Autobiography (Theory and Practice) OpenCourseWare: MIT's Free Online Undergraduate Class on Autobiographical Writing

Published Apr 20, 2009

RSS Feed

The process of crafting an autobiography is the subject of this OpenCourseWare offered by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). 'Expository Writing: Autobiography - Theory and Practice' looks at autobiographies as well as the people who write them - what they choose to include and exclude, what perspectives they offer and what messages they weave into their stories. This material can benefit students seeking a Bachelor of Arts in English.

Expository Writing (Autobiography - Theory and Practice): Course Specifics

Degree Level Free Audio Video Downloads
Undergraduate Yes No No Yes

Lectures/Notes Study Materials Tests/Quizzes
No Yes No

Expository Writing (Autobiography - Theory and Practice): Course Description

The way an autobiography is written can often say as much about the author as the content of the story itself. This OpenCourseWare from MIT contains analysis of the theory and method of autobiography through readings and student papers. The readings include notes on a book about autobiographies written by Jill Ker Conway called When Memory Speaks. The OpenCourseWare also contains descriptions of assignments from the original MIT course along with sample student work. These papers have students responding to pieces of assigned reading, such as Virginia Woolf's Moments of Being. This material may be useful to students studying for a Bachelor of Arts in English.

Readings, assignments and samples of student work are available free as part of this OpenCourseWare. To begin reading about the art of writing memoirs, visit the autobiography theory course page.

Featured School Choices: