MEMORANDUM: Introducing autobiography
Aim:To introduce and engage with some of the characteristics of autobiography
(See book: p. 179)
Type: Group discussion and individual written workGradelevel: 8. 9, 10
Time: 20–30 minutesFilesection: Non-fiction
Instruction:
Read the extract from Roald Dahl’s autobiography, Boy – Tales of Childhood, and then answer the questions below.
Extract from Boy – Tales of Childhood by Roald Dahl
The next day, we were allowed to inspect the appendix itself in a glass bottle. It was a
longish black wormy-looking thing, and I said, “Do I have one of those inside me, Nanny?”
“Everyone has one,” Nanny answered.
“What’s it for?” I asked her.
“God works in mysterious ways,” she said, which was her stock reply whenever she
didn’t know the answer.
“What makes it go bad?” I asked her.
“Toothbrush bristles,” she answered, this time with no hesitation at all.
“Toothbrush bristles?” I cried. “How can toothbrush bristles make your appendix go
bad?”Nanny, who in my eyes was filled with more wisdom than Solomon, replied, “Whenever
abristle comes out of your toothbrush and you swallow it, it sticks in your appendix and turns
rotten. In the war,” she went on, “the German spies used to sneak box loads of loose-bristled toothbrushes into our shops and millions of our soldiers got appendicitis.”
“Honestly, Nanny?” I cried. “Is that honestly true?”
“I never lie to you, child,” she answered. “So let that be a lesson to you never to use an
old toothbrush.”
For years after that, I used to get nervous whenever I found a toothbrush bristle on
my tongue.
Questions:
The suggested answers below are extensive and aim to enrich the teacher’s repertoire. Learners’ answers are unlikely to be so detailed. Teachers can decide how much detail they expect and adjust the answers accordingly.
1How do we know this is a first person narrative?
The narrator uses “I” throughout.
2Describe the narrator, based on the information in the passage.Is he perhaps gullible or naïve?
The narrator is a young boy, who innocently trusts “Nanny”, the adult who is looking after him. He tells us that in his eyes Nanny has “more wisdom than Solomon”. He seems young and rather gullible, since he believes Nanny’s outrageous story about the origins of appendicitis! Only a young and credulous child would believe that swallowing toothbrush bristles can “make your appendix go bad”.
3How do we know that this is a childhood memory?
Although the writing is skilled and engaging, the incident described is represented to us from the point of view of a child. Thus, for example, the language is simple and appropriate to a child’s expression and diction; the narrator appears gullible and credulous. The narrator is able to convey an intimate sense of the child’s reaction to Nanny’s explanation, and this also indicates that the narrator is writing about his own childhood: “I used to get nervous whenever I founda toothbrush bristle on my tongue.”
4What is the relationship between the narrator and Nanny?
From the boy’s perspective, this is clearly an intimate and respectful relationship, and one of trust. The boy looks up to Nanny, believes everything she tells him, and that she is as wise as Solomon. One could however argue that Nanny, on the other hand, is deceitful and untrustworthy, since she tells the boy an outrageous lie!
5How do we know that this is a memory about the past? Underline the words that mark the shift between past and present.
The passage is written in the past tense, and there is a contrast or distance between the gullible child and the adult narrator who tells the story. For example, the adult narrator tells us that “for years after that, I used to get nervous whenever I found a toothbrush bristle on my tongue”. Only an adult would be able to see that Nanny had “stock replies” to tricky questions.
Words such as “for years after” mark the shift between past and present.
6What makes this passage engaging and humorous?
The idea that appendicitis is caused by toothbrush bristles is incongruous and funny, as is Nanny’s wild claim that German spies sneaked loose-bristled toothbrushes into local shops to give British soldiers appendicitis! What makes the incident more humorous is that the boy actually believes her. The reader is engaged by the contrast between innocent boy and deceitful Nanny.
7Creative writing task: Write your own autobiographical fragment, based on one humorous childhood memory.
This is a creative writing task, which takes its inspiration from Roald Dahl’s boyhood memories. There is no blueprint for creative writing and each learner will therefore write something entirely unique. However, if the task is to be assessed, the teacher may design a brief rubric to guide the learners, including information about length, point of view, narrative voice, using dialogue, and whether syntax, punctuation and overall structure will count towards a successful written piece.
© Oxford University Press Southern Africa (Pty) Ltd 2013. From Oxford Practical Teaching English Literature: How to teach Grades 8–12. You may modify, print and photocopy this document solely for use in your classes.
Extract from Boy – Tales of Childhood by Roald Dahl, Jonathan Cape Ltd. & Penguin Books Ltd. Reprinted by permission of David Higham Associates Ltd., Literary, film and TV agents.