"To read an autobiography," one author has written, "one must know the fictions it engages." As you choose and read a first-hand account of an American woman, you will have to keep this in mind. The literary traditions of American women's autobiographies run deep. The stories of former slaves, sentimental Victorians, colonial captives, and social feminists each belong to rich genres of women's writing about their experiences as American women. Each genre uses a specific set of fictions; in fact, the set of fictions employed by an autobiographer often defines to which genre her autobiography belongs. As part of your assignment, you will be identifying the traditions into which your chosen autobiography fits, as well as deciphering the fictions your writer chose to define her own life.

Your extra-credit assignment, due Wednesday 8 December 1999, is to write an analytical essay (500-750 words) in which you address the following question:

Using the autobiography you have chosen, discuss the ways in which the specific life of the author sheds light on the broader patterns of women's experience in the United States during the author's lifetime. Be sure to provide a brief summary of the author's life and an analysis of the text (see questions to think about below).

Questions to Think About:

1) When was this book written and published? By whom? Under what circumstances? For or to whom was it written?

2) Is there an introduction to the autobiography, and by whom is it written? What is the significance of this introduction?

3) Who was the autobiographer? How did she identify herself? Which categories of identity (eg., race, class, sexuality, gender, occupation, marital status, educational status, etc.) did she stress in identifying herself and which did she omit? What is the significance of how she identified herself?

4) Has the autobiography undergone extensive editing that you can recognize? How did this editing change the story?

5) Pay attention to the style of the autobiography. Does the tone or style change when discussing certain topics?

6) What is the experience of the reader? Is the reader intended to respond emotionally or intellectually to what she or he is reading?

7) Who are the heroes and heroines of this autobiography? What in their behavior is defined as good?

8) Who are the villains? What in their behavior is defined as evil?

9) Is this a believable story? Why or why not? How do the details comport with other information you have about women's experiences in this period and situation?

Last modified: Wednesday, 24 November 1999.