Assignment 3: The Autobiographical Sketch

EngC 1011 University Writing and Critical Reading

Kevin L. Callahan

EngC 1011 Writing Instructor

call0031@tc.umn.edu

(612) 623-7685

Educational Goals:

Writing personal narratives that make a point, persuade, or entertain are a favorite feature of newspaper opinion pages. Columnists make a living writing in this genre. Students have a lifetime of experiences to draw upon and clearly recording their memories at this time in their lives is a form of writing that is often valued much later in life.

Autobiographical Sketch (3 pages). Writing for yourself, your family, and posterity: - In this exercise you will create an "external permanent memory" through narrative personal writing. Your topic may be entertaining or serious and usually describes a personal experience, e.g. early childhood memories, The Roomate from Hell, Uncle Frank the bootlegger, My First Job, A Trip to the Boundary Waters, The Cat vs. The Firemen or Four Days Up a Tree, My worst blind date, What life will be like in the year 2050 AD, etc.

Exemplars: Examples of this type of writing may be found in many newspapers in their opinion columns. If you are good at this genre of writing, and enjoy it, you might be able to make a living with it.

Format

As with all major written assignments in the class, this major written assignment should be handed in with the first draft and all peer review comments put inside the left side of the two pocket folder and the final draft should be on the right side. Two pocket folders were handed out on the first day of class. If you did not get one, or need a replacement, you can buy a two pocket folder for 10 cents at Office Max. Papers are due at 9:30 am when class starts and should be in the standard format described in the syllabus.

Publication to The Class Bulletin Board:

Part of this assignment is to "publish" your Autobiographical Sketch to the rest of the class by posting it on the class bulletin board on or before the due date at
http://members2.boardhost.com/engc/

(The class bulletin board is also linked to the class website.)

Assigned:

Thursday, September 7, 2000

Due Dates:

FIRST DRAFT Tuesday, September 12, 2000 with 4 copies

Editing Practice/Peer Review workshop Tuesday, September 12, 2000

FINAL DRAFT Thursday September 14, 2000 (both in written form and publication on the Class Bulletin Board).

Number of course points: 40 points.