MEMOIR BOOK PROJECT
Remember you must complete this assignment in order to pass the first nine weeks. This project represents two test grades. It is broken down into several steps.
Memoir writing is a compilation of snapshot memories. Snapshot memories are fairly short and very specific. Each memoir is rich in detail and description. It differs from writing an autobiography, in which where you start with the day you were born and tell everything that has happened since then. It also differs from a biography in that the person telling the story of the event is the person who actually experienced it, rather than someone observing the action. In other words, there is no bias in the writing except that of the person who took part in the event. An important part of memoir writing is the author's stated or implied message about why a memory is important enough to share. In other words, it answers the question, "What difference does it make?"
We will be writing our own memoirs. The "snapshot" memories you choose must be important enough to be shared with our class in order to strengthen our understanding of one another within our family! They are memories you would want to pass down to generations.
We will write about the memoir subjects listed below in descriptive mode:
action verbs in the present tense, sensory detail, and figurative language. You will bring the memory to life by writing about it in "real time," as if you are in the moment.
Categories
♦ "Where I grew up" stories
♦ Love stories (first love, true love, end of love, etc.)
♦ Pain stories (someone hurt you, argument with best friend or parents, etc.)
♦ First day of school stories
♦ Rites of passage/realizing you are growing up stories
♦ Weather stories (tornadoes, hurricanes, thunderstorms, etc.)
♦ Holiday Stories (traditions, memorable ones, when you found out there was no Santa
Claus, etc.)
♦ Physical Hurt stories (broken bones, stitches, surgeries, bee stings, etc.)
♦ First-time-I... stories
♦ Funny family stories (Those your mother always tells at gatherings.)
♦ "Caught ya'!" stories (lying, cheating, writing a love letter, etc.)
How to Get Started
We will start by free writing in our journals, looking at examples of memoirs, and talking about the importance of memories. We will then draft, create a hook, peer edit, and conference with me. We will present the memoir to the class aloud, and then prepare the final draft to be published in a class book. You can visit Mrs. Warren's website to read books from previous classes.
ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS TO THE WRITING PROCESS:
• Turn in all drafts of each piece
• Staple all peer and self editing and revision sheets to the entries with which they correspond
• Organize drafts and editing/revision forms in the order
The final draft must be four pages long, present tense, free of mistakes, and appropriate for school.
