1. English 12 Memoir

2. What is a memoir? Similar to an autobiography (self-life- writing) a memoir is “a record of events based on personal observation.” As an account of one’s personal life experiences, it can be subjective, untruthful, sketchy, and incomplete. As a very flexible genre, it can include poetic turns of phrase, factual accountings of events, creative experiments with chronology…. It’s very open ended.

3. Different types of memoirs A popular trend in non-fiction reflecting our hunger for reality…

4. Chronology & timeline There are no rules about when to start, when to end, and what order events must proceed. Good storytelling is about breaking the expected rules of how life progresses - we know I was born, I lived, I died… blah. Turn it around mix it up make the timeline irrelevant- make the story & events important.

5. Personal vs. Universal You are unique, individual, extraordinary…. Universal themes form the foundation of all good literature... Life events, common struggles, typical adventures, these are the fruit of life. Memoir is about connecting, building human sympathy, helping understand, making the common core of human experience real, interesting, and meaningful.

6. Inspirational & Motivational Tough times build character Personal, embarrassing, private… true, but also powerful, meaningful, motivational, and real. What did you learn? How did you grow? Where are you going now?

7. Unvarnished reality My father in law passed away… Um, no, he died an awful, horrible, painful agonizing death from purposefully undiagnosed colon cancer that caused his wife extreme pain and grief, a long- lasting psychological landslide of crap and three years of cleaning up his weird hoarding tendencies that allowed us to discover sooooo much about him…

8. The six word memoir… Divorce Generation keeps publishing relationship advice. My childhood would be forbidden today. Gave my son wings not crutches. Grandma gambled. Dad drank. I compulse. Avoiding facebook today. Feeling better already. Not getting old. Just more detailed. Constantly finding karma always plays fair.

9. Your memoir- you must do both parts Six word poster- make it visual, catchy, pithy, profound, colourful… Written Memoir: Any form Show me what you know and think and feel and have learned and how you live… SIX WORD POSTER WRITTEN MEMOIR