Memoirs Juliet Ottaviano

How do authors hook and hold readers? “There is a whole world of people, and I want to learn who they are, what makes them work, how they feel, how they grow. “ (Waxler) People enjoy reading memoirs because they’re enthralling, bizarre stories that are completely true. Readers get hooked into memoirs by the addicting stories of people’s lives. When they start a book about someone’s life story, it is often just so fascinating and absorbing that they’re difficult to put down. When I read a memoir, even when I put the book down I still think about the main character and their problems.

How do writers persuade readers? Writers persuade readers simply by honestly telling their life story, without cringing or hiding the awful details. “What the memoirist owes the reader is the ability to persuade that the narrator is trying, as honestly as possible, to get to the bottom of the experience at hand.” (Barnes) The authors of memoirs often write not only about their own lives, but about important historical events that they had a part in, or have witnessed. This helps people see the truth in the books by connecting it to something they know.

What is the relationship between memoirs and truth? According to J. A. Cuddon, author, teacher and dictionary writer, "An autobiography may be largely fictional. Few can recall clear details of their early life and are therefore dependent on other people's impressions, of necessity equally unreliable. Moreover, everyone tends to remember what he wants to remember. Disagreeable facts are sometimes glossed over or repressed ...." Cuddon, J. A. The Penguin Dictionary of Literary Terms and Literary Theory, 1991. The English novelist Anthony Powell, an English novelist, said, "Memoirs can never be wholly true, since they cannot include every conceivable circumstance of what happened. The novel can do that.“ Writers have an obligation to tell the truth when writing books or stories labeled as memoir.

What truths are best communicated through memoirs? Memoirs are a form of non-fiction, so the events discussed are almost always true. However, some small details, or comments of characters might have been changed slightly, according to the memory or willingness of the writer. The truths that are best communicated are the details of the author’s life, and of the author’s account of, in some cases, historical or famous events.

Who would be interested in Memoirs? Perhaps elderly people because they’re older, and are looking back on their life and are interested in other people’s lives. People who are interested in celebrity lives, or are interested in events and people’s accounts of them. People who are nosey and possibly voyeuristic would like memoirs, just because they’d want to know about other people’s lives just for their own curiosity. The authors of memoirs would be interested in reading Memoirs, because people always write the kinds of books that they enjoy reading.

What group of people do Memoirs appeal to? Memoirs appeal to anyone who likes good books. Memoirs appeal to elderly people. Memoirs appeal to nosey people. Memoirs appeal to curious people. Memoirs appeal to authors.

What are typical themes of Memoirs? Time – childhood memoirs, young adult, high school or college memoirs, adult or career years, golden years Key relationships – marriage memoir, adoption story, parenting memoir, mentor, friends Physical places – your home, community or neighborhood, church, family farm, vacation place or home Historic themes – WW2 memoir, korean war, vietnam war, desert storm, iraqi war, life as a soldier, civil rights, equal rights, political memoir Personal hardship and recovery – POW memoir, prison, disability or injury, cancer, addiction and recovery, abuse, loss of child or spouse, suicide, homelessness Personal achievement and development – business success, weight loss and fitness, adventure and sports, faith, holidays and traditions, activism and service, cooking and food, hobby memoir, travel

Why do people read Memoirs? Memoirs offer people an escape from their life into someone else’s, and can allow them to immerse themselves into a better, fascinating life, or can distract them from their own problems by reading about other people’s misfortune. “I think that there is a lot to be learned from the lives of others--and sometimes those lives can help to make us very grateful for our own life, and sometimes those lives can help us to deepen our own and strive to give it more meaning.” Memoirs give the reader a chance to enter and learn from someone else’s life. When someone reads someone else’s story, they acquire knowledge that they otherwise never would’ve known about a person, and they do so in a non invasive, prying way. “For my whole life, I’ve been intrigued by the variety of human experience…I want to understand people.” (Waxler)

Works Cited http://inkspell.homestead.com/memoir.html http://memorywritersnetwork.com/blog/why-memoirs-are-becoming-so-popular/ http://www.suite101.com/content/memoir-ethics-writing-honestly-a223479 http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/374349/memoir