Autobiographical Essay

Write an autobiographical narrative essay about an event in your life that has changed you or had a big impact on you. Your job as a writer is to put the reader in the midst of the action, letting him or her live through an experience. Use lively, active verbs and sensory language that appeals to the readers’ five senses. Use descriptive language (awesome adjectives and adverbs) and figurative language/literary devices (flashback, suspense, irony, etc.)
Event will be “Family vacation”
Include these elements in your essay:
A plan for writing that addresses purpose and audience
Purpose: To entertain, or to share a lesson you learned
Audience: Your teacher, your parents, and other students
A clear sequence of events from your life using details and descriptions
A central conflict, problem, or change in perspective
Precise words that show the event’s significance or your attitude towards the event.
Consistent use of first person point of view (use first person pronouns- “I, me, we, etc.”)
Use correct pronouns and dialogue punctuation (quotations)

For an example of an autobiographical narrative from your Literature book, please look at page 130.

You need to have at least 5 paragraphs in your essay:
1st paragraph: Introduction- explaining the event and providing background
2nd-4th paragraph: Telling your story in a chronological sequence of events
5th (or final) paragraph: Conclusion- explain how the personal experience had an effect on your life

If you would like to use research for your story, you could do the following:
Interview friends or relatives about the event you’re describing
Search news sources for background on events that happened during the time of the events you’re writing about
Go to a local library or consult a historical society for more background about places in your story.
If you do an interview or do research, make sure you cite those sources in your final draft using the MLA citation