Memoir Part 2 Chapter 4

 Memoirs are true personal stories that inspire others to reflect on or understand interesting questions or social issues.  They provide new perspectives and insights that are fresh and meaningful.

 Explore an reflect on a central theme or question  Deeper significance of the recounted events  Not just a story about your past  What is the significance of this particular event in your life?

Finding Your Topic  Breaking my leg while…  Winning the…  Failing my _____ class.  My trip to…  Death of _________.  Leaving home for the first time.  Meeting ________.  Not making the _______ team.  Other prompts can be found on page 40.

Your Goal…  Is to uncover the meaning of your past. Begin with an interesting event or series of events from your life that you may want to explore.

Brainstorm  Make a map of the scene  Storyboard the event  Record your story as a podcast or video  Do some role playing  Research

Process Tell the story (beginning to end).

Process  Add detail.  Describe the people involved  The scenes  Dialogue

Process  Describe the complication (problem you or someone else needed to solve).  The event  The complication  The immediate reaction

Conclusion  Shows what you learned and extends that to your reader. DO NOT WRITE “and the moral of the story is…” “they lived happily ever after.”

Overview  Engaging title  Introduction with a “lead”  Complication  Plot  Intimacy between the narrator and the reader  Rich and vivid details  Central theme or question  A new understanding or revelation

 Introduction: Sets the scene  Description of a complication  Evaluation of the complication  Resolution of the complication  Conclusion: what the writer learned

Today’s Assignment  Review from Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass page 54 to see the basic elements of the memoir.  Discuss “Book War” page 57 with your group; answer questions 1,2, and 3 and “Words of My Youth” page 59; answer questions 1,2,and 3. and “Words of My Youth” page 59; answer questions 1,2,and 3.  Talk about this page 61  1, 2, and 3.