Call to Write, Third edition Chapter Five, Memoirs: Recalling Personal Experience

Chapter overview  Examines the genre of memoirs, which make personal experiences significant to others  Presents three readings  Examines the writing process in analyzing a student sample

Memoirs as a genre  The writer looks at events, people, and places from the past to re-create significant moments.  The resulting story makes an effort to connect with its readers.  A memoir is an act of self-discovery; objects such as photographs, journals, and letters serve as reminders.

Writing strategies  Narration (telling a story)  Text comments about a linear structure (p. 166) in the first two essays; this means that Gary Soto and Annie Dillard tell a story from start to finish. In contrast, Tariq Ali weaves together a series of episodes.  Description (giving sensory details that help readers get a clear mental picture)

More about memoirs  Rely on memory  Put a person’s experiences into a larger historical or cultural context  Connect with the past—inform and entertain  Also fulfill responsibility to “bear witness” to events or realities that might be forgotten

Readings  Gary Soto, “Black Hair”  Annie Dillard, “Throwing Snowballs”  Tariq Ali, “An Atheist Childhood”

Term: head note  A head note is the short paragraph that follows the author’s name and title of the reading, and comes before the reading itself.  It includes biographical information about the author (with details on his or her education, credentials, career, and listing publications, for example).

Why read head notes?  They help you understand the author, and provide insight into why he or she might have written about the topic in this way.  They put the reading into context, referring to the specific historical time and place of the writing.

Why read head notes, cont.  Look at the first essay, written by Gary Soto, a noted author, about his first experience with hard physical work.  How do the details presented in the head note convey the message that he now makes his living doing the second kind of work—the one using the mind?

Gary Soto, “Black Hair”  How old was he when this story took place, and why is that important?  What is the story about?  Where does the title come from?  See pages for the reading, and follow-up questions.

Annie Dillard, “Throwing Snowballs”  How does the opening paragraph, with the description of flinging yourself at someone, set the mood for the story?  What happens as the story begins, and what unexpected consequence catches the children by surprise? What happens when the driver catches up with Annie and her friend? Why is she excited?

Tariq Ali, “An Atheist Childhood”  Why does the writer say he was an atheist in the beginning of the essay? What influenced his belief, or lack of it?  What is the significance of his father’s comment about knowing what it is that you are rejecting? What happens next?  As Tariq moves to England, what changes? What sparks his interest in his country’s history and culture?

Visual design  The chapter features an excerpt from the American Splendor comic-book series.  Made into a movie, it is based on one man’s real life experiences (Harvey Pekar).  The text also refers you to his Web site,

Writing assignment  Write an essay about a significant event, place, or person in your life.  More details are found on pages ; your instructor will let you know whether your class will be doing this particular assignment, and provide you with additional guidelines.

Planning and drafting your essay  A scratch list (outline) or map may be useful to help remember details.  See guidelines in the text to help you develop storyline, describe characters, and add dialogue.  Begin drafting by focusing on telling the story.

Use techniques to select detail Select details that will help to “make your re- creation of the past memorable to readers” (179). To do this, they use:  Description and detail to set the scenes and describe people  Dialogue  Narration (tell a story)

Get feedback  Peer editing refers to exchanging drafts with another student (by using hard copy, saving to a shared folder, or attaching to an ). Before you do, take time to analyze your draft; see the questions on page 180.  Peer editors should give positive, constructive comments as much as possible.  Peer commentary refers to giving written feedback; see the questions on page 180.

Revising  Goes beyond “fixing” punctuation or spelling errors to look more at the content.  Relook, rethink, rewrite: Is the memoir fully developed, or do I need to strengthen the ending?  Have I either told or shown the reader the significance of this event, person, or place?

Jennifer Plante (student sample)  What is her topic?  What sensory details does she use?  What was the regular routine at her grandparents’ house?  What was the conversation she recalls, and how did it affect her father?  Notice her commentary, pages

Student Companion Website  Go to the student side of the Web site for exercises, chapter overviews, and links to writing resources for this chapter:  Click on the textbook cover, and then select Student Resources.