“6 Word Memoirs” Essential Question: How can synthesis and word choice help an author portray an idea or emotion to an audience?

What do you think? Literary legend has it that, famous author, Ernest Hemingway was once challenged to write a novel with six words.  This is what he came up with, "For sale, baby shoes, never worn."  Wow! What a tale.  Can you fill in the blanks? What could this extremely short story mean?  Is it a sad story? Could it be happy? Who is the baby? Why were the shoes never worn? Who were the parents? Why were the selling the shoes?  Take 5 minutes to write what you think Hemingway meant when he wrote this story?

Start with a “You” List List as many words as you can about yourself- things you do, things you like, feelings you have. Don’t edit, cross out, change or rewrite anything. Just write as many as you can think of in five minutes. Ready Go!

Inspiration Words Now look at your list and circle three or four words that inspire you to say more. Choose words that you think are really important and that you could write more about. Once you have three words selected…choose the one that is most meaningful. You will have five minutes to free write about that topic. Just talk more about that word and what it means to you. Ready Go!

Synthesize your topic Okay…now you have a topic that means something to you. How can we synthesize it into an idea that explains what your topic means to you? Take a few minutes to re-read your freewrite and try and synthesize it into a sentence. You are looking for an idea here…not details. If you need help…we will work on some together.

6 Word Memoir Now try and write a 6 word phrase that captures a sense of your writing. Don’t worry if you are having trouble just keep trying. If you want to try a different idea or word from your list go for it! Homework: Before the next class period, write a list of at least 5 “6 Word Memoirs” that tell us something about you. There are no right or wrong memoirs, just work on them and see what you can come up with. Look at the video on my website for inspiration!

Word Choice Are there more ways to say the same thing? Authors are constantly making decisions to choose the appropriate words. What words would you use to describe the pictures?

What about your Words? Take a look at your list of memoirs. Are there some words you can change. Pick some focus words from your memoirs and then come up with some “synonyms” that could be used instead. Like this…. Focus Word: Synonyms: ______________________ ______________________ ______________________ Do this with a least five words from your list of memoirs.

Finally! Okay, it is finally time to write your 6 Word Memoir. Once you have decided on a final copy, write it on a “brick” to use for our “6 Word Memoir Wall” Make sure to include your memoir and your name. Decorate your brick however you like…just make it look awesome! If we have time, we will make a video like some of the ones we have watched!