Myerson 3
Name:______
Mr. Myerson
English III
May 2015
Memoir – College Essay Prep
We have read Danticat’s Krik?Krak!, a host of voices in the Every American independent reading project, and several This I Believe essays. We have begun reading Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye, are also about to start reading excerpts from Esmeralda Santiago’s memoir When I Was Puerto Rican. In so doing, you have witnessed, and will continue to witness, both real people and fictional characters coming to terms with their respective identities via telling stories about foundational moments in their lives, and using rich, intense description to do so.
It’s your turn.
Using any notes/journals you composed throughout the above units and in consideration of the suggested prompts below, choose your memoir topic and begin drafting. The ensuing pages of this packet give you insight into the craft of memoir writing, as well as the rubric which will be used to assess your final product. Should you choose to wait until the night before this assignment is due, your writing (and grade) will reflect your decision. Please submit your final memoir to Google Classroom AND TurnItIn.com.
You are encouraged to see your teacher after school for help with a draft or, as always, to visit the Writing Center.
**Please note that this assignment serves as the first step in the process of writing your college essay. Next year you will again re-visit this assignment allowing you the opportunity to revise, edit, or completely change your essay. The possible prompts were adapted from those offered on the Common Application.**
Possible prompts:
1. Do you have a background or story that is so central to your identity that for someone to understand who you really are, he/she must know it? Share your story.
2. Everyone experiences failure at some point in his/her life, on a scope large or small. Share a story of an experience with failure (social, emotional, physical, educational, etc…), being sure to show how the experience affected you and what you learned from it.
3. Describe a problem you’ve solved or a problem you’d like to solve. It can be an intellectual challenge, a research question, or an ethical dilemma. Explain its significance to you and what steps you took or could be taken to identify a solution.
4. Share a story of a time when you challenged a belief or idea, either of your own, your family’s, or society’s. What prompted you to act? Was it worth it?
5. Sometimes we can point to a very singular moment – whether it be formal or informal—when we can feel ourselves transitioning from childhood to adulthood. Share your moment.
Embrace this opportunity to write your life. Enjoy!
Due date: ______
Consider the below “advice” about memoir writing from professional memoirists.
“How to Find Your Voice”
Published: January 7, 2011
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/09/education/edlife/09guidancebox.html?ref=education
Dani Shapiro, author of “Devotion: A Memoir”:
First, throw the “what ifs” out the window. What if Great-Aunt Edna reads this? What if people think I’m stupid, silly, vapid, egocentric, just plain nuts? The high-wire act of writing in the first person involves the willingness to reveal oneself in all of one’s humanity. But make no mistake: this is not your diary. You are not letting it all hang out. You are picking and choosing every single word. Do not forget that you’re carving a story out of what is true — but still, you’re telling a story.
Darin Strauss, author of “Half a Life”:
One solid trick is to write in the third person, then to do a word replace — the writer should turn every “I” to “she” (or “he”), every “my” to “her,” etc. Why? Because what can make writing about oneself tough is doing so impartially: when judging who we are, it’s easy to award ourselves more than due process. The tendency is, we grant full pardons. This makes good propaganda but bad writing. Looking at yourself as you would a character should help remove that extra pinch of sugar by which you want to sweeten your story a little bit. Just make sure you switch back from third to first person.
Christopher R. Beha, author of “The Whole Five Feet: What the Great Books Taught Me About Life, Death and Pretty Much Everything Else”:
Write about the things that puzzle you. I say this though it directly contradicts the famous dictum “write what you know.” Good writing emerges from discovery. If you begin with what you know, where do you go next? If you begin with uncertainty, possibilities will present themselves. You might even find that you know more than you thought you did. In the meantime, writing through confusion allows you to avoid arrogance and self-absorption, the great risks of all first-person writing. So forget “write what you know.” Write what you don’t know, but would like to find out.
Ander Monson, author of “Vanishing Point: Not a Memoir”:
We find ourselves not by turning inward toward what we imagine is inside us, but by the act of looking outward at the world. The self is nothing without what it looks at. On its own, it’s inert. Kick it. Poke it. It seems dead. But point it at something else — Doritos, lawn darts, abandoned mines in Upper Michigan, a cappella groups, Dungeons & Dragons — and it perks up. Thus a focus on our obsessions, however nerdy, creepy, lovely, allows the self to emerge and live and blink a little in the bright light. In other words, the best way to write about ourselves is to write about something specific in the world. We don’t write about ourselves. We write ourselves.
Name: ______
Mr. Myerson
English III
May 2015
Memoir Rubric
Key
4 = Memoir is fully developed in this regard; very little need for revision in this area
3 = Memoir is mostly developed; some revision in this area would improve the overall
effect of the piece
2 = Memoir somewhat developed in this regard; this is an area to consider for
significant revision
1 = Memoir demonstrates little to no development in this area; there is a clear need
for revision in this regard
Objective / 4 / 3 / 2 / 1Includes an engaging title that captures a sense of the memoir itself.
Memoir focuses on a single moment that seems significant to the author’s life.
Memoir includes plenty of rich detail to “show” the memory.
Attention is paid to the crafting of language in a style that is clear, compelling, and engaging.
Includes a clear statement of the significance of the memory to the writer’s present understanding of self, human condition (i.e. larger truth), or a clear indication of same through the narrative.
Careful attention is paid to structure, including an interesting hook/effective beginning, clear and well-developed connections throughout the body, and effective/poignant/memorable ending.
Writing is mechanically sound & grammatically
correct.
The “je ne sais quoi” factor- sometimes an essay produces an indescribable impact on the reader. I use this French phrase to describe an essay that has that indescribable or indefinable something that distinguishes your essay from the thousands admissions officers read. What’s difficult is that I can’t exactly tell you WHAT you can do to achieve the “je ne sais quoi,” but I will say it’s a perfect combination of the above items on the rubric, combined with a voice which is wholly your own. Regardless, on the scale below, I will rate you on the “je ne sais quoi” factor, just for you to consider, but I will only include in consideration for your grade the previous seven rubric objectives.
(you’re not there yet) 1 2 3 4 5 (you’ve got that something!)
Comments & Grade: