Chapter 18: Autobiographical Incident
Learn What It Is:
The authors of Language Network introduce the chapter by providing a definition of an autobiographical incident as being: "a personal account of a significant event in your life." They then provide the student with a graphic representation of the format of the autobiographical incident, in this case, a diamond, labelled with a beginning at a narrow point, then a middle at the wide center part of the diamond, and an end at the opposing narrow point. The authors then provide a rubric for writing an autobiographical incident. This rubric includes:
The problem with labelling this as a rubric instead of just calling it helpful hints is that it suggests to the student that "this is how all autobiographical incidents are graded," and that can be incredibly confusing and problematic if the teacher's values or purposes for assigning an autobiographical incident differ. In his essay The Four Philosophies of Composition, Richard Fulkerson calls this "modal confusion" (1979). Fulkerson explains that teachers need to make sure that they are consistent in their values and therefore, he would suggest that a teacher who did not want to grade on the basis of these bullets would not use the book as a reference for this exercise. Note: Remember! These rubrics are a consistent part of all the lessons in the "Writing Workshops" section, each rubric for each genre of writing has the potential to be problematic.
The authors of Language Network introduce the chapter by providing a definition of an autobiographical incident as being: "a personal account of a significant event in your life." They then provide the student with a graphic representation of the format of the autobiographical incident, in this case, a diamond, labelled with a beginning at a narrow point, then a middle at the wide center part of the diamond, and an end at the opposing narrow point. The authors then provide a rubric for writing an autobiographical incident. This rubric includes:
- focus on a well-defined incident or a series of related incidents
- provide background information for the incident
- use elements such as plot, character, and setting as appropriate
- make the order of events clear
- use description of dialogue as appropriate
- include precise language and specific details
- show why the experience was significant
- maintain a consistent tone and point of view
The problem with labelling this as a rubric instead of just calling it helpful hints is that it suggests to the student that "this is how all autobiographical incidents are graded," and that can be incredibly confusing and problematic if the teacher's values or purposes for assigning an autobiographical incident differ. In his essay The Four Philosophies of Composition, Richard Fulkerson calls this "modal confusion" (1979). Fulkerson explains that teachers need to make sure that they are consistent in their values and therefore, he would suggest that a teacher who did not want to grade on the basis of these bullets would not use the book as a reference for this exercise. Note: Remember! These rubrics are a consistent part of all the lessons in the "Writing Workshops" section, each rubric for each genre of writing has the potential to be problematic.
See How It's Done:**
In this section, the authors of Language Network provide a student model as a good example and breaks the student model down and labels it according to the "rubric in action." Matching the parts of the rubric in action to the rubric on the page before might be a good idea because they are worded slightly differently and because they are not in the same order.
In this section, the authors of Language Network provide a student model as a good example and breaks the student model down and labels it according to the "rubric in action." Matching the parts of the rubric in action to the rubric on the page before might be a good idea because they are worded slightly differently and because they are not in the same order.
Do It Yourself:
The authors of Language Network provide a writing prompt that allows the student to pick his or her own topic. This would be supported by Peter Elbow, who says that more can be learned when the student picks his or her own topic because they are genuinely interested in representing their topic correctly and are more personally invested in their writing.
The authors then outline the writing process into prewriting, drafting, revising, editing and proofreading, and sharing and reflecting. In each of these sections it gives suggestions to the writer on how to go about each step.
The sections of Revising and Editing and Proofreading suggest that students pay attention to "target skills," which are normally very formalist in nature. Overall, these suggested focus areas and target skills cover a variety of pedagogical theories for composition. Fulkerson mentions some of the most basic pedagogical theories in his essay The Four Philosophies of Composition (1979). Those four philosophies are the rhetorical, mimetic, formalist and expressivist theories. All of these seem to be represented here:
Prewriting:
Drafting:
Revising**
The authors of Language Network provide a writing prompt that allows the student to pick his or her own topic. This would be supported by Peter Elbow, who says that more can be learned when the student picks his or her own topic because they are genuinely interested in representing their topic correctly and are more personally invested in their writing.
The authors then outline the writing process into prewriting, drafting, revising, editing and proofreading, and sharing and reflecting. In each of these sections it gives suggestions to the writer on how to go about each step.
The sections of Revising and Editing and Proofreading suggest that students pay attention to "target skills," which are normally very formalist in nature. Overall, these suggested focus areas and target skills cover a variety of pedagogical theories for composition. Fulkerson mentions some of the most basic pedagogical theories in his essay The Four Philosophies of Composition (1979). Those four philosophies are the rhetorical, mimetic, formalist and expressivist theories. All of these seem to be represented here:
Prewriting:
- examine memories: expressivist exercises are used to get the mind working, such as going through old journals and diaries.
- focus on your purpose and audience: embraces the rhetorical theory when it asks the student to consider their audience.
- sketch out ideas: formalist exercises are used to outline or otherwise organize thoughts to include.
Drafting:
- Begin drafting: expressivist exercises are used to begin the drafting process, the student is instructed not to be "overly concerned" with wording.
- organize your ideas: formalist approach suggests that students use chronological order and flashbacks for autobiographical incidents.
- elements of an autobiographical incident: narration, description, dialogue: formalist breakdown of what forms the actual text can take.
- Wrap up your account: embraces rhetorical theory when it asks the student to end with a statement that makes the significance of the incident clear.
Revising**
- Target skill: Show Don't Tell
- Target skill: Parallel Construction
- Finally, the authors of Language Network exhibit a great deal of value for reflection and feedback in response to student writing. See the main page for "Writing Workshops" for further analysis of this section.
Real World Autobiographical Incident**
The authors of Language Network exhibit a collage of places that autobiographical incidents might be found in pop culture and current events resources. This will help the student see the usefulness for this genre of writing.
The authors of Language Network exhibit a collage of places that autobiographical incidents might be found in pop culture and current events resources. This will help the student see the usefulness for this genre of writing.
Student Help Desk:**
The authors of Language Network review the chapter and outline it for the student. They reiterate the graphic representation of an autobiographical incident from the first page of the chapter. This is the section that will serve as a study guide for students and help remind them what the lesson was about when looking back. It includes a checklist of things to include in an autobiographical incident, which may or may not be useful depending on how the teacher employs the lesson and what objectives they intend to achieve by teaching it.
**Remember, these sections are consistent parts of each chapter in the "Writing Workshops" section and are very consistent regarding their theoretical interpretations, therefore, for the next chapter example, only sections not consistent are analyzed.
The authors of Language Network review the chapter and outline it for the student. They reiterate the graphic representation of an autobiographical incident from the first page of the chapter. This is the section that will serve as a study guide for students and help remind them what the lesson was about when looking back. It includes a checklist of things to include in an autobiographical incident, which may or may not be useful depending on how the teacher employs the lesson and what objectives they intend to achieve by teaching it.
**Remember, these sections are consistent parts of each chapter in the "Writing Workshops" section and are very consistent regarding their theoretical interpretations, therefore, for the next chapter example, only sections not consistent are analyzed.