1. What’s your story?

2.  A memoir is a special kind of autobiography, usually involving a public portion of the author’s life as it relates to a person, historic event, or thing. The text is about the personal knowledge and/or experiences of the author.  Examples:  Night by Elie Wiesel  The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank  Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi  Marley and Me: Life and Love with the World’s Worst Dog by John Grogan

3.  What do students consider to be their “life story”? Would they need to write a novel to explain everything, or could they tell about one event that helped shape them as a person?  http://www.smithmag.net/sixwordbook/2010/ 09/13/video-six-tips-for-writing-six-word- memoirs/ http://www.smithmag.net/sixwordbook/2010/ 09/13/video-six-tips-for-writing-six-word- memoirs/  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ejndNExso 9M http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ejndNExso 9M

4.  After reading/seeing some six-word memoirs, what surprises you about this form?  What do you think the pros/cons of writing a memoir only using six words are?  Which were your favorites out of the ones we saw?

5.  You will now be writing your own six-word memoir!  You will be given time in class to brainstorm and choose which one best suits you.  We will share some later!

6.  You need to get your point across in ONLY six words  Your words are valuable and have meaning; don’t waste them!  If you are stumped as far as words go, use a thesaurus; it might give you some ideas

7.  3 Points Extra Credit if you go online to http://www.smithmag.net/sixwords and publish your effort. Print a copy as proof and turn that copy in http://www.smithmag.net/sixwords