flannery o'connor thomas wolfe zora neale hurston ken kesey

 ENG 101, Writing Project 4: 

The writing project 

The purpose of this project is to tell us about something significant in your life, something that helped mold you into who you are today, something that impacted you in a positive way-that is, something important to who you are now, today. As authors Ramage and Bean note in your textbook, "the spine of most autobiographical writing is a key moment or event, or a series of key moments or events, that shape or reveal the author's emerging character or growth in understanding" (144). So consider a time when, in one or more of the four worlds in which humans exist (academic, professional, personal, and civic), you 

· · Learned something about yourself 

· · Learned something about yourself that you wish you had not learned 

· · Had to make a major decision 

· · Made a major decision that went against what others thought you ought to do 

· · Faced a moment of crisis or critical choice 

· · Found yourself in a situation where one of your major beliefs was challenged and/or modified 

· · Faced an unexpected problem that--once you solved it--gave you a new insight about you or the world and people around you 

· · Did something in school that surprised you, and the people around you 

· · Acted differently than you and your family (or teacher, or employer) expected you to 

Choose an event or series of events that will be engaging to your readers and that will, at the same time, show them something about you and who you are as a person. Tell your story dramatically and vividly, giving your readers a clear indication of its autobiographical significance. Remember that a significant event or events doesn't mean something that was traumatic for you--it's something that influenced how you act today, who you are today--something that happened that had a positive effect on your life and on the person you are right now. This does not necessarily mean the event had to appear to be positive, but that it ended by having a positive effect on you.

It's not enough to just say, "well, this happened and it made a difference to who I am." Rather, it's critical that you show the significance by indicating 

· · What you learned from the event or series of events 

· · What you're doing now because of the way you were influenced 

· · How you act now, or think now, or deal with others now because of the way(s) you've changed 

Put another way, we all have stories that we could relate with good detail, stories that are interesting to tell and to hear . . . but which really didn't change who we are or how we act now, today. That kind of a story will not fulfill the requirements of this writing project. 

For example, you might tell in good detail about a relationship you were in, and how everything went along nicely, but one day something happened and one thing led to another until finally there was this big blowup . . . but unless you also show what you've learned from this experience, how you deal with new relationships in different, perhaps better ways, then what happened wasn't really significant, was it? In other words, unless you learned something from the experience and that learning affected the ways you act or think now, then perhaps the event or series of events really wasn't significant. 

Here's another example: perhaps your older brother was a real academic "star" back in high school and then again as he went through college--excellent grades, Honor Society, the Dean's List, many scholarship offers, and so on. At the same time, you worked hard in school but had a hard time "getting it," and your grades always were pretty mediocre: you struggled through grammar and middle school, and barely passed some of your high school classes. You pretty much figured that college was out of the picture for you. 

Then one day, you overheard your brother on the phone saying that, no, he couldn't go to the early show because he had a paper due the next day, and later, when your brother walked by your room, where you sat trying (pretty unsuccessfully) to read the text for your sophomore sociology class, you stopped him. "What's the deal with skipping the show?" you asked. 

"No big deal," he told you. "I just got myself into the habit of working before I started to play--to get my homework done before I went out. Hey," he asked, "how is school for you this year?" 

You were honest and told him what a struggle school was for you, how hard you always had to work. "School's always been hard for me," you told him, "and that's why I don't always go to class, don't always do the work." 

"Well," your brother said, "one thing that always helped me was writing. I don't mean those papers teachers ask you to write, but personal writing, in a journal or a diary, where I could say whatever the heck I wanted to say. I could bitch and cry and complain and no one would read it but me." He smiled. "And then, once I'd gotten down how mad I was about this assignment or that school project, I found out I could do it, and everything was easier for me. The rest was just showing up and doing the work--and making sure it was done on time, of course. So I forced myself to develop good habits." 

You thought about what your brother had said and now that you considered it a little, he was right: he always did get his work done before he went out; he even had some kind of calendar on his bedroom wall showing when he would study. While you weren't sure whether or not to believe your brother, you thought, why not give it a try? So you started writing in a daily diary, putting down your frustrations; you found that "yelling on paper" helped you calm down a bit and that it did make doing the work easier, more satisfying. You made a time schedule showing when you'd study and when you could "play." And you discovered that if you had your work done before you went out, you had a much better time. And going to class was easier and more fun, too, now that your work would be completed . . . so now, in college, how might you indicate that you learned from this "event"? 

Well, you might be able to write about how you always do your homework before heading out to the movies . . . how you schedule each day, in advance . . . how you always hit the library every Saturday morning, for any research you need to finish . . . how you plan to spend the hour between your afternoon classes doing the reading your teachers asked you to complete . . . in other words, you've developed habits that help you succeed in school. That's what you learned from the "event," and those are the kinds of details that show significance (and consider the opposite: what you learned from your brother would not be significant to you if you'd ignored his suggestions, right?).

This is merely one mild example, to get you started. I am sure that you have all had mysterious, strange, intriguing events and relationships that have been in many ways significant. Often, one just needs to sit quietly and contemplate your life to find wonderful material for autobiographical writing.

Elements of autobiographical writing to consider:  

Plot: the series of events that “show” the story.
Character: The people who act upon each other to move the plot along.
Place: Where (the physical location) the events take place and how the p lace shapes not only character, but plot.

Dialogue: Dialogue is a required element of the assignment, and a tricky one. How do people talk to each other? Begin listening to conversations, so you can make your dialogue believable. Also, remember that each speech has it’s own paragraph.
For example:  

“Yeah,” Traci said grinning, her scarlet lipstick perfect,“ I’m going.”

“ Watch out for him. He’s a letch." Lisa peered into the dark after Traci, twisting her scarf in her hand. "Don’t stay later than 12:30.” 

“No fear. He’s not the dark and brooding type. He’s always really polite.” At the curb, Traci turned, lifted her hand and waved at her friend.