AMITY INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL, NOIDA

CLASS 7
AUTOBIOGRAPHY WRITING

An autobiography is the story of a person’s life written by that person. An example is ‘My Experiments with Truth’
written by M.K. Gandhi, ‘Long Walk To Freedom’ by Nelson Mandela, ‘Playing It My Way’ by Sachin Tendulkar.
Can you name two more autobiographies?
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Autobiography writing tips
• Write in the first person.
• Use simple language. Make the account as interesting as possible. However, in a bid to write an interesting
autobiography you shouldn’t deviate from the truth.
• If you are writing the autobiography of an animal or an inanimate object, you should try to put yourself in
the position of the animal or object you are writing about and imagine the things it would see, say or think if
it were alive.

FORMAT

Title
Content:
Paragraph 1: Introduction
Paragraph 2: Elaborate life experiences
Paragraph 3: Conclusion

Getting started
1. Think about how the object exists.
Ponder on how the object came into existence, and how it existed all these days. For example, the autobiography of
a pencil- Find out how a pencil is made, the process it takes to make the final object.

2. Recollect your past experiences with it.

In the autobiography, the pencil will be writing about its experiences with you.
If no memory comes to your mind, try inventing a memory. For example, you might just invent
something like 'I always sat in a neat pencil case because my owner Agatha is a neat freak',
even though your pencil case was smelly and dirty! It is fiction, after all.

3. Stop thinking of it as an 'inanimate' object. Try to put yourself in its shoes and think about
how you would've felt if you had been the pencil.
Give it a name. You can invent a fancy name and surname or give it a normal name.
Give preference to a made-up name, as it intensifies your object's personality.

4. Give yourself a fictional name or be yourself in the autobiography.

Entries like 'Mary looked after me well, but she always pressed me onto the page as she wrote, thus breaking my
lead often' show the name of the pencil's owner.

5. Write about the experiences it had with its own life.

You can also write about the good or bad times it faced, the mistakes it made, and how it learned from it. This
depends on whether you plan to keep the autobiography light and merry, or deep and philosophical.

SAMPLE:
 THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF A WATCH
I am a wrist watch and I was born some seventy years ago at a small town in Switzerland. In
the light of one fine morning I was carried to Delhi, India with many of my brothers and
cousins in a cargo. There I was kept in a showcase of a shop for a few days for sale.
One day a rich man came to the shop to buy a watch for himself. I was quite expensive so it
was not possible for everyone to afford. He chose me among my other brothers and at once
wore me around his wrist. At this, his face glittered with a bright smile of happiness. The
gentleman took a great fancy to me. Gradually we began to like each other so much as to
be almost regarded as inseparable friends. I remained with him for five long years. One day,
a servant of his stole me and kept me with him for a number of days. During this time he
did not care to wind me and he kept me in a broken box at his house most negligently.
Gradually my health and energy began to break down and I was failing to maintain actual
time. In disgust the thief decided to sell me and went to a shop for that purpose. The
shopkeeper examined me again and again and looking at the seller's face doubtfully for
some time, told him to wait for a few minutes. By this time he went to the nearby police
station and told the officer in-charge of his doubt. The officer in-charge sent a constable
with him to arrest the thief.
I had to remain in the police custody for a few days during his trial. My lawful owner's name
and address was known from his servant. When my friend, the rich man got back his most
lovable thing, his delight was more than any language could express. Since then I have been
living with him with peace and pleasure.

Practice Questions:

Write the autobiography of a RIVER in about 150 words.

Take help of the following clues:

• Name
• Where does it originate?
• How does it travel?
• What all it sees during its journey?

Write the autobiography of a TABLE in about 150 words.

• Take help of the following clues:

• Points: Introduction – Life in the jungle – Taken to a wood merchant – In the carpenter’s work shop – In the
show room of the furniture merchant – Conclusion.