Memoir Essay
(Essay 1)
THE WRITING TASK: The first writing task is based on the “Write a memoir” assignment on
page 22 of Word and Image with a few modifications:
Write a three-page memoir (600-900 words minimum) in which you explore a key relationship
or event that has shaped your core values. Be sure to select an event or conflict from at least one
year ago or more. A good memoir makes a point or shares a writer’s wisdom and experience, so
time and distance from the conflict are necessary. Identify a complication or struggle of values.
Then show how you evaluated the complication and resolved it. End your memoir by telling
your readers what you learned from this experience. Use vivid details.
Use MLA style (Modern Language Association): for this, see the reference on Moodle that
describes how to set up your document using the correct format, heading, etc. and also see Little,
Brown Handbook for an example. Note: I specifically request that students include a word
count as the fifth line of the essay heading. Essays that do not meet the minimum word
count for an assignment will not receive a passing grade.
A memoir typically includes:
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Informal tone (first person)
Descriptive language
Anecdotes (brief stories)
Dialogue or quotations
Purpose
Terms to remember:
Sensory Descriptions: Using the language of the five senses to create interesting descriptions or
comparisons.
Anecdote: A short account of an interesting or humorous event.
Alliteration: The occurrence in a phrase of two or more words having the same initial sound. In
the sample essay: protruding paunch, mafia mistress.
Simile: A figure of speech in which two unlike things are explicitly compared using “like” or
“as” to cue the comparison: “happy as a clam at high tide.”
Metaphor: Figurative speech in which something is described through indirect or implicit
comparison: “the weasel, a thin, muscled ribbon, wove its way across the floor.”