
Memoir Draft The word “cancer” didn’t mean anything to me. The only experiences I had with disease were temporary. Colds and coughs. The idea of death was the stuff of nightmares and movies. At the time, all of the grandparents that I had ever known were still alive. In fact, the only experience I had with death to that day was my cat, Pillar, which was the only thing I think my mom may have possibly loved more than her family. Had I known how close my mom had come to dying, I don’t think I would…
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Reading Memoir Reading has always been an uphill battle for me. In the end, my battles with reading has resulted in a pyrrhic victory. Frederick Douglass once said “Once you learn to read, you will be forever free.” I finally realized just how true this was only recently. I wish I would have spent more of my time with a book in my hands and because of that I feel that I have lost a lot time that could’ve been spent doing something of value. Reading is a beneficial skill that is necessary in todays…
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Neighborhood Memoir Last summer I had a close experience that was crazy and here’s how it went. Sine it’s a nice weather day I decided to go outside to work and mess with stuff in our shop. I spent about 45 minutes tinkering with some car parts and helping my dad with some things and I was getting quite bored. So I decided to get the 4 wheeler out. Our 4 wheeler is a late 90s Yamaha Timberwolf 250 4x4. It’s a work 4 wheeler so it’s not fast since it’s meant for towing. So I get it out of the…
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the author best known for the novel The Lovely Bones, in her memoir, Lucky, details the traumatic events that effected not only her college experience but the rest of her life. In the process of telling her story, Sebold addresses issues of sexual assault, dysfunctional families, the legal system, and more. Sebold comes at these topics with brutal honesty and deep, personal insight from start to finish. Sebold jump starts her memoir with the statement, “In the tunnel where I was raped…”, a statement…
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Memoirs allow authors to share a piece of their life with their audience. Taking a highly personal experience and turning it into a beautiful story with emotion, perspective, and flair is the essence of writing a memoir. The issue of how much is truth, and how much is imagination divides the literary and writing community alike. Readers can feel cheated if they learn an author bent the truth to weave a more gripping narrative. However, the reality is there is no truth. An author can only write a…
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Both of the following two texts, a cartoon strip and an extract from a memoir, share similarities and differences regarding the theme and context, audience, purpose as well as certain formal and stylistic features. The first extract is a cartoon strip written in 1986 by Cathy Guisewite. The cartoon features four panels with three female characters with narrations and speech bubbles to emphasize dialogue and the message regarding women’s rights and sex stereotyping. The context of the cartoon…
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An Education The process of life-writing, or describing one’s personal experience, is a complex and muti-layered endeavor, especially if writing to articulate a certain point. W.E.B. Du Bois uses his personal memories as well as historical evidence and figurative language in his arguments about the education system in the South. The first black man to earn a doctorate from Harvard University, Du Bois was in a privileged position and used his success to demonstrate that while he may have been able…
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Truthfulness in Memoirs When choosing memoirs, readers expect to learn about the truthful events of the authors past experiences, but at times authors tend to alter details to make their writing appeal to those who want to connect with it. Many people question as to whether it is right or wrong to bend the truth of a memoir, however many also think it could go both ways. A memoirist’s commitment should be the truth, but the truth can sometimes be sacrificed for more interesting story telling…
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slavery. Twelve years later, Northup retells his accounts in his memoir Twelve Years A Slave. Director Steve McQueen adapted Northup’s memoir in a major motion picture of the same title; now in the race for multiple Academy Awards. Although the book and film share a biography, each uses different conventions of storytelling. There is an elegant tone in Northup’s first person narrative. A diplomatic tone is sustained throughout the memoir, allowing the piece to act as a political voice of 1853. McQueen’s…
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only validate my decision to dedicate my Sunday to study. Jean-Dominique Bauby’s memoir The Diving Bell and the Butterfly rests in my lap as I consider the life Bauby lived. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly is Bauby’s personal account of his experience living the latter part of his life with locked-in syndrome, a condition that left him completely paralyzed less one of his eyes. Bauby was able to communicate his narratives to a scribe using a meticulous method involving Bauby blinking when the scribe…
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