The Lesson: Drawing a Life Map

In my class, I use this "life map" activity as a prewriting exercise. My students' life maps serve as graphic organizers that they use as they write their autobiographies. This activity could also be used successfully as a standalone activity.
Before the Lesson 
You might prepare a sample "life map" that illustrates your own life. A life map is a series of symbols that represent important things/events or goals in your life.

On my life map, I drew a set of bells to represent the day I got married. I drew an apple to represent day I became a teacher
In other words, a life map is a "symbol timeline" of your life. There are no words on a life map -- just pictures/symbols and arrows. Arrows connect the symbols in the sequence they happened in your life.
If you create a life map of your life you will be able to share it with students; it will serve as a model they can use as they create their own life maps.
Teaching the Lesson 
As mentioned above, I use this lesson as a prewriting exercise to having students write their autobiographies. For that reason, I have already read aloud to students a couple autobiographies so they understand the concept of an autobiography. You might begin this lesson by reading aloud an autobiography, or a chapter from one.
Talk about some of the important events that the author shared in the autobiography about his or her life.
Discuss with students the kinds of important events that they might tell about if they were to write their autobiographies. Have students share those "most memorable" or "most important" events from their lives. Write the events on a sheet of chart paper as students call them out. Some of the events students might share include
their birth
a special trip
a favorite meaningful thing/object they received from someone special
the first time took a step/learned to walk
a time they hurt themselves
a very funny event
a time they cried
the first bike ride
a memorable/favorite book
joining Little League
a hospital stay
the first plane flight
a day they met someone famous
a death in the family
their first dog
their first time at a pro football game The list could be endless. That's fine! The more ideas that are shared, the more likely students will be reminded of the most important events in their young lives.
Once you have a list (at least 15-20 ideas is good), review the list with the students and talk about a picture or symbol that might represent each of the events that has been shared. For example
their birth (a rattle or a pacifier)
their first step (a baby shoe)
a time they hurt themselves (a bandage)
their first bike ride (a bike)
joining Little League (a baseball and a mitt)
a hospital stay (a thermometer, the kind that takes your body temperature)
the first time they flew in a plane (a jet)
the first time they went to a pro football game (a football helmet)
Next, have students come up with eight (the number might vary by grade level) "most important" events in their lives. They can draw from the list they and their classmates created, or they can use events that were not shared before. Then students need to decide on the eight symbols that represent their chosen events on their life maps. Encourage students to choose a variety of events/symbols. The events should span their lives and the symbols should represent a variety of accomplishments, interests, activities, and experiences. Students might draw their symbols, cut the symbols out of magazines, search online for an illustration that can be used as a symbol, take a photograph All that appears on the students' life map are
• their names,
• their symbols, and
• arrows to connect those symbols in the order they happened.
There are no words on a life map.
When students have created their life maps, you might set aside time for them to share them with their classmates.
Students' life maps can serve as a graphic organizer they can use as they write their autobiographies. Each event/symbol will serve as a "chapter" in their autobiography. That symbol can also appear as an illustration for that chapter in their book. The chapters follow the sequence of events in their lives/life maps.



Drawing a ‘‘Life Map’’ _______________________________

An autobiography is a written account of a person’s life by that person.

A Life Map is a pictorial representation of your life using pictures (symbols) to represent events and goals in your life.
Think about the kinds of important events, "most memorable" or "most important" that you remember.

your birth a special trip a favorite meaningful thing/object you received from someone special the first time took a step/learned to walk a time you hurt themselves a very funny event a time you cried the first bike ride a memorable/favorite book joining junior sport a hospital stay the first plane flight a day you met someone famous a death in the family your first dog their first time at a AFL football game
The symbols could be for example... your birth (a rattle or a pacifier) your first step (a baby shoe) a time you hurt yourself (a bandage) your first bike ride (a bike)
joining Junior footy (a football or goals) a hospital stay (a thermometer, the kind that takes your body temperature) the first time you flew in a plane (a jet)

You can draw, cut out of a magazine, newspaper or find/print off the computer. All that appears on the life map are:

your name, your symbols, and arrows to connect those symbols in the order they happened.


Writing a Coming-of-Age Story

Plan the character arc. If the major thing motivating you to write this particular story is the desire to demonstrate how a character changes from child to young adult, you will want to spend considerable time mapping out that character change. That change will be key to your story. The road of change a character follows during the course of a story/plot is usually referred to as character arc. For instance, Luke Skywalker starts out as a wimp and ends up a Jedi thanks to the different events and people he encounters during the various Star Wars movies. When you start to put together your story, think first of who this character is to begin with and what makes her immature: Is she selfish or scared or has no luck with boys? Think of who is she at the end: mature, giving, socially poised, etc.? After you know your point A and point B, you'll have to do the much tougher work of figuring out how she gets there. Make sure the changes are incremental and not instantaneous - few coming-of-age stories take place overnight even if the inciting event that pushes the character toward adulthood does occur within that span.
• Consider rites of passage - and put your own spin on one. If you're trying to find events that a character may experience which could help her grow up, consider traditional rites of passage. These could be religious ceremonies like bat mitzvah or confirmation. These could be ethnic events like a quinceanera. These could be cultural - like the American tradition of moving out of your parents' house for college or a job. Could your story revolve around one of these events? If so, be sure not to give your reader or audience the "same old, same old" - put your own spin on these events - make the scenario original, specific and unforgettable.
• Consider what events in life may force a person to grow up. A lot of times, people go from child to young adult because events in their life force them to. Say a parent dies, the family goes bankrupt, someone gets sick. Things that happen make a young person take additional responsibilities or that make a young person deal with new and intense emotions can be good things to include in your story.
• Consider your own life. If you're an adult (even if only in name...), you may be able to pinpoint the year or the time of your life when you feel you passed from youth to adulthood. While your personal story itself may not work in the story you're creating, consider how you felt, what you did, how other people reacted to the changes you underwent, and even how those "coming-of-age" events may still affect you now. These real emotions can potentially add truth and authenticity to your story even if they come from different fictional circumstances in your actual work. 


The coming-of-age story has probably been around since the first storytelling humans were old enough to reflect on their childhoods. Good luck with creating another great story in this very traditional writing category.
Quick Tips:
• Character arc is important: Who is your character at the start and who is she at the end?
• Consider personal and cultural events that push people toward adulthood--will one fit in your story?


How to Write a Coming-of-Age Story
Coming-of-age stories are one of the most popular genres in literary fiction. Such stories can be directed to teenage or to adult readers. Either way, they offer familiar themes of growing up. But writing a good coming-of-age story, especially one that doesn’t fall into the usual clichés, can be just as challenging as writing any story. Here are some key steps to help you write an effective coming-of-age story for either teen or adult readers.
Instructions
◦ 1
All coming-of-age stories are about characters who move from innocence to experience. As your teen characters move through the plot of your tale, they gain insight and wisdom about themselves and the world they live in. Consider how you want to tell this narrative arc for your coming-of-age tale. What are the circumstances in which your character finds herself? Does your character come from a poor environment? Is she rich, self-absorbed, confused or angry?


◦ 2
Where do you want to take your character at the end of her narrative arc? If she is a spoiled, self-absorbed rich girl, for instance, then you want to put her in circumstances that force her to gain insight about her world and herself. Perhaps your character, because of her self-absorption, ends up getting into trouble with the law and is forced to do community service at a nursing home. Her experiences, for instance, working with the elderly forces her to gain greater insight about herself and her attitudes toward life.


◦ 3
Create strong and interesting characters. This is true for all fiction. Make your teen characters believable. They should think and act like real teens. They shouldn’t think and act like middle-aged characters with half their lives behind them. But don’t use clichés or stereotypes, either. Your teen character can be thoughtful, intelligent and witty. But create a character that is still believable to his or her circumstances. Avoid writing squeaky-clean characters as well. Give them equal amounts of strengths and flaws.


◦ 4
Avoid using slang or any of the current hip jargon. While slang and jargon might make your characters sound contemporary, it can also date your story rather quickly. Words such as “cool” or “hip” are exceptions because they have become more mainstream in colloquial language.


◦ 5
If you’re writing about controversial issues---drug use, teen sex, incest, rape, gang violence, etc.---approach the subject in new and inventive ways. There are plenty of young adult fiction which probe the uglier side of teen life. A story about teen pregnancy, for instance, can end up being clichéd if you don’t approach it in a different way. Find out what has already been written about the subject and see if there are different ways you can approach it. For instance, a story about a Christian girl who gets pregnant after pledging to be “abstinent only” might be a different way to approach the subject. Perhaps that girl grows up in a war-torn area like Iraq. Her attitudes toward life and death will greatly affect the way you can approach her pregnancy.


◦ 6
But don’t be gratuitous either. Don’t throw in drug use, teen sex, rape, violence, incest, etc. if you think it will make your story hipper or grab a publisher’s attention. Again, these issues have already been mined and most publishers might want to move in another direction. Rather use them because they are inherent to your story. For instance, if you’re writing about teens living in a war-torn area, then drug use, rape and death will be things they might have to navigate on their way to adulthood.