go back to what you wrote

about the incident. Flesh out the description of

the time, the place, and the people involved.

Create a time line to help organize the events.

3. Think about the significance of the event. Why

do you remember the incident? What did you

learn? Did it change you?

Planning Your Autobiographical Incident Essay

4. Tell your story aloud. Share your story with

others. Can they visualize, or picture, what

happened? Do they have questions about the

order of events? Take notes on their reactions.

Begin drafting your essay. Remember that you can revise and reorganize your writing later. Try to give readers a strong sense of the incident. Show rather than tell why it is important to you. Include well chosen sensory details and dialogue as you plan your essay. Remember to start off with a strong beginning and conclude with a memorable ending.

2 DraftingWriting Your Autobiographical Incident

TARGET SKILL

MAKING THE ORDER OF EVENTS

CLEAR

To help your readers understand the order in

which things happened, use transitional words

and phrases. Some words that indicate time

include: to start off, at first, second, next, then,

after, earlier, before, later, finally, and at the

present time.

3 RevisingWriting Your Autobiographical Incident

TARGET SKILL

MAKING THE ORDER OF EVENTS

CLEAR

3 RevisingWriting Your Autobiographical Incident

Transitions are especially important if you

begin your narrative in the middle of the

incident or at the conclusion of the incident.

TARGET SKILL

COMBINING SENTENCES: COMPOUND

SUBJECTS AND PREDICATES

Separate sentences can often be combined by

using compound subjects or compound

predicates. A compound subject consists of two

or more subjects joined by the coordinating

conjunction and.

4 Editing and ProofreadingWriting Your Autobiographical Incident

TARGET SKILL

COMBINING SENTENCES: COMPOUND

SUBJECTS AND PREDICATES

4 Editing and ProofreadingWriting Your Autobiographical Incident

A compound predicate consists of two

predicates joined by a coordinating conjunction

such as and, but, or or.

FOR YOUR WORKING PORTFOLIO

5 ReflectingWriting Your Autobiographical Incident

What did you learn about the significance of the

incident? What did you find hardest about

writing this essay? Which part of the process

did you enjoy the most?