Hooks

Hooks

Before you Read

An autobiography is a book about a persons life, written by that person.  Important information to have in an autobiography would be details about that person.  First person views on all of the critical events that went on in their life.

Summary

In Bell Hooks article, "Writing Autobiography", she explains her life and all the experiences she has had.  She tells us how her memories were not always correct and uses he writing process to help show examples of her life.  Her audience is anyone that wants to learn about writing an autobiography.

Response	Quotation
This is explaining how she wanted to kill the self in the writing.  Once it was gone she could become more of herself.	“To me, telling the story of my growing-up years was intimately connected with the longing to kill the self I was without really having to die.” (177)
She tried year after year and only wrote a few pages.  It was a more difficult process that she had hoped.	“Until I began to try and write an autobiography, I thought that it would be a simple task, this telling of one’s story.” (177)
In those two incidents she explains how there was specific occasions when it was very evident that the experience of being in his company was the catalyst of remembering.	“Two specific incidents come to mind.” (178)
Explaining how the elders told their autobiographies through stories.	“Within the world of my childhood, we held on to the legacy of a distinct black culture by listening to the elders tell their stories.” (179)

AE #5 

5. When writing my own autobiography, I would set my discourse community by talking about events from when I was a child and past experiences.  I would use specific examples to set the tone.  By doing so, I can better understand my own life and experiences.

Thoughts

I really enjoyed reading Bell's article.  It really helped me understand more about how to write an autobiography and what exactly it is.  I like that she told us that even for her it was hard to start and finish her life story and even sometimes she couldn't recall her own experiences.