Memoir Notes for Literature Test
Characteristics of Memoir:
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Autobiographical writing
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Captures certain highlights or meaningful moments in one’s past
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Contemplation of the meaning of that event at the time of the writing of the memoir
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Much more emotional and connects the writer to someone or something that had an impact on
his or her life
From When I Was Puerto Rican:
Author: Esmerelda Santiago
Genre: Memoir (non-fiction)
Setting: Brooklyn, New York
Central Idea of Memoir: Face your fears, remained determined, and follow your dreams.
Background:
Esmeralda Santiago moved to Brooklyn from Puerto Rico with her mother and several of her
brothers and sisters when she was 13, leaving behind her father and life in the country. After being
assigned to a class for kids with learning disabilities because she cannot speak English well, she
decides that Brooklyn is not the place for her. When her family moves and she changes schools, she
is given the chance to write her own ticket.
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Esmerelda is not happy in Brooklyn
Her guidance counselor gives her an aptitude test
o They discover she would be good with people
o They suggest she be a teacher or a nurse
 She does not want to be either
 She wants to be on Television
They decide to send her to a Performing Arts School.
o She must audition to be admitted
o She had to perform a monologue – she did not do well
o They then had her pantomime decorating a Christmas Tree with another student
from the school.
 This felt natural to her.
Esmerelda, despite not performing her monologue well, is accepted into the Performing
Arts School.
She achieves success because of her determination and bravery, in spite of landing in a
country with a culture very different from her native home in Puerto Rico.
From Swimming to Antarctica
Author: Lynne Cox
Genre: Memoir
Setting: Dover, England – across the English Channel to Cap Gris-Nez, France
Vocabulary to know:
Lanolin
Queasy
Summit
Mussels
Barnacles
Background:
She’s known as the best long-distance swimmer in the world. From the subzero waters of
Antarctica to shark-infested seas, she has taken on the most treacherous waters of the
globe.
The Story So Far…At ages 15 and 16, she broke the men’s and women’s world records for
swimming the English Channel—a 33-mile crossing in 9 hours, 36 minutes. This is her account
of her first record-breaking swim.
Central Idea:
With practice, determination, and support, one can overcome obstacles and conflicts to achieve
a dream. In Lynne’s case, it was to complete a record-breaking swim across the English
Channel.
External Conflicts:
 Hunger
 Oil Tanker that could not stop to let her pass
 Tidal Changes in the currents that slowed her pace and pushed her off course
 Aching arms
 Cold, numbness
 Danger of being thrown by waves against rocks
 Exhaustion
Internal Conflicts
 Deciding whether she had enough stamina left in her to swim
 Should she risk getting thrown against the rocks to shorten her swim, or take the
longer route and be safe?
Living to Tell the Tale
Author: Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Genre: Memoir
Setting: Aracataca, Colombia
Vocabulary:
Ruminant
Deficiencies
Tome
Missal
Decapitation
Roused
Proclaimed
Endure
Illuminated
Witticism
oblige
soporific
decimated
morass
compensated
voracity
resonance
incorporated
torrent
dromedary
Background:
The Story So Far When Márquez accompanies his mother to his childhood home to help
her sell the house in which they were both raised, he is flooded with memories of his childhood.
This excerpt is from the first book of what will be a three-book-long memoir of his life and work.
Central Idea:
Marquez relates how through his family experiences he came to have a love of words and
storytelling. He particularly remembers his experiences with his grandfather who was an important
influence in his life. He uses what he learned to tell his own story about a particularly adventurous
day with his grandfather.
“The Hanging”
Author: George Orwell (Real name is Eric Blair)
Setting: Burma, India
Genre: Memoir in Essay Form
Vocabulary to Know:
Barracks
Dravidian
Pariah
Gamboled
Gait
Servile
Pannikin
boxwallah
refractory
genially
amicably
oscillated
timorously
snigger
garrulously
Background:
After finishing his studies at Eton, having no prospect of gaining a university scholarship and
his family's means being insufficient to pay his tuition, Eric joined the Indian Imperial Police
in Burma. He resigned and returned to England in 1928 having grown to hate imperialism
(as shown by his first novel Burmese Days, published in 1934, and by such essays as 'A
Hanging', and 'Shooting an Elephant'). He adopted his pen name in 1933, while writing for
the New Adelphi. He chose a pen name that stressed his deep, lifelong affection for the
English tradition and countryside: George is the patron saint of England (and George V was
monarch at the time), while the River Orwell in Suffolk was one of his most beloved English
sites.
Central Idea:
Through his essay entitled “The Hanging,” Orwell makes a statement about the use/misuse
of Capital Punishment in India.