Memoir: Introduction
Memoir: Introduction
Wiki DefinitionSo what exactly is memoir? –‘A memoir is a collection of memories that an individual writes about moments or events, both public orprivate, that took place in the subject’s life. The assertions made in the work are understood to be factual.While memoir has historically been defined as a subcategory of biography or autobiography the genre isnow differentiated in form, presenting a narrowed focus. A biography or autobiography tells the story “of alife”, while a memoir often tells “a story from a life”, such as touchstone events and turning points from theauthor’s life’.
Earliest essayists:
Modern writers of essays/memoirMaya Angelou (phenomenal essayist, author of award-winning memoirs ‘Iknow Why The Caged Bird Sings, 7 other autobiographies)James Baldwin (almost Maya’s contemporary, wrote ‘Letters From TheNative Son’)Annie Dillard (Pulitzer prise winner for ‘Pilgrim at Tinker Creek: naturewriting/narrative nonfiction)Joan Didion, David Foster Wallace, Zadie Smith, Phillip Lopate, GeorgeSaunders, Bernard Cooper and many more (markers of evolution in lit.nonfiction)
Memoir as a genre of literatureFull of creative play of thoughtsFree from traditional constraints of storytellingFirst person narrative: the authentic voice which is the trademark of literarynonfiction writingIntimate narrative account: how we think, feel & act as individuals, how we makeour own history, what we personally remember, & what we don’tMany features of fiction writing apply in memoir too: facts, research, imagination,use of subconscious, dramatic dialogue and action etc.
Other Important Aspects in Memoir/PersonalessaysPOV (points of view) from multiple sides, apart from the narratorhimself/herselfThe narrative arc: Interweaving the past and present in the narrativeContrasts and conflict:Revealing the personal identitySeparate threads and the threads woven together
Popular notion v/s Reality in AutobiographicalWritingPopular notion: Celebrities writing their memoir with ready-madereadership to sell books are the successful memoir writersReality: The genre of autobiography/memoirs/creative nonfiction is writtenwith the purpose to tread the path where social history and personalreflections are combined together for a lasting impact.ALL MEMORABLE PERSONAL STORIES/BOOKS OF CREATIVENONFICTION HAVE UNIVERSAL VALUE/ APPEAL BECAUSE OF THESTORYTELLING.
What makes memoirs/autobiography relevant andmemorable?Universal truths and metaphorical presentation of life through the lens of theessayist/memoiristTruths and experiences which are relevant to others--readers might gain somepersonal value from you writing about itWe humans share a common humanity in our very nature, and love readingabout other people’s lives, their insights into it.Writing personal essays and memoirs is cathartic, which purges our mind, bodyand soul and it is a form of art which might be therapeutic to the readers aswell, due to the universal truths they portray.
The Prominent Themes in Memoir WritingSelf-exploration and knowing one’s self in terms of the family, thesurroundings, the greater universeThe inward and outward journey of the writer in terms of gaining awareness,greater understanding, empathy towards not only one’s own self, buttowards the fellow humans, the family and familial ties, the physical andsocietal surroundingsMany essayists have dealt with these recurrent themes in their writing:Social commentary and themes of ‘rites of passage’ life events eg childhood,puberty, relationships and bereavement, which we all go through.
The voice and the style in memoir/CreativeNonfictionThe writer of memoir/autobiography must have a distinct style which is ablend of the traditional and contemporary, using various literary stylesand techniques to engage, surprise and enlighten the readers.A good writer of creative nonfiction reads a lot, and reads like a writer,which means he keeps on analyzing sentence, diction, tone, voice, thepoint of view (POV) and other stylistic features in nonfiction/fiction andimplements them in his own writing.The ‘Voice’ of the author, according to Author Jack Hart, is nothing elsebut the persona of the author revealed in his writing.
A biography or autobiography tells the story “of a . Modern writers of essays/memoir . Maya Angelou (phenomenal essayist, author of award -winning memoirs ‘I know Why The Caged Bird Sings, 7 other autobiographies) James Baldwin (almost Maya
Six-Word Memoir: Analysis Questions Now that you read some six-word memoirs, complete this worksheet. Select two of the six-word memoirs we reviewed as a class. Copy them down in the boxes below. Memoir #1: Memoir #2: Use the space below to answer the following questions: What do you think is the m
NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES Any opinions expressed in this memoir are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Academy of Sciences. EDWARD LEE THORNDIKE 1874—1949 A Biographical Memoir by ROBERT S. WOODWORTH Biographical Memoir COPYRIGHT 1952 NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES WASHINGTON D.C.
Memoir Selection - Due: Friday, August 18th Select ONE memoir for your summer reading. A memoir, by definition, covers a specific period of time or experience within a person’s life. It is non-fiction and gives a glance into the life and experiences of another real person. You may select any memoi
A Memoir Breakthrough American Unificationist Alexander Gabb has given away about a thousand flyers advertising Mother of Peace, a memoir by Dr. Hak Ja Han Moon which is currently a best seller in Christian Ecumenism on Amazon. As the Mother of Peace, Dr. Moon’s memoir traces her life’s journey, from growing up in war-
A lot of writers start their memoirs with a vague idea of publishing them, but without any specific audience in mind. When they finish the memoir, they send it out to a few publishers, and then, more often than not, end up self-publishing it just for family and friends. The memoir they wrote would be so much better if they went into
TUTORIAL: PAINTING YOUR 1/72 INFANTRY SOLDIERS INTRODUCTION This tutorial is designed for players of Memoir ’44 who want to customize the infantry soldiers that come with the Memoir ’44 base game and
Pat Mora wrote the poem “Legal Alien” and Richard Rodriguez wrote the memoir Aria: Memoir of a Bilingual Childhood. Students will also be exposed to multimedia that teaches the context, figurative language and other poetic techniques for the literature to be compared. Students will show mastery of the standards at the end of the lesson .
AngularJS is an open-source web application framework or JavaScript framework. Develop and maintained by Google and by a community of individual developers. In other word you can say AngularJS is an extended form of HTML with new
