AP Language and Composition

Family History Narrative

Due: Friday, May 1st
For this assignment, you will write a narrative about your familys history. This nonfiction essay
should creatively examine three generations (including your own) of your familys history and
how it impacts you today. In this essay, you will focus on incorporating the elements of creative
nonfiction that we have been discussing in class.
You should consider interviewing your family members about their personal histories in order to
complete this assignment. There is no need to cite the information retrieved from interviews in
this paper.
Assignment Details

Purpose: The purpose of this essay is twofold. The essay will serve as an opportunity for
you to reflect on your personal and familial history and determine how it impacts you
today. This essay will also challenge you to incorporate the elements of creative of
nonfiction in your own writing.

Audience: Your audience will be TeenInk, a publication for teenage writers. Each of you
will be submitting your essay to TeenInk and it will be published online. Your essays will
be considered for publication in TeenInks print magazine.

Formatting Guidelines:
12 pt. Times New Roman font
Double-spaced
1 margins
Heading at the upper left hand corner of the paper (name, course, teachers name,
date)
Headers (last name and page number in the upper right hand corner)
Creative title
4-6 pages in length

Grading Criteria (see attached rubric):

Essay follows formatting guidelines
Information about three generations of your family is provided
At least five examples of the incorporation of the elements of creative nonfiction
are correctly identified and highlighted

 Organization
Conventions
Content
Supplementary Information
Sample questions that you may want to answer in this essay include (but are not limited to):
1. Are there any places that are special to your family?
2. Where did your family members grow up?
3. Where did your family members go to school?
4. What jobs have your family members had?
5. Does your family have any items that have been passed down for generations?
6. Does your family have any interesting stories or tales from childhood?
7. How has your familys history impacted your life today?
8. What is the historical context of your familys personal experiences?
9. What themes emerge in your familys history?
10. How will you continue your familys story?
Here is a list of the elements of creative nonfiction that we have been discussing in class
(McClanahan):
Flexibility of Form
Literary Approach to Nonfiction
Self-Discovery and Self-Exploration
Personal Presence
Veracity
If youre still struggling to write your essay, you may choose to read these articles about writing
compelling family history narratives:

Writing Narrative for Family History

http://www.storiestotellbooks.com/writing-narrative/

How to Avoid a This Happened, Then That Happened Family History Narrative
http://www.familyhistorywritingchallenge.com/how-to-avoid-a-this-happened-then-thathappened-family-history-narrative/

The Stories That Bind Us

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/17/fashion/the-family-stories-that-bind-us-thislife.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0