Mapping Memories with Memoirs

Mapping Memories with Memoirs

Your first day of school, that time you sprained your ankle in 8th grade, the day you won that special award, your very favorite vacation, the day you learned life is short . . . our lives are full of significant moments.  Memoirs provide a tool to bring those precious memories into clearer focus.

If you are using this in the classroom, I have suggested pieces that I use with high school students of various reading levels, but you can alter these based on the ability and maturity levels of your students.  At the end of the unit, I design a rubric and have students select a number of the pieces they’ve worked on to place into the final drafts of their memoir.  The rubric includes whatever types of figurative language or conventions we have been working on through the unit. Students design a cover and I also have them do an ‘about the author’ page with their picture and a short biography.

If you are using this for your own benefit, writing about yourself is a great tool for self-awareness.  By creating a written narrative, your past takes shape and offers you a clearer vision of who you are today.  By writing about yourself, you form a connection with each and every person who reads your words.  Writing provides the opportunity to share ideas that can help others grow along with you.  Additionally, writing helps dissolve the hard knots of loss and regret that may keep you stuck in the past.  For instance, I’ve written letters to ex-boyfriends never intending for them to be read.  Just the act of placing my thoughts on paper placed them out of my head and provided the release I needed.  Finally, writing is a challenging mental activity and research shows that challenging yourself mentally improves your mental agility and stamina.  So go ahead . . . put your pen to paper and discover yourself.  Here are some of my favorites:

Memoir Piece #1 ~ Describe someone memorable who you know personally.

Think of an ‘interesting/different’ person you know.  You may want to include the following:

• Tell something memorable this person does; write something this person always says (his/her expression) or write a short conversation between this person and someone else so we get a sense of how he/she talks.

Memoir Piece #2 ~ Write down a process you could teach to someone.  Think of a process that has symbolic meaning for you or is somehow important of who you think you are.

Memoir Piece #3 ~ Write about the first time you did something.

Memoir Piece #4 ~ Write two rules you learned as a child.  How did you learn this lesson? What is the most important lesson you would want your child to learn?

Memoir Piece #5 ~What do you remember about your first day of school?  OR What was your most memorable day at school?  Write a short description of the place; describe one incident that happened that day; include 20 lines of dialogue that occured that day.

Memoir Piece #6 ~ Write about a time you did something you didn’t want to do.

Memoir Piece #7 ~ If you could take back something you’ve done, what would it be?

What other memoir pieces would you include???

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