The Autobiographical "I"

The Autobiographical "I" consists of four parts that together account for the way a writer conveys his or her life narrative. The Narrating "I" is the part of the Autobiographical "I" that essentially recalls memories in order to tell the story. The Narrated "I" can be thought of the character that the life narrative is about. The Ideological "I" is the part that is influenced by various cultural scripts and is not always evident to the author. The Historical "I" is the part that is concerned with the historical context of the narrative. 

While Philip Lopate's essay "Writing Personal Essays: On the Necessity of Turning Oneself Into a Character," doesn't directly discuss the various parts of the autobiographical "I," it focuses on what the letter and word "I" conveys in stories within the introductory paragraph. While he may not be alluding to Smith and Watson's text, he does talk about how the use of the word "I" alludes to a "lush, sticky past," but doesn't necessarily fulfill the requirement of information that the reader craves. Thus, as he explains, there is the necessity to build upon that "I" by turning oneself into a character by backing up that "I" with the aforementioned four part puzzle that together creates the Autobiographical "I."

Personal Take:

I am a Creative Writing Concentrator within my English Major. Reading the section about the Autobiographical "I" in the Tool Kit made me think about my own work differently. I especially thought of the difference between the Narrating "I" and the Narrated "I" in terms of my own authenticity. Many of my pieces of creative non-fiction are written about my family and often require me to dig up old family memories in order to tell a story. However, I've realized via the concept of the "I" that the farther in time I am from a memory, the less likely my retelling of it is entirely truthful; it is most definitely biased based upon my personal experience of it. So, what's required now in order to reach a truer autobiographical truth, is evidence-- anything to link me to my Narrated "I." Now when I write stories about the past, I turn to my old journal to see just how I felt during the specific events which I retell. 

- Mary Alice Miller

Additionally, I'd like to showcase the work of a fellow student. John Vasoli's hilarious take on the Autobiographical "I:" here.