elvis and me

I have to say that I’m pretty pleased with the idea of my unit plan. Writing ones autobiography or memoir could serve as an incredibly validating exercise for anyone. When dealing specifically with children and all of the harsh realities they must face every day, I can envision the autobiography workshop being a truly cathartic experience for them.
The ultimate goal of the Autobiography Workshop is to encourage children to explore their own stories and develop their own literary voice by reading and discussing the assigned texts and engaging in writing exercises that tie back to the readings. Hopefully the children who participate will have developed their reading skills, autobiographical writing skills, and will have developed a portfolio of writings that can serve as the beginnings of their own memoir/autobiography, but, what’s more, learned something profound about themselves.
I may be particularly drawn to the autobiography idea because my very first ventures into adult books were biographies and autobiographies that my mother bought but never read. Ernest Hemingway, Presilla Pressley, Dorothy Hammill, Time/Life: Cowboys…some of them desperately cheesy and horrible; others completely fascinating. But I got a rush from all of them. Reading these intimate stories was way better than the secrets I thought I could find (but never did) by rummaging through family members’ drawers.
Who knows, perhaps I will one day actually implement this plan (or something similar) in a library where I am actually employed. Imagine!