Name: _______________________________
Hour: __________
THE MEMOIR: GRAPHIC ORGANIZER
1. Action, Plot, Conflict, Suspense:
4. Dialogue: Who talks to who? What is their
WHAT happens during this experience? Give a quick conversation about? Where and when does the
conversation take place? What are they doing while
summary of the experience in minute-by-minute
talking?
chunks. If there is a jump in time, indicate that.
Age 8: First glimpse of dad's family tree.
Age 10: I'm comfused about mom and dad's same
family name, so I explored mom's family tree and
found two families had same origin.
Age 16: A history lesson on history metarials made
me realize the meaning of family tree.
2. Setting: WHERE and WHEN does this
Grandpa → me
Time/Place: age 8, winter night, grandpa’s bedroom
Action: reading dad’s family tree
Dialogue content: the development history of Dad's family
Grandpa → me
Time/Place: age 10, Saturday noon, villege hall
Action: visiting the hall
Dialogue content: telling the development history of mom'
s clan and pointing out both families share the same root
History teacher → whole class (including me)
Time/Place: age 16, history lesson, classroom
Action: I took notes
Dialogue content: explaining the significance of various
historical materials
5. Thoughts & Reflection:
experience take place? Describe it using the 5 senses.
Reflection
When I was eight, in grandpa's bedroom on a frosty
winter night, I readed my father's family tree. I liked
the smells of old books and pipe tobacco in the room.
What do you think later about this event? (This may
connect to your significance or theme.)
When I was ten, on a sunny saturday noon, I stepped
into the village hall to explore my mother's family
tree. The sharp "click" of the iron lock opening
seemed to foretell that I was about to make new
discoveries.
Now, I open the family tree again. I recall the stories
from my grandpas and realize the two family trees are
the whole one. “The family tree is not a map, but a
mirror. Every name is a pixel in the picture of me.”
At sixteen, during a history class at school, I grasped
the meaning of a family tree. The voice of teacher
let me back to the winter night.
3. Characters: WHO is involved in this
6. Significance & Theme: What did you
experience? Describe yourself AND other characters LEARN from this? How did it CHANGE you? WHY
(age, gender, relationship to you, physical appearanc
I learn that a family tree is not just a story. Family
e, does it matter?role in this story, etc.).
tree shows historical development and family
culture. It turns me from a listener into a keeper of
Me
this history and culture because remembering is the
Aged 8, 10 and 16, male, tall and thin, curious for
first step to keeping the history and culture alive.
history, I speak in the first person, using my age as
the thread that pulls the story forward.
Grandpa
Aged 68, male, crew-cut turned gray, gold-rimmed
glasses; he likes to tell me the history of my family
that guides me through the family tree and
helps develop plot.
History teacher
Aged 30, female, chalk-dust on her cuffs; her lesson
shows me why the tree matters, lifting my private
curiosity to the idea of inheritance.