1. Memoir Teaching By Example

2. Example of Memoir Read the Memoir Love in a Time of Measles. Pick one person to record your group’s thoughts on a piece of paper. Discuss the following with your table: ▫Is this fact or fiction? ▫What did you like / dislike about this memoir? ▫What connections can you make to this text? Can you connect? ▫What changed in the author’s life after they experienced this event?

3. What is a Memoir? A memoir is a personal story told from the author’s perspective to educate the readers. It always has a lesson for the reader to learn or a connection to a current event which the reader can relate to. It is very narrow in scope – it only covers one event in the author’s life.

4. Biography, Autobiography and Memoir Biography ▫The story of a person’s entire life, written by someone else – I would write Mr. Ball’s Biography Autobiography ▫The story of the author’s entire life up to the date of publication – I would write my own Autobiography Memoir ▫A story about an event in the author’s life which educates the reader.

5. Mechanics Memoirs: ▫Are written in the first person POV ▫Talk about a true event (creative non-fiction) ▫Have little to no dialogue. Who can remember word-for-word what they said yesterday, let alone years ago?

6. Mechanics (Cont.) ▫Memoir has a theme or focus. Not just writing for the sake of writing about your life. You need to educate the reader. ▫Write as if the people reading know the people you know. Do not bury your reader in details  ‘my bestest-besty for life Dave and I’ would just be ‘Dave and I’ ▫Have fun! – Use fun analogies and witty quips; tell us jokes, make us laugh! HOWEVER, keep it clean and remember, you need to teach us something.

7. And Finally Write about an event in your life – Clint Archer did not write about an event in Mr. Ball’s life. Also, write about something you know a lot about. Don’t write about a story that you only vaguely remember – we will all be confused.

8. Timeline – Memoir! ▫Visual Representation – Homework Check Friday ▫Next Week  6-Word Memoir  25 Word Story ▫First Week of December (2-6)  Snapshot  Synopsis of ‘the moment’ ▫December 9-13  Working on Memoir ▫Tentative due date for final memoir is Dec. 20 th

9. And so, for Homework Don’t worry, it’s easy! ▫For tomorrow’s class, please bring in a picture which represents a turning point or a lesson in your life which you would be willing to write about. ▫Also, for the more ambitious, begin thinking about what you could write your memoir about. Remember, it has to be a turning point in your life or a lesson you can share.