ONE: Introduction Chapter to Multi-genre Autobiography writing portfolio

The introduction is really just a self-reflection essay and there is no right or wrong way to do a self-reflection provided you introduce and reflect on every piece that you include in this portfolio. Basically, you want to go back through all of your selections and explain why you chose to write about the selection the way you did. A few tips:

  1. Follow a typical 3 paragraph essay format (intro, body, conclusion).
  2. Explain the selections in order.
  3. Do not write that you only did a piece because your teacher made you; rather, reflect on what you learned from writing it.
  4. Reflect on the easiest, most difficult, most painful/exciting/funny or well-written writing pieces and why. How you feel about your writing and why you feel that way is the most important part of the self-reflection.

TWO: Family Photographs Chapterto Multi-genre Autobiography Writing Portfolio

Read Michael Ondaatje’s “Photograph” p. 1264 of your textbook. Note how he reflects on his parents’ lives before he was born. Using the photograph you brought to school:

  1. Take notes on every physical detail in the picture from the expression(s) on the subject(s) faces to the couch or wallpaper in the background. Take note of colors, posture, hair length or style, anything. These notes do not need to be in complete sentences!
  2. Now you should have a healthy list of physical details. Go back to your list and interpret what these details say about your subject. If your subject has a smile on her face, for example, jot what you think this says about her, maybe what she is thinking or what her outlook on life is. If your subject wears the latest fashion of his time period, jot what you think this says about him. Think about what the physical details say about the person inside.
  3. Like Ondaatje, write an essay in complete sentences A) Describing the photograph B) Explaining what the details say about the subject’s personality. You may incorporate what you know about your subject or leave it out. For instance, if your aunt is always smiling in old photographs but never today, you can note that in your essay and reflect on what that may say about her (ex: Did her husband die? or does she currently have health problems?). You can also speculate about what your subject is thinking or feeling in the photo as long as you can tie it to the physical details somehow.