CCR English

“The Rambling Autobiography”

Your assignment is to write your autobiography … sort of!!! Here are the instructions:

  1. Open your Writer’s Notebook to the next available page, write “Rambling Autobiography” at the top of the page and in your Table of Contents. (If you were absent or had to download this, write the assignment on a sheet of notebook paper and then staple it into the Writer’s Notebook when you return to school.)
  2. Read the following Rambling Autobiography examples, one written by myself and two by students. Note the similarities in the ways they were written and the topics that they address
  3. Now tell me your own life story … one sentence (or so) at a time, following the general format of the examples. However, your story does not have to be in chronological order, nor does each sentence necessarily have to be connected to the ones in front and behind it!

Tips

  • Imagine your life is “flashing before your eyes”
  • Catch at least 15 of these moments “flashing” and write them down
  • This is “stream-of-consciousness” writing – each thought is not necessarily connected to the next
  • Use imagery to SHOW the reader these snapshots of your life
  • Note that the samples have endings that try to wrap up the writing; however that is not mandatory
  • Just do your best at remembering interesting snapshots of your life and jotting them down
  • Feel free to rearrange things, add things, or scratch things out … it’s your life after all!

“Rambling Autobiography” Examples

By Mark Braam Written Sept. 7, at 8:23 a.m.

I was born on March 10, 1961 … just days after the Peace Corps was established and, ironically, just days before and after the U.S. and Russia first tested major developments in rockets and missiles guaranteed to change the face of war “forever.” I rammed my head into a concession stand, giving me my first concussion. The doctor said, “Looks like a Cornelius, yes, a Cornelius, yes, a … ooops … it’s an Anna!!!” I once knocked another kid out accidentally in anger. My first car was an orange 1972 Toyota Corolla with a crushed trunk and a rusty floor. I once spit on Mr. Brady of “The Brady Bunch.” My first memory – at age 2 – is of crying and screaming while watching my parents through my hospital window while they left the parking lot. I hate stewed tomatoes; green peppers make me break out. My best friend got divorced by his wife via a text. To my ever-lasting shame, I once watched my younger brother be beat up without defending him … until seven years later. I once had an “accident” while driving home from college because I could not find a gas station or restaurant. My wife once tried to throw away my favorite hole-infested shoes and sweatshirt in secret, then pretended when I caught herthat she did so because the cat had peed on them. I stepped on a rock, severing all the tendons in my foot. I once used my euphonium to punch a Miami University football player who was threatening my Marching 110 bandmate. My favorite book series is about a leper. I am allergic to anti-allergy drugs. I re-met my first real girlfriend ever – on Facebook – after not seeing or talking to her in 36 years. I cannot remember the name of the first girl I kissed (but I do remember her purple, grape-flavored lip gloss). In 1974, my house blew away on the day of the Xenia tornadoes. My uncle was once a P&G international vice president … that is how I managed to afford college. Kelly green is my favorite color, followed by a brick-reddish burgundy. My basement has 4,023 books in it at last count. I have held my father, father-in-law and my cat as they died. I write for fun. I write for money. I write to educate other people. But, mostly, I write for fun.

Student Samples of Rambling Autobiographies

By Live-Love-Laugh

Teen Ink

I was born on a day soon to be filled with hate and death, apparently. A world-renowned magician and a 3-time NFL MVP were born then too, but they’re overshadowed by one of my worst fears … at least on Wikipedia. I adore microwave s’mores with Hershey’s chocolate bars. I’ll never tell, but I listen more then I talk. I think I’ve lied to almost all my friends and family. But not the baby. I never sat in the front seat until I was 11 years old, and even then my parents didn’t like it. My grandma still doesn’t. I complain, but sometimes I’m still scared I’ll get into another accident. I’ve been told almost every homework excuse you could think of, and I’m not even the teacher. When I was 4, I called 911 by accident: I was “practicing.” They still came. My favorite place to hide was my email, where I can check and change everything I say thirty times before I send it. I can still hear the condescending tones of all of my elementary school teachers. I pretended to be a different person in fourth grade because I was afraid of who I really was. I’ve crossed my fingers that my friends won’t be with me for summer camp activities. I broke my fifth-grade teacher’s great-grandmother’s Mason jar. I am a learner who lives. I want to be a liver who learns….

By JNF, Age 25, New Orleans

Scrbd

I was born on a cliff overlooking the Pacific on a date that makes me a water-bearer. At the age of 8, I lost a bike race by cracking the radius and ulna in my left wrist as I flipped over the handlebars of a baby blue Schwinn. Airplanes make me faint. Every year just before Christmas, my family gathers to make tamales. As the youngest of the cousins, my job is to perpetually peel green chilies until my fingers wrinkle into submission. My high school music teacher told me, “You’re more likely to find Jesus in the bars than in the churches,” and made me swear not to consider marriage before the age of 25. I love it when the music in my car coincides with the rhythm of something I can see through my windshield – birds swooping in unison, the blinking of a broken traffic light, or little girls chanting jump-rope rhymes. In college, I majored in Biblical Languages. I have a deeper knowledge of a dead language (Koine Greek) than the living language my grandparents were too afraid to teach my mom (Spanish). In 2010, I joined an organization of teachers who brush their teeth fortissimo (ff) and sleep in an upright and locked position. Sometimes I forget what year it is. The first three letters of my first name + the first two letters of my middle name + the first three letters of my last name = my first name. [Jennifer.] There are three items on my bucket list. One is to learn to play the accordion. One is to visit the graves of my Mexican ancestors on Dia de losMuertos. The third is a secret. My classmates make me want to be a better person.