Memoir Writing

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Memoir Writing

• Showing a clip of your life

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Memoir does not simply tell about something that
happened in the past it reveals something about
the person it happened to
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• Remember
• What happens in the memoir text is the truth
• Names may be changed to protect certain
  identities
• Some details may be imagined because of the
  writers vague and imprecise memory
• Dialogue may be invented and events exaggerated a
  bit in order to dramatize a scene and reveal
  personalities

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• A Memoir
• follows a sequence of events over a period of
  time
• proceeds through time (possibly with flashbacks
  and foreshadowing)
• ends at a later point in time

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• Prewriting
• Tell a single story. Try to choose something
  that happened in a few hours or in a a single
  day. A time-limited incident has more intensity
  than one that extends over a long period.

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• Elaborate Dig for Details
• Imagine yourself reliving the incident, and take
  notes on these essentials.
• For example
• CONTEXT (setting)
• Where and when did the incident happen?
• How old were you?
• Who was there besides you?
• EVENTS
• List your main events in chronological order. Do
  you need a flashback to explain something that
  happened in the past?
• SENSORY DETAILS
• Help your readers see the characters and places
  in your story.
• Record details of sights, smells, sounds, tastes,
  touch, and movement.
• DIALOGUE/MONOLOGUE
• What did people say?

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• Tell what the incident/memory means to you
• What did you learn from the incident/memory?
• What do you think and feel about it now?
• What did you think and feel when it happened?

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Works Cited Bomer, Katherine. Writing a Life
Teaching Memoir. Heinemann. Portsmouth, New
Hampshire, 2005. Elements of Literature. Holt,
Rinehart, Winston. Austin, Texas, 2000.
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Due Dates!

• Draft 1
• October 28 (A) 29 (B)
• Draft 2
• October 30 (A) 31 (B)
• Final Copy
• November 3 (A) 4 (B)