Tuesdays with Morrie

The Autobiography Story of a person’s life up until the point he or she is writing it A narrative composed from personal experience Always non-fiction More focused in on the subject (Source: Nonfiction Genre Memoir) Yours would include much or all of the following: Information about your family before you were born Your babyhood and childhood experiences Your school years Your college years Your working years And so on, plus information about the people you know, the places you’ve lived and the effects of those people and places on your life Notable examples: Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave Me by Katharine Hepburn It’s key to know the difference between the biography, the autobiography and the memoir. People tend to use the terms interchangeably – Amazon even groups autobiographies and memoirs together! The biography is the story of a person’s life that is written by anyone except the subject. Let’s focus on the difference between an autobiography and a memoir. These are both terms for books written by a person about his or her life.

The Memoir Story of a portion of a person’s life, or a theme from a person’s life (source: Writer’s Digest) A narrative composed from personal experience Always non-fiction More focused on story Protagonist could be one of many people in the story More focused in on the subject (Source: Nonfiction Genre Memoir) Yours would include memories of a specific time, related series of events or theme in your life Your adventures at summer camp (time) Your relationship with a parent (series of events) Your struggle with a disability (theme) Notable examples: All Creatures Great and Small by James Herriot (veterinarian) A Child Called It by Dave Pelzer (child abuse survivor) Night by Elie Wiesel (Holocaust survivor) On Writing by Stephen King (bestselling author) A famed non-fiction book, A Child Called It by Dave Pelzer, chronicles David’s abuse at the hands of his mother from his childhood to his pre-teen years. The next book in the series is The Lost Boy and it is a memoir of his teenage years in the foster care system. The final book in the trilogy is A Man Named Dave; it covers his adult years. While these books make up an autobiographical trilogy, each one separately is a memoir.

Is it an autobiography or a memoir? Characters Morrie Schwartz Professor of sociology. Author. Suffering from Lou Gehrig’s disease. Mitch Albom Sportswriter. Author of several fiction and non-fiction books. Suffering from dissatisfaction with life. Courtesy Columbia Journalism School There are only two round, or developed, characters in Tuesdays with Morrie. These, of course, were/are real people. Tuesdays with Morrie is the story of the visits that Mitch paid to Morrie in the months before Morrie died. Is it an autobiography or a memoir?

Tuesdays with Morrie Memoir 192 pages Published in 1997 by Doubleday Tremendously popular bestseller Television movie produced by HARPO (Oprah Winfrey’s production company) in 1999 Though we will get a taste of the earlier lives of Morrie and Mitch, it’s only bits and pieces here and there, and it’s not in chronological. The difference is that an autobiography covers the individual’s entire life up until the point where the book was written, while a memoir covers only a part of the individual’s life – perhaps a particular experience or perhaps a recurring theme.

Pre-Reading Understand that, though it’s true, this memoir will be just as much a story as a fiction book Use active reading skills: Research names, places and terms that you don’t know Look up vocabulary words that you don’t know Take notes, especially if you are reading for an assignment or project Source: Nonfiction Genre Memoir

Pre-Reading Get comfortable with your book! Open it Turn the pages Read some of the pages Are the words difficult? Easy? Are the chapters long or short? Will it take you long to read? It’s important to explore a book before you start it, especially if you struggle with reading. First, get comfortable with it. Turn it around in your hands. Open it wide if it’s a new book. Page through it. Read the jacket, the dedication, the table of contents, acknowledgements. Do the words look hard? Easy? Is there a lot of white space? Don’t be afraid of spoilers with this book. We are told at the beginning that Morrie dies.

Unit Overview Study the memoir and other non- fiction genres Read the book (mostly) in class Answer questions (mostly) in class Learn vocabulary (mostly) in class Write a personal essay on a mentor’s effect on your life Do some informal research, write a paragraph and provide an informal presentation Enjoy Tuesdays with Morrie (1999)