Finding Yourself Through Autobiography
Patrick A. Velardi
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Throughout this paper an attempt has been made to give students a better sense of autobiography and to open up an avenue of inspiration for writing. Samples of autobiographical writing are presented for their own value as good reading and for helping students to recognize the value in their own life experiences as source material for their own writing. By building from reading
Winfield
, one of the “rich and famous,” to the story of Doretha in
Sister
, who is “one of us” a person who learns how to deal with difficult situations from her own writing, students can learn about and then practice using a tool that will serve them well. Primarily the focus is on improving reading and writing skills, but, risking the danger of pretentiousness, it must be said that there is more to this unit than just that. Young people, indeed all people, need the positive feelings gained from self-reflection and empathy with others, whether the others are family, classmates or co-workers. In the end, if students learn this lesson, then their time will be well spent.