How can I add my family history to my autobiography ?

Question

I'm needing to write an autobiography for my class. And I considering adding my ancestry in it. But I can't think of a creative way to do that. Could anyone help me?

Answer 1

Depending on how much your teacher likes or dislikes unusual openings, you could try going Biblical. That is, start out in a similar manner to the beginning of the Old Testament where one person begat another who begat another who begat another, etc. until you get down to your parents begatting you. (NOTE: "I am pretty sure that the Bible says "begat", but it is now considered an archaic form of "beget," so if you decide to do this, be sure to check with your instructor before using the archaic form.)
Something else you could try is to only mention one or two ancesters who are particularly interesting. For example, one of my ancestors was a minor chief of the Cherokee tribe who met with President Lincoln. Another went West on an early exploratory trip with a few others. He died (of exposure, if I remember correctly) and was eaten by his fellow travelers. If they had not eaten him, they probably would have starved to death. When they returned, they told our family members what they had done. Another thing I find strange is that my father's family once moved to a new home via covered wagon. My father was born in 1903. I think he was around 9 or 10 at the time, so I guess it wasn't unusual for the time period, but I still think it is unusual. The rest of my ancestors were pretty normal, but these family stories are interesting to me, and I think may be somewhat interesting to others.
If you did anything unusual when you were a little kid, you might want to include that. When my son had to write some family history, he included the time I had 22 cats--we lived on the edge of town where people would drop off kittens and puppies to either starve or learn to live off the land, but I brought home any I found. He also wrote about my 9th summer when I lived in a uranium mining camp that was two hours over bad roads to the nearest farming/ranching town that was so small it only had a two-room schoolhouse. My brother, sister, and I were the only kids, and my mom was the only woman.

Answer 2

One way would make an outline of a family tree and then right about it in your autobiography. In other words, make the tree then write in words the family tree you made describing all your ancestors. Another idea would be just to pick a few notable ancestors you love or enjoyed the most and write about what you have learned about them. If allowed, you could even just make a family tree and put it in with your report has part of a visual.

Have a great day!