A form of creative nonfiction in which an author recounts experiences from his or her life. Source:

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1 Memoir: Definitions A form of creative nonfiction in which an author recounts experiences from his or her life. Source: Record of events written by a person having intimate knowledge of them and based on personal observation. Source:

2 You can write a memoir about: A specific event that happened to you. A particular time period of your life. A specific aspect of your life (for example, your relationship with your father, your travel through Asia, your struggle to overcome a phobia). The impact on your own life of an outside event (for example, a war, an economic crisis, your parents' divorce.)

3 A memoir usually contains many of the elements of story: Setting (place, time) Sensory detail (sight, sound, touch, taste, smell) Dialogue

4 The unpleasantly sweet smell of burnt cookies filled my grandmother s kitchen. Frustrated almost to the point of tears, I put on the familiar sunflower-patterned potholders and opened the oven. The 425 heat blasted me in the face when I reached in and removed the baking tray. As I placed it on the top of the stove and surveyed my latest cooking disaster the third batch I d ruined that day my grandmother patted my seven- year-old shoulder. It s all right, dear, she said. Next time, just remember to set the timer as soon as you put the cookies in the oven instead of waiting until after you set up the next batch on the other tray.

5 Reader expectations for a memoir: A sympathetic main character A satisfying ending Vividly depicted scenes Increasing sense of drama/conflict Emotional tension

6 Sample Memoir- Dramatic elements, vivid scenes Elie Wiesel's Night We looked at the flames in the darkness. There was an abominable odor floating in the air. Suddenly, our doors opened. Some odd-looking characters, dressed in striped shirts and black trousers leapt into the wagon. Everybody get out! Everyone out of the wagon! Quickly! We jumped out. I threw a last glance toward Madam Schächter. Her little boy was holding her hand. In front of us flames. In the air that smell of burning flesh. It must have been about midnight. We had arrived at Birkenau, reception center for Auschwitz.- The Comfort Zone Growing up with Charlie Brown. Up in the bedroom that he and I shared, the windows were open and the air had the stuffy wooden-house smell that came out every spring. I preferred the make-believe no-smell of airconditioning, but my mother, whose subjective experience of temperature was notably consistent with low gas and electric bills, claimed to be a devotee of fresh air, and the windows often stayed open until Memorial Day.

7 Sample Memoir- Dramatic elements, vivid scenes Skating home Backward It took me three years to clean the slough. I went after the lightest stuff first, standing on the banks to wrestle things from the tangle with a rake. Then, surrendering to the inevitable, I waded chest-deep across an uncertain bed to extract what I couldn't reach from shore. What refused to come to hand I fished out with a chain hooked to my old pickup. Each month more water opened to the sun. This progress, satisfying in ways I wouldn't understand until later, had no immediate reward beyond the fact that it was progress. Lost and Found I liked being a mess. The desk that should have been clear so I could do my homework was always besieged with bowls of cereal and spoiled milk, old magazines, and Post-it notes I had forgotten to remember. My floor was a vacuum in itself, eating anything entering my room. It consumed sweaters, stuffed animals, socks, shoes.

8 What is a reflective standpoint? Reflection Why does this moment continue to be important to you? What do you understand now that you didn t then? How can you apply this new understanding to your life today?

9 A good memoir is probably about a 50/50 mix of moment and reflection. Unless you write yourself, you can't know how wonderful it is; I always used to bemoan the fact that I couldn't draw, but now I'm overjoyed that at least I can write. And if I don't have the talent to write books or newspaper articles, I can always write for myself. Anne Frank, The Diary of a Young Girl