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WR 220 Writer’s Autobiography (Writer's Autobiography Response Rubric to use for Peer, Tutor, and Instructor Responding) In chapter 2, Clark lists 5 ways of preparing to become an effective tutor. The first two are 1) Being a writer yourself, and 2) Reflecting on your own writing process. Thus, self-reflection in an essay on your own writing history and
writing process is a good first step to becoming an effective writing
tutor. In a well-developed essay, tell the history of yourself as a writer, going back to early years and proceeding forward to college years. Each of you has unique stories to tell and classes and teachers to describe. The best autobiographies provide vivid, concrete examples and description. Your final draft should be well-focused, organized, developed, and edited. You might find Clark's questions on pp. 23-24 helpful as you begin to reflect on yourself as a writer. As you ponder your answers to these questions, ask yourself how you came to write the way that you do. If writing has always been a struggle, ask why. If there was a turning point, what happened? If the early years were great and the high schools years were painful, how do you account for it? If you are student from another country for whom writing is a foreign language, or who was taught to write in ways specific to your culture, be sure to explore the experience of learning to write in a different language or culture. Writer's Autobiography Models Read the Writer's Autobiography Models to get an idea of what is possible. I provide several models, and provide a Instructor Commentary link at the top of each model in which I point out significant features of each model. Prewriting/Brainstorming With your first draft of this essay, you must submit at least one brainstorming activity to show you have tried out at least one prewriting activity. You will submit this activity with your final draft of the essay.(The purpose here is for you to try activities that you might share with future writers with whom you might work, so it is important to try out these tools first.) On pages 83-91 in Clark, and on pages 3-7 in Hacker are some Prewriting or Brainstorming activities which you will be able to share with students when you tutor. However, you need to try these activities out yourself if you are to offer these tools to others. Here are only a few examples that use the tools listed on these pages. There are many other possibilities: 1) List all of the teachers you have had from kindergarten onward. 2) Try clustering, putting the word writing or the name of a teacher in the middle. 3) Freewrite for 10 minutes, recording all that comes to mind when you think of the following subjects: the story of your worst writing experience in all of its awful detail. Provide the reader a lot of detail to make the experience vivid. the story of your best writing experience in all of its joyful detail. Provide the reader with a lot of detail to make the experience vivid. a portrait in words of the most effective writing teacher you have ever had, and describe the qualities and if the plot of your writing history were a film, what film would it be? (One student once answered, "Saving Private Ryan," and instantly found his thesis or center of gravity for his essay!) Title/Focus Your essay must have a title that reflects the focus of your essay. The title cannot be "Writer's Autobiography." Your essay must have a thesis/focus or a center of gravity, and this should be reflected in your title. What does it all add up to? Each of your stories has a different plot (Is your story a horror film, a war film, a romance, a comedy, a tragedy?) You probably will not begin writing with a clear focus. You will write yourself into an idea. Let the early writing be a process of discovery, and then select, shape, and focus in later drafts. Length Your essay needs to be as long as it needs to be to do what it needs to do. I have read successful essays ranging from 3-9 pages.
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