1. Showing a clip of your life
What is a Memoir???
Showing a clip of your life

2. Memoir does not simply tell about something that happened in the past; it reveals something about the person it happened to

3. Things to Remember
What happens in the memoir is the truth (or close to it)
Names may be changed to protect certain identities
Some details may be imagined because of the writers vague and inaccurate memory (No one is perfect)
“Dialogue” may be invented and events exaggerated a bit in order to add drama to the scene and reveal personalities

4. A Memoir:
Follows a sequence of events over a period of time (in the order it happened)
Proceeds throughout the specific time period (possibly with flashback and foreshadowing)
Ends at a later point in time

5. Elaborate: Dig for Details
Imagine yourself reliving the incident, and take notes on these essentials. For example
Context (setting):
Where and when did the incident happen?
How old were you?
Who was there besides you?
Events:
List your main events in chronological order. Do you need a flashback to explain something that happened in the past?
Sensory Details:
Help your readers see the characters and places in your story.
Record details of sights, smells, sounds, tastes, touch, and movement.
“Dialogue”/Monologue
What did people say to you or other characters?
What did you say to yourself?

6. Tell what the incident/memory means to you
What did you learn from the incident/memory
What do you think and feel about it now?
What do you think and feel when it happened?

7. Your first memoir
Tell a single story. Try to choose something that happened in a few hours or in a single day. A time limiter incident has more intensity than one that extends over a long period.

8. Work Cited
Bomer, Katherine. Writing a Life: Teaching Memoir. Heinemann. Portsmouth, New Hampshire, Elements of literature. Holt Rinehart, Winston. Austin, Texas, 2000.