Creative Auto/biographies

Thinking about having your students read biographies for a social studies or language arts assignment? Or maybe have them write their autobiographies?

Here are a couple of "alternative" auto/biographies that were written "outside the box."

Spiegelman, Art. Maus I and Maus II. New York: Pantheon Books, 1992.
Biography (with autobiographical elements) written as a Graphic Novel. Spiegelman writes about his father’s experience as a Polish Jew during Hitler’s reign and also shows how he lives today.

A graphic novel may appeal to reluctant readers.

Also, when I was student teaching, I showed a variety of alternative auto/biographies to students and told them they could write their own autobiographies in any of the formats they saw. A reluctant writer was very excited to write a graphic novel of his life. Alternate formats can be a challenge to grade, but the enthusiasm they give students makes the challenge worthwhile.

Momaday, N. Scott. The Way to Rainy Mountain. New York: Harper & Row, 1968.
Autobiography written by a Native American (Kiowa) man. He weaves tribal history and tribal stories in with his own life stories.

Each section of this autobiography is written in 3 parts all on the same topic: tribal history, a tribal story, then Momaday's own personal story. Imitating this format could be a challenge for advanced students or an interesting activity for the entire class to participate in.

Also, kids interested in history--Native American history in particular--may enjoy reading this unusual autobiography.