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Writing Portfolio:

Memory Book

writing Portfolio: Memory Book

Throughout the year we have been working periodically on your Memory Book. It will consist of your memories and thoughts from your whole life. The final project will be due MONDAY, MAY 3rd. Some of these assignments will be written in class; others will be homework.

You should revise ALL assignments before rewriting them in final form at the end of the year. Most assignments will be at least a page long doubled spaced. Pictures and graphics will be required. Start every new chapter on a new page.

• Professional Binding—You can purchase a plastic liner from me for $0.25 or you can purchase your own. Keep everything!

• Cover-- Your cover should include your selected title, your name, year, and an illustration appropriate to your book. For illustrations, consider a word pattern, graphic design, collage, original drawings, photographs, quotations, etc. Select a word or phrase particularly meaningful for you to serve as your title. Browse through a thesaurus, listen to music you love, think of special people and places and interests, and then submit several possible titles. “A Book about Me” or “My Autobiography” are poor titles because they are vague and impersonal.

• Table of Contents-- List the Chapter title of all assignments in your autobiography with corresponding page number.

• 10 Photos/Graphics—Your book should include 10 photos and/or graphics. This does not take the place of page length, although you can wrap your picture/graphic in the middle of the text. Just make sure your text still meets the page requirement.

• AUTHOR’S PAGE—Your last page will be the compliment to your cover. You will create an author’s page introducing yourself as the author of this work. This should include a biography and a photo. Check out some author’s pages in your AR books to see what this should look like!

Every assignment should be:

➢ a thoughtful response to the assigned topic

➢ revised as necessary

➢ neatly and legibly written or typed

➢ typed

➢ titled on the top line

➢ numbered by page (only necessary with the final project)

➢ free of all errors and mistakes

DONENESS counts! But your writing should also demonstrate appropriate word usage, sentence structure, spelling, capitalization, and punctuation.

You’ve already completed the first 5 entries (bolded below). To complete your Memory Book, complete Chapter 6 and choose 6 more entries to complete, for a total of 12 chapters. As you work, make sure each new entry has a corresponding Chapter title and fits in the correct location in your Table of Contents. Everyone’s Memory Book will be a little different, that’s ok! (As long as the first 6 Chapters are the ones we’ve already done, the next 6 can be any from the following list.)

Your last page must be an Author’s Page. This will be the back cover to complete your book.

****If you choose, you can do 2 additional entries for extra credit for a total of 14 entries.

Chapter 1: Where I’m From

Chapter 2: Not So Ordinary Dictionary Entry

Chapter 3: How to Live Letter

Chapter 4: Kindergarten

Chapter 5: Middle School/Junior High

Chapter 6: High School

Hide and Seek—Describe in some detail games children play and your favorite games as a child.

My First Crush—That first crush in elementary school

I Wish I Could See _____ Again—Tell about someone that you have no contact with anymore but would like to see again. What happened between you? Is there something you can do to fix the broken relationship?

Let's Go to the Movies--Favorite movies at different times in your life: childhood, early teen years, and now

I'm Really in Love This Time, Mom (Your first serious romance)

Let's Take a Vacation—A memorable trip you took with family or friends or a trip you would like to take

At Last, I'm an upper classman—Your junior year: highlights, troubles, etc. – what are you looking forward to in your Senior year.

How Do You Measure Up?--By whom do you measure yourself? What important person in your life do you hold yourself up to in order to compare? Discuss those things that you look for in a “hero” and mentor and how you measure up to them.

Unanswered Prayers--Have you ever wished for something and then when it happened you wished you had not wished for it? Detail a personal experience where this happened and one where the song lyric “Some of God’s greatest gifts are unanswered prayers” has occurred in your life.

The Time I Dug My Own Grave---Discuss a time when you made a mistake that lead to a series of bad decisions - a downward spiral - you “dug your own grave”. How did it end? What did you learn?

2029—Where do you see yourself in 10 years? What are your goals for your life and your career? Remember, goals are things we can control, not things that happen by circumstance. Think carefully about what you can control in your life and what happens by circumstance. Give a detailed account of what your life will be like in year 2029.

Two-Faced--Describe a person that you have known who put on an act to be seen in one way when he/she was actually a completely different person. Why did they do it? Was it successful? How did you know they were not the person everyone else thought they were?

Collecting Days---How does one “collect days”? What does this mean? Is there one day that you did not collect that you regret? Explain and describe.

Resetting the Bar--How can we avoid reaching a point where all of our dreams have come true and we have nothing left to look forward to? Discuss the ideas of “delayed gratification,” “resetting the bar,” and the “pursuit of happiness.”

Mama’s Boy/Daddy’s Girl---Why is being a “Mama’s boy” an insult to men? Is it actually an insult? Why do boys sometimes choose their Dads over their Mothers to avoid the label? You can reverse this as well. Write from a daughter’s perspective and being a Daddy’s girl.

Family Traditions---What rituals do you and your family have? Describe some. What things will you always remember and associate with each family member? Consider Christmas, Thanksgiving, prayers, goodnights, goodbyes.

Future Plans: You vs. Your Family---Do you or have your parent(s) have/had a “plan” for you and your future? Describe it and detail what it will take to get you there.

Standards---We all hold people to different standards. Teachers/Parents know what each student/child is capable of and do not want them to fail to reach their full potential. Society holds teachers and the police to different standards than the rest of society, just to name a few. Discuss two people who YOU hold to different standards and explain why. Should it be that way? Why or why not?

Moving on---Have you ever moved to a new town, state, or country? If you went back after you had been gone for a while, what had changed and how did it feel to see things again? What did you remember? If you have not yet gone back, what do you remember that will stick with you?

You Ruined My Life---Write about a time when someone has “ruined” your life. Include details and growth from the experience. Did it actually ruin your life?

Passing on Pain---Why do we need to pass on pain to make ourselves feel better? Do you think you sometimes absorb the feelings/aspirations/pain of your parents or loved ones and let that influence your decisions? Why or why not?

Definition of Divorce---If you have gone through your parents’ divorce, describe how you were told it was going to happen. Did you think it was your fault? What is your definition of divorce? Discuss your feelings and physical reactions.

Leaving Home--Describe in detail how you think your parents will react the day you begin college or move out on your own and explain why.

Half and Half----Genetically children are half their father and half their mother. How does that translate psychologically for you? Are you being pulled in two directions? Do you lean one way more than the other? Is it by choice or by habit? Discuss in detail. Or are you more like someone else who has had a hand in raising you?

Memoir---Write a memoir of your best ever and worst ever days.

If I could change anything…---If you could, what moment in your life would you change and why? Discuss in detail.

Ghost Stories----In what way does every family have a ghost story? Discuss your family’s “ghost story” in detail.

A Walk in Someone Else’s Shoes--Think of a situation in which you disagreed with someone (could be a parent, a friend, teacher, sibling, etc.). Take the same advice Atticus gives Scout in To Kill a Mockingbird: look at the situation from that person's perspective. Then write about what you’ve learned.

Firsts--Our lives are full of firsts, especially for teens. You have so many firsts yet to encounter! Write about a “first” you have already experienced, what it was like, how it was the same or different than what you expected, etc. Then write about a “first” you’re looking forward to in the future and why.

I’m Proud of--What is the one thing that you are proudest of in your life? This could be something you’ve accomplished, a personality trait you have, or anything really! Whatever makes you proud!

Commonly asked Questions:

What are the requirements in order to turn in the 1st draft?

❖ Must be in either Times New Roman – 12 pt font

❖ Must be double spaced with 0 before or after spacing (like MLA format)

❖ Must have Chapter number with Title below Centered

Chapter 1

“My Life”

❖ Must be at least 1 full page

What do I look for when I edit my work?

Editing Checklist: Authors have to edit their books over and over again before they even send it in to the editor. Part of editing is making sure you are saying what you want to say. It’s not all about grammar. (Don’t get me wrong, grammar is still important!)

✓ Does each paper have an introduction and conclusion?

✓ Look at your paragraphs. Are your papers one big paragraph? Do the breaks that you have in place make sense?

✓ Make sure you are not rambling. Did you repeat the same thing twice?

✓ Are you repeating the same thing twice?

✓ Do your sentences all begin the same way? Change it up.

✓ Word choice- Are your words all the same? Do you have different verbs? Adjectives?

✓ Make sure all quotes have punctuation on the inside of the quotes. “Wow!”

✓ Check for the correct there, their, and they’re

✓ Count your linking verbs. Do you have more than 10 in a chapter? Change a few if you do your writing will improve.

✓ And of course check spelling and grammar!

What are the final requirements at the end of the year?

❖ Every chapter needs to be turned in

❖ The pages will need to be numbered

❖ You must have at least 10 pictures or graphics in your book

❖ The final copy must be edited to perfection

❖ Title Page

❖ Table of Contents

❖ Cover

❖ Author’s page

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