Autobiographical Reflection printable pdf download

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Autobiographical Reflection

Definition of genre

An autobiographical reflection requires you to consider events and experiences in your life and

analyze them in the context of topics or themes relevant to a particular course or academic

subject.

Questions to ask

•

Read the assignment carefully and consider its specific goals: do you need to provide

an entire life history or hone in on a few specific aspects?

•

In light of the assignment’s and course’s objectives, focus on how experiences in

your life have impacted your beliefs, opinions, and ambitions. Consider events in

which you have participated, people you have met, places you have visited, and

challenges you have faced. What lessons have you gleaned from these various

experiences?

Actions to take

•

Think about how your narrative ties into the particular subjects and questions

examined in the course; this should help you decide which specific events and

episodes in your life that you wish to highlight or discuss in the assignment.

•

In any autobiographical reflection, emphasize “reflection.” Description of the events

in your life provides the background for this type of assignment, but your reflections

on those events and their ramifications for who you are and who you have become

furnishes the substance of the essay.

•

An effective autobiographical sketch will generally not be a fact-laden chronology of

your life. Although some of these details may be important, you should concentrate

on drawing insights and lessons from particular events and experiences in your

personal history. A well chosen episode is often a far more interesting and effective

illustration of a given point than a laborious timeline of your first 18 years.

•

Keep in mind that you are writing this reflection in the context of a particular

academic discipline. If you cannot relate a certain detail to the subject at hand, it is

probably best to leave it out.

Helpful link

UNC Writing Center’s “Understanding Assignments” explains how to read a prompt closely.

Autobiographical Reflection