Your memoir Assignment

1. Your memoir Assignment Write this down.

2. Your memoir will bebased onMemories. • Choose one of these to write about: • a brief period of time, i.e., a single event OR • a series of related events with a common theme

3. Your memoir should Use narrative structure. • Could someone reading your memoir identify relevant elements of storytelling, such as • Setting: when/where? • Plot: what happened? • Imagery: descriptive adjectives and verbs! • Conflict: external/internal? • Characterization: others in your story? • Foreshadowing: intentional! • Flashback: perhaps… • Symbolism: e.g., an object or a place?

4. Writein first person. • I, me, my

5. Be intentional with tone. • Do you want to sound like the person you were at the time you’re writing about? • Do you want to sound like you—now—looking back with a feeling of nostalgia? • Do you want to sound naïve, wise, regretful, satisfied—what? • Tone doesn’t just happen. You create it. • Determine the tone you want to present, and then choose words based on that tone!

6. Tell the truth. • But remember that a typical memoir has a fictional quality. • Use language that appeals to the senses (that’s called imagery). • Use figurative language (similes, metaphors, etc.). • Make every word count: use powerful verbs, adjectives, adverbs, etc. • Think about this: Could someone create a “found poem” from your memoir?

7. Reveal your thoughts and feelings. • Don’t invade your own privacy, but be sure that the reader can tell what’s going on in your head and heart.

8. Focus on yourself. • Your memoir needs to be about yourexperience more than about the event itself. • Your memoir is a personal reconstruction of the experience and its impact. • In other words, your memory of the experience is what matters, not whether or not you accurately present every detail of the setting, other people, and so on.

9. Reveal what you learned. • Show your reader what you learned from this experience or sequence of events. • Be sure the reader understand the impact of this experience on you. • Do not, however, say, “I learned…” or “The impact of this experience on me was….”

10. What should you write about? • Find an experience on your timeline. • Find a series of related events (a theme) on your timeline. • Consider the concepts we’ve already written about: regret, guilt, things we wish we could say, etc. • Consider the concepts we’re going to write about this week: discomfort, courage, disappointment, immaturity/maturity, innocence/experience, tradition, and more.

11. The fine print • Length: 650-750 words (2+ typed pages) • A typed “first draft” is due Thursday/Friday, May 16/17. • I put the term first draft in quotes because you should consider it your final version: it should be at least 650 words long. • If you don’t have a draft on that date, you will lose significant points and my lesson plan will be ruined. • We will be peer reviewing each other’s memoirs that day, so if you don’t have yours, you can’t participate.

12. Drum roll, please. • The final draft of your memoir is due on Monday/Tuesday, May 20/21. • No exceptions.