Reading a Phase Autobiography

Before writing about an important phase in your life, you should see how another writer wrote about his life. As you read the paragraph and full phase autobiography below, think about how the writer put ideas together and how you might use some of the same strategies in your own writing.

Reading an Autobiographical Paragraph

An autobiographical paragraph has three main parts. The topic sentence states the topic and focus of the story. The body sentences explain the main actions of the story. The ending sentence shares a lesson learned.

Sample Paragraph

1. What lessons did the writer learn from the experience? What details in the body sentences reflect these lessons?
2. What details did you find most interesting in the story? Name at least three.

Warm-Up for Phase Autobiographies

We all go through special phases that shape who are we and who we will become. This unit will show you how to write a compelling narrative about an important phase in your life.

What Is a Phase Autobiography?

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A phase autobiography is a special form of narrative writing in which you write about a period in your life when you changed or grew in important ways. All people—especially young people like you—go through changes. A move to a new city may force one person to become more outgoing and personable in order to make new friends. The arrival of a baby brother or sister may cause another person to take on more responsibilities in the family. Learning how to play an instrument may show still another person the value of dedication and hard work.

You can write about a life-changing week, month, season, or year. Your biggest challenge may be choosing what to include in your writing and what to leave out. If you try to tell everything, your writing will go on and on, and may even become boring. Instead, plan to share just the key encounters, actions, and places as well as their effect on you. By doing so, you will create an effective narrative that readers can enjoy and learn from.

Thinking About Narrative Structure

The best narratives (stories) display a common structure characterized by rising action that builds interest to a peak before falling again toward a satisfying resolution. This structure mirrors the shape of the most rewarding experiences in life, so it is not surprising that phase autobiographies often follow this structure.

The following graphic shows how narratives build suspense through a series of actions that raise the stakes, leading to a critical moment or climax, when the main character confronts the central struggle.

Reading Historical Narratives

Before you recreate a historical moment, you'll want to see examples from other students. This lesson shows you a sample historical narrative paragraph and essay. As you read them, think about how the writer made the people, places, and events come to life through description, action, and dialogue.

Reading a Historical Narrative Paragraph

A historical narrative paragraph has three main parts. The topic sentence states the topic and focus of the story. The body sentences explain the main actions of the story. The ending sentence wraps up the historical narrative in an interesting way.

Sample Paragraph

Reading Personal Narratives

Before you share a story about a time when you learned a valuable lesson, you'll want to see how other students explored their topics. Read the sample paragraph and narrative essay in this lesson and answer the questions about them. Think about how the writer puts ideas together and how you might do so in your own narrative.

Reading a Narrative Paragraph

A narrative paragraph briefly shares a story about something that happened in the writer's life. It includes three parts: The topic sentence introduces the story. The body sentences describe what happened in time order. The ending sentence tells why the experience was important, possibly by stating a lesson learned.

Sample Narrative Paragraph