This document provides an excerpt from an autobiographical incident written by the author. It describes bringing the author's new baby brother, Andy, home from the hospital. In the car ride home, the author (Amy) fusses about different things like the heat being on. Her parents try to distract her by asking about Andy, but she continues complaining. They eventually stop to get Amy her favorite chocolate malt, which helps her stop fussing. When they arrive home, Amy offers Andy some of her malt, showing early signs of being a good older sister, though she claims she just wanted to introduce him to malts.

1. Lesson 1
The
Autobiographical
Incident

2. An autobiography is a life story told by the person
whose life it is. An incident is a specific event. You
will be reading an autobiographical incident and
then writing your own. In this unit you will learn
how to express your thoughts and emotions about
your own life in this narrative form.

4. An autobiographical incident is like a short story, except that
it is about something that really happened to the writer. Like
any story, it needs a beginning, a middle, and an ending. The
beginning introduces the characters and situation and gets
the reader interested. The middle develops the events and
shows how the characters respond to problems. The ending
shows the main problem being solved and answers the
crucial questions, "Why is this experience important enough
to write about?" and "What point is the writer trying to
make--what does it all mean?"
Being autobiographical, such essays usually express the
writer's thoughts and feelings more openly than a short
story would. After reading an autobiographical essay, you
should feel that you have come to know how the author
feels about the events and why they matter to the author.

6. The Day Andy Came Home
The taste of chocolate malt always reminds me of the day we first
brought my baby brother home from the hospital. Why? It's because a
chocolate malt was the treat my parents bought to stop me from fussing
on the ride home. You see, they kept asking me things like, "What do
you think of the new baby?" and, "Are you excited to have such a cute
brother?" Every time they asked, I fussed about something different. I
was five years old, and at that age I used to complain about everything.
Just the day before, I had complained about socks that felt lumpy
between my toes and about hamburger rolls that had little sesame
seeds sprinkled over their brown tops. Nowadays, I prefer rolls that have
sesame seeds on them; and as for lumpy socks, well, I guess I'm just not
that sensitive anymore.

7. On the ride home, I first fussed about the
temperature. It was February, and my parents had the
heater blasting in order to protect delicate little Andy—
and to bake me, I thought. I could feel it in the middle
row of the van, where Mom, Andy, and I were sitting.
Andy was facing backward in his pastel blue infant seat
with pastel yellow flowers spangled all over it. (I'm
telling you this, by the way, so you'll be amazed at what
a fantastic memory I have.) He was covered with a red
and blue plaid wool blanket that clashed dreadfully with
the seat. The plastic of the infant seat squeaked, but
Andy himself was as quiet as a stuffed animal.

8. "So how you do like your new baby brother?" Dad asked.
"It's too hot in here," I whined. "I'm suffocating." I had just learned that
word and used it at every opportunity. "Andy, don't you think it's too
hot in here?" I asked. Receiving no answer, I pouted. This wasn't actually
my first glimpse of my brother, but when Dad and I had visited the
hospital the day before, Andy had seemed like just one more
anonymous infant in the window of the nursery. I remember staring in
amazement at the rows of newborns in clear plastic bassinets, some
contentedly dreaming of milk and some frantically crying, some with full
heads of dark hair and some bald, but none of them looking like anyone
I would want to play with. Now, in his plaid blanket and a pastel blue
cap, Andy was at least a presentable member of the family. Though I
wouldn't have admitted it to anyone, I looked forward to great things
from him. I wanted to teach him to complain.

9. It was a chilly morning with scattered silvery flakes drifting
and lazily twirling, like ballet dancers on a break, across the
high-rise office buildings of downtown. As we curved up the
ramp onto the interstate, my fussing changed its focus. I
began to moan incessantly for my favorite bubbly, ice
creamy, sweet, thick, beige-brown liquid. My
parents, however, were not about to give in to a tantrum.
"You can have your malt if you don't make a fuss about it,"
Mom said as she played with Andy's tiny fingers and
cooed, "Hello, baby, hello, baby."
Parents always say things like that! Well, I became totally
quiet for the rest of the ride. Two blocks from home, Dad
entered the drive-through lane of our local ice cream shop.

10. "Happy now?" he asked, as I slurped through the straw extra loudly to
express my gratitude. Noticing that the new arrival had awakened, I
reached sideways with my hand holding the cardboard container.
"Andy, want some chocolate malt?"
"Babies don't drink that, Amy," Mom said, "but thanks for the thought.
I'm sure someday he'll love to share malts with you."
For seven years since then, my parents have told the story of how I
offered Andy my malt when he was only two days old, as a sign of what
a good older sister they think I was. That kind of irritates me, if you want
to know the truth. I wasn't trying to be a good older sister. I was just
trying to introduce him to malts.
"Yes, Amy," they reply when I tell them that. "We know that's how you
saw it. And we know how we saw it. You were just being you. You
couldn't help yourself."
Then they usually smile at me in this sickeningly lovey-dovey way, and
I run off and play with Andy.