ENGLISH  3-12				             autobiographical  Essay

Assignment:	Write a formal essay describing your life to date, entitling it “Vignette of my Life”.

Purpose:	Practice the skills of description, making a value judgment, analysis, critical thinking, sequencing events, and reflection.  Learn how to write a descriptive and analytical thesis-driven essay using process as an approach, giving evidence from own life to illustrate description and substantiate opinion.

Prompt:	Everyone’s life is unique and interesting.  Write an essay describing the most important parts of your life, painting a picture in words of the people, places, events, ideas, etc. that have been a part of your experience, citing significant details and examples taken from your life to support the points you make.

Requirements:	Cover sheet, two-level sentence outline, text minimum 500 words in length, MLA pagination, rough draft, final copy in ink on one side of the page (every other line) or word-processed (12 pt. font / Times New Roman/ double-spaced), one-inch margin on all sides.

Essay parts:	Include the following (each item below must be a separate paragraph):
1.	introduction
2.	place of birth and area(s) of residence
3.	family (immediate and extended)
4.	friends
5.	school experience (elementary, middle school, high school…. 
6.	important events / happenings (good and bad) in your life that have had an impact on you (that made a lasting impression which you will never forget)
7.	goals (academic, career, personal)
8.	dreams 
9.	direction in life (past, current, future)
10.	conclusion

Helpful hints:        	Introduction development possibilities 
(Answer the following questions):
Do you often think about your life?  Does this English assignment force you to focus on it?  Is that good or bad?  Where are you going?  Where do you hope to go?  How has your life been so far?  Have you learned any important lessons?  Has anything been particularly important to you?
	Thesis statement (last and main idea sentence in introductory/1st paragraph):  
	     My life thus far has been ….
	
Conclusion development possibilities 
(Answer the following questions):
What can you say about your life after reflecting upon it?  Any lesson(s) you have learned from your or others’ mistakes? What do you look forward to?

Objectives mastered (same for all grade levels  at varying levels of difficulty,  critical thinking, and experience):
	W1.1 Use pre-writing strategies.						
W1.2 Generate drafts.							
	W1.3 Develop an extended response.				
W1.4 Revise writing.						
	W1.5 Edit for language conventions.				
	W1.6 Write and publish in a variety of formats.			
W2.1 Use writing to explain and inform.				
W2.2 Use writing to learn, entertain, and describe.			
	W2.3 Use writing to persuade/analyze/transact business.		
	W3.3 Use texts to make connections.				
	W4.1 Write legibly using print or cursive handwriting.			
	W4.2 Use keyboarding skills.					
	C1.1 Use language, vocabulary, images, sensory details.		 
	C1.4 Use strategies, techniques, methods.				
	C1.5 Choose appropriate patterns of organization.			 
	C1.6 Present information in formats.				 
	C1.7 Participate and respond appropriately.				
	C1.10 Use Standard American English (SAE).			 
	C2.3 Make predictions/inferences, compare/contrast.				
	C3.2 Interpret and evaluate ways events are presented.			 
	C3.4 Make predictions/inferences, compare/contrast.				
	C3.6 Compare and contrast treatment of situation/event.					
                  C3.8 Make connections.