Autobiographical Incident Essay

LEQ: How do I apply the writing process to produce an exemplary descriptive essay?

Rationale: Autobiographical incident papers are an excellent means for the teacher to get to know their students. Since the assignment calls for both a description of an incident and an explanation of its significance to the writing, this type of writing provides an opportunity for students to practice “showing” vs. “telling.” This assignment is also a valuable precursor to the senior college admission essay.

Friday 9/22 or Monday 9/25 Day 1- Choosing a Topic- To help you select an incident from your past on which to focus your writing, begin by making a road map of your life, indicating the metaphorical turning points that have been significant to you.

When you have a road map, look it over.  Underline the items you can consider seriously as a focus for this assignment. Select two or three incidents and do a 10-15 quick write about each significant moment, what have you learned about yourself or others, how they changed, insights gained. Also consider briefly note the advantages and disadvantages of each as a topic for your paper.

How much do you remember?  How strong were your feelings at the time?  Do you see the incident differently now?  Strong answers to questions like these indicate a good possibility for a topic.  Now make your choice.

Thursday 9/28 and Friday 9/29  Day 2 Drafting

I. Introduction
Catchy Opening- Sensory detail- hearing, sight, taste, touch, smell
Thesis – incident
Forecast

II.- IV. Body paragraphs
Topic Sentence
Examples and details
Anchor
**Set up- answer the who, what, when, where and why
Incident- sensory detail (can be in intro.)

V. Conclusion- What do you understand as a result of the experience?  Has your understanding changed with time?  Why do you think this incident and your understanding of it might interest readers?  Why did you choose this topic?

Monday October 2 and Tuesday Oct. 3  Day 3- Drafting
Body Paragraphs

Wednesday 10/4 or Thursday 10/5  Day 4 Rough Draft Due
In GoogleClassroom G day- Tuesday 10/3 11:59PM or B day- Wednesday 10/4 by 11:59PM.

Remember the late work policy:
4 writing assignments/projects
Each assignment/project has checkpoints that are graded, if late, they can be turned in late up until the final product is due for 50%
The final product cannot be turned in late
No other assignments will be accepted late. That means Vocab assignments, parent/grade check, etc.

Reader Response
Once you have a first draft, there will be a verbal small-group response. We will be going to the Eagle Writing Center to read your papers out loud, other students will write and code their comments as described in the reader-response paper.

Matt’s B4 on 10/4 during EB- 25
Meagan’s G4 on 10/5 during EB- 18
Jeff’s B2 on 10/5 during class- 18
Jeff’s G3 on 10/6 during EB- 17

Friday 10/6 or Tuesday 10/10 Day 5 Revision
Students look for and correct errors on their papers.
Read the latest draft to yourself, look for spelling, punctuation, grammar and usage errors. The way you present your paper says a lot about you as a writer and your concern for the reader. A paper filled with mistakes is difficult to read and all of your ideas and hard work may be lost in the confusion of errors. Edit the suggestions and any corrections on your paper then creating a final draft.

Thursday 10/12 and Friday 10/13 Edit
Peer Edit this will help give you a fresh perspective on your writing.

Paper Due Monday 10/16 and Tuesday 10/17
The final product cannot be turned in late