Telling Your Story

Presentation and narrative due in class on

Monday, October 3

Two to three pages, typed, double-spaced, printed out, and stapled.

This assignment consists of both a presentation and a write-up. We will break up into groups of five or six, and each of you will present your story in a five to ten-minute presentation to the other people in your group.
Your presentation will consist of a story that illustrates your relationship to caregiving. For the presentation, you will present only for the other people in your group. You will not present for the whole class. You should use the written component of this assignment for your presentation, but you should not just read your narrative to the other people in your group.

Come to class on Monday, October 3, with the written part of this assignment typed, printed out, and stapled. You should refer to the written part of the assignment for your presentation, but you should not just read your assignment to your classmates.

For the written part of this assignment you should have an introduction and conclusion. Remember, though, that in at least the first two paragraphs of your write-up you will be telling a story. Here is a suggested set of steps for completing the written part of this assignment:

Step 1. Identify yourself according to the set of variables listed below. In your introduction, focus on the variables that are particularly important for how you are presenting yourself in Step II:

  • Are different generations of your family living together? Are different generations living in different countries?
  • Do you have siblings? Are your siblings older or younger? Sometimes expectations for care fall on the eldest, sometimes on the youngest.
  • According to your family background, is gender important? Is someone a real man/proper woman because of that person's relationship to elder care?
  • Is there an expectation that a daughter or daughter-in-law will take care of a husband's parents? Should children consider whether prospective husbands or wives will be able to take care of parents?
  • Is money an issue?
  • Is the treatment of parents towards grandparents or children an issue? If there are good relationships, is care expected? If there are bad or abusive relationships, is it ok not to care?

Step 2. Decide on a topic for a true narrative and then write it. The material from Step 1 might be appropriate for an introduction or a conclusion, but most of your assignment should consist of a narrative.

Make sure that you are writing a good narrative. About half of your assignment should consist of a specific example of a time when something related to caregiving was important. A particularly good example will be one that considers difficulties with providing care and how caregivers overcame those difficulties.
Remember that you are one of the main characters in your Telling Your Story assignment. The relationship between you and action in your story should be clear. For example, if your uncle is a caregiver for a grandparent, the frame of your story could be a visit to your uncle and grandparent.

Here are some ideas for narratives:

  1. A specific time when a parent, aunt, or uncle made a sacrifice to care for a grandparent.
  2. A time when a parent took care of you that would be an example of how you would take care of a parent.
  3. A visit to an elder who was being taken care of.
  4. A specific time when parents or relatives had to stop providing direct care and had to find other kinds of care.
  5. Leaving a parent or grandparent in the care of others.
  6. A time when a maid or other caregiver was absent and your family had to step up.
  7. A friend whose relationship with you changed because of his or her caregiving responsibilities.

Make sure that you write transitions to show the relationships between your paragraphs if you have more than one paragraph in the body of your essay. I am expecting most of you to have four paragraphs.

Step 3. Write your conclusion.
Your conclusion should relate the action in your example to your own attitudes. For example, the action could have helped to form your attitudes, or the action contrasts with your own expectations.

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