Memoirs

Do Now In today’s lesson we will discover the definition of a memoir. Let’s see if you can come up with your own definition first by reading the following quotes: 1. Virginia Woolf: "A memoir is not what happens, but the person to whom things happen." 2. William Zinsser: ”A memoir is a window into a life." 3. Jean Little: "Memoir is not the whole head of hair but one or two strands of hair." 4. Lucy Calkins: "Our memoir will come not only from our memories but also from our imaginations.”

Gallery Walk Before we discuss the idea of a memoir, I have placed five different quotes around the room that also help us to create a definition of a memoir. In your reading groups, take a post it note and write down your thoughts about memoirs at each definition or excerpt.

Memoir What is a memoir? Personal written record of one’s life story and times. (memoir=French word for memory) To create a memoir, a person writes a story of a time in his or her own life.

Stop and Jot/Switch What are some of the advantages of writing your own memoir? What are some disadvantages to the reader of reading a memoir?

There are 4 major Types of Memoirs The Survivor Memoir: The Confession Memoir The Coming of Age Memoir: The Travel Memoir: This type of memoir happens when the author has survived a very hard event or time in history and has lived to tell about it. The survivor has usually undergone some type of emotional, physical, or mental pain that has required courage to overcome. This type of memoir happens when writers reveal life events that were kept secret. The secret has to be a huge part of the author’s life. When the author confesses the secret, it changes his or her life forever. These are the stories about the transition from childhood and adulthood. A person writes about his or her experiences growing up, and how those experiences changed their lives. This memoir happens when a person writes about all of his or her stories from traveling experiences that are interesting or have changed their lives forever.

Memoirs are important because they give us: 1. The perspective, or point of view, of someone who experienced an event. A memoir is always written in FIRST (1 st ) PERSON. (I, me, my, us, we, our, etc.) 2. A memoir tells the emotions that a person went through as he or she experienced an event. 3. We see a person’s thoughts, feelings, and relationship to a specific event or time in history.

Within a memoir you think about the authors experience, not just the event!