out of the tunnel

Create the first two double-spaced pages of the rough draft of your autobiographical memoir based on a personal experience that had a profound effect on your worldview or your behavior. The essay must contain dialogue and should point to a discernible moral or theme. Epiphanies are welcome.

Rough Draft Requirements:

MLA format
2 double-spaced pages
Dialogue & well-developed hook
2 1/2 pages Maximum
some things about me- my name is Christina Ugochukwu and I am 23 years old. I was born in New York (Queens) but lived most of my life in Nigeria (Lagos). I have one brother and 4 step siblings. I mostly lived with my grandmother in Nigeria because my parents are not married and because my mom is from the states, she could not always visit in Nigeria. I don’t have the best relationship with my mom because I started fully living with her when I retuned to the US at 16, so are relationship is rocky.
An exercise we did last class and my response( I was hoping that you could draw something from it), where we were to Review the first paragraphs from each of the autobiographies listed in the chart below. Which one appeals to you most? Explain why.
response to the exercise: At first, I was compelled to choose James Weldon nelson: The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored man because I have always thought that the story of my life was so secretive and dramatic that it would lead to my undoing. I have so many things hidden in my past, that my family would freak out if they ever found out, but I have come to realize since last year, that these “secret” that I have kept to myself, have slipped through the cracks if lips a few times to my family and close friends, but I never got the response I felt I needed from them. Which is why I choose Anna Frank: The Diary of Anne Frank, if I were ever to release copy of my autobiography, I would hope my audience would be supportive and a source of comfort to me because it is what I never got from the family closet to me. The paragraph feels to me like a cry for someone to hear her story and that really appealed to me.

AUTHOR/TEXT PASSAGE
Anne Frank: The Diary of Anne Frank

“I hope I will be able to confide everything to you, as I have never been able to confide in anyone, and I hope you will be a great source of comfort and support.”

St. Ignatius: The Autobiography of St. Ignatius “Up to his twenty-sixth year the heart of Ignatius was enthralled by the vanities of the world. . His special delight was in the military life, and he seemed led by a strong and empty desire of gaining for himself a great name. The citadel of Pampeluna was held in siege by the French. All the other soldiers were unanimous in wishing to surrender on condition of freedom to leave, since it was impossible to hold out any longer; but Ignatius so persuaded the commander, that, against the views of all the other nobles, he decided to hold the citadel against the enemy.”
Andrew Carnegie: Autobiography of Andrew Carnegie “If the story of any man’s life, truly told, must be interesting, as some sage avers, those of my relatives and immediate friends who have insisted upon having an account of mine may not be unduly disappointed with this result. I may console myself with the assurance that such a story must interest at least a certain number of people who have known me, and that knowledge will encourage me to proceed.”
James Weldon Nelson: The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man ‘I know that in writing the following pages I am divulging the great secret of my life, the secret which for some years I have guarded far more carefully than any of my earthly possessions; and it is a curious study to me to analyze the motives which prompt me to do it. I feel that I am led by the same impulse which forces the un-found-out criminal to take somebody into his confidence, although he knows that the act is likely, even almost certain, to lead to his undoing. I know that I am playing with fire, and I feel the thrill which accompanies that most fascinating pastime; and, back of it all, I think I find a sort of savage and diabolical desire to gather up all the little tragedies of my life, and turn them into a practical joke on society.”
Black Hawk: Autobiography of Ma-Ka-Tai-Me-She-Kia-Kiak or Black Hawk “I was born at the Sac village, on Rock river, in the year 1767, and am now in my 67th year. My great grandfather, Nanamakee, or Thunder, according to the tradition given me by my father, Pyesa, was born in the vicinity of Montreal, Canada, where the Great Spirit first placed the Sac nation, and inspired him with a belief that, at the end of four years he should see a white man, who would be to him a father.
Consequently he blacked his face, and eat but once a day, just as the sun was going down, for three years, and continued dreaming, throughout all this time whenever he slept. When the Great Spirit again appeared to him, and told him that, at the end of one year more, he should meet his father, and directed him to start seven days before its expiration, and take with him his two brothers, Namah, or Sturgeon, and Paukahummawa, or Sunfish, and travel in a direction to the left of sun-rising. After pursuing this course for five days, he sent out his two brothers to listen if they could hear a noise, and if so, to fasten some grass to the end of a pole, erect it, pointing in the direction of the sound, and then return to him. ”

***A significant moment that led me to get a better and deeper understanding of my person was when I was able to face an episode of trial and tribulation and come out on top.