Writing Assignment #1: Autobiographical Essay Writing assignment #1...

Writing Assignment #1: Autobiographical Essay

Writing assignment #1 will be an essay in which you describe an event or person you have encountered in your past work experiences or experiences in your community.

Writing Assignment #1: Autobiographical Essay
Writing assignment #1 will be an essay in which you describe an event or person you have
encountered in your past work experiences or experiences in your community. This essay is
informed in part by an article from Mark Gellis, “Autobiographical Writing in the Technical
Writing Class.” That article is in the ereserves section of this class.
A Brief Introduction to the Strategies for this Essay:
In his essay, “Autobiographical Writing in the Technical Writing Class,” Gillis writes that “An
essay. ..is written not only to explain, but often to record and reveal the author’s personal
interaction with the subject” (p. 326). You will accomplish these steps in your essay. You will
record and reveal your interaction with the topic about which you are writing.
Gellis notes on page 327 that writing a story or narrative of one’s past can help one’s
professional growth. A goal of this essay is to help you understand your goals in pursuing the
degree you are pursuing at UMUC by describing and analyzing a work or community experience
you have had in the past. Examples of previous students who have written this type of analysis
are given below.
Overall, if you read the following article by Gellis in our ereserves section of the class, you will
have a good understanding of how to approach this assignment. The article is “Autobiographical
Writing in the Technical Writing Course.”
Organization:
In this essay, you will have the following:
 
an introductory paragraph with a thesis statement
 
body paragraphs that support the thesis statement
 
a concluding paragraph
In addition, the paper should be formatted according to APA style (e.g., you should include a
running head with page numbers, have appropriate margins, etc.) in accordance with the video
tutorial you observed in class, How to format your paper according to APA style.