The Influence of Grace Jones, Tyler the Creator, and Erykah badu on my Teenage Self

After contemplating the purpose of a memoir several things came to mind. I believe it can serve to be cathartic for the writer as they can be set free by working through certain events in their life. Furthermore, and perhaps more importantly, I think a memoir can serve as a way to for the writer to tell their story in a vivid way that allows the readers to feel like they are living the experience and perhaps to learn a valuable lesson from their story. Therefore, I chose to analyze two memoirs they were Superman and Me by Sherman Alexie and “Salvation” by Langston Hughes. I concentrated on trying to determine the purpose of each piece in order to indicate what pivotal aspects were employed that either helped or hindered them in achieving that purpose.

I find it slightly unfitting to write an autobiography at the young age of 18. Personally, I feel as if my perspective is not the same as many people my age. This is the word of someone who was born in the wrong generation; the story of someone who feels so different from other young adults. Someone born years too late, with still so much to learn can be conflicting.

Writing about myself, is honestly the hardest thing anyone has ever asked me to do. My life has been filled with great opportunities; I have been able to see parts of the world; and meet some interesting people along the way. In doing so, seeing the world has given me a great perspective on myself, it

In “How to Write a Memoir” William Zinsser gives very detailed and important advice to writers interested in writing a memoir. He gives the specific advice of “Be yourself,” “Speak Freely,” and “Think Small” (Zinsser, 2, 4, 6). These tips advise writers to not only think about what they want to say in their story but also how they want to tell their story. Many memoir authors choose to follow this advice and write their story using these points, but many do not. In the memoir “A Summer Life”, Gary Soto follows Zinsser’s writing advice through his use of writing from the point of view of a young child, speaking freely about his early life events, and writing about his life in small structure chapters.

Kanye Omari West, an icon of hip-hop, pop culture, fashion and music in general. Kanye Omari West, a person belittled against and a person subjected to a life of racism and hate. Born on June 8th, 1977, Donda West, West’s mother, always knew he was destined for greatness, but did she know her son would turn out to be the Kanye West, a man lacking the respect he deserves for transforming a big part of the music we listen to on this very day? West came onto the scene in the late nineties but didn’t release The College Dropout until 2004, an album that took everybody by surprise. Kanye West changed the gangster filled rap genre by releasing his positive, soulful debut album, changing the way rappers

The story of my history as a writer is a very long one. My writing has come full circle. I have changed very much throughout the years, both as I grew older and as I discovered more aspects of my own personality. The growth that I see when I look back is incredible, and it all seems to revolve around my emotions. I have always been a very emotional girl who feels things keenly. All of my truly memorable writing, looking back, has come from experiences that struck a chord with my developing self. This assignment has opened my eyes, despite my initial difficulty in writing it. When I was asked to write down my earliest memory of writing, at first I drew a blank. All of a sudden, it became very clear to me, probably because it had some

In Zinsser’s “How to Write a Memoir” he gives you three pieces of advice, be yourself, speak freely, and think small. I’m going to be comparing these three pieces of advice to my memoir I’ve read ”Guts”. I will be writing at least 5 paragraphs minimum for my essay. Now that I told you what I’m going to be doing, lets get right to it!

Another relative point of personal essays is the simple descriptions of timeless aspects of the world. Computers come and go, but the feeling you have when your dream girlfriend brings her new guy to the ritual Thursday night bar, that's a feeling we all have had. And those are the things a memoir provides me as the reader. And we are in the point of history where people have been free, allowed to experience anything, or forced to enter war.

A good story is always structured with details that are easy to follow while intriguing readers with reality and emotions. Edwidge Danticat’s memoir has proven her ability to use descriptions that allows the text and the readers to connect. Through her writing, she is able to get the reader involved in her situation, so that it is as if they are experiencing it too. Adding on, Danticat cleverly writes each type of description in a way that makes them distinct from each other. This connects the two which adds to her message. Descriptions bring life to her story and stresses the real events that happened to her and her family which displays her message effectively. That being said, without objective and subjective descriptions, any piece

How would you feel quitting your job, abandoning your life, and leaving your family just to go to Alaska and climb the Devils Thumb? Or climbing Mount Everest blind? Crazily, there are two people who did that. Climbers John Krakaeur and Erik Weihenmayer, who both have a love for mountain climbing, have to overcome many difficulties to do it. Excited by their accomplishments, they wrote, expressed, and explained their feelings and experiences that they had during their journey. Confusingly, their memoirs seem to be very similar on the outside, but are very different in their reason for writing, their grammar structure, and simply in their tones and words.

memoir about my father. This memoir described and expressed the feelings that I had and

Since the early 1900s, Black women have had a fascination with their hair. More explicitly, they have had a fascination with straightening their hair. The need to be accepted by the majority class has caused them to do so. Though the image of straight hair as being better than coarse hair still hasn’t left the Black community, there has been a surge of non straight hairstyles since the nineteen sixties. Wearing more natural hairstyles, which ironically enough include ‘weaves’ and ‘hair extensions’ has been considered to be more empowered and more enlightened. However, this image comes with a price, and though it appears the ‘natural’ hairstyle movement has advanced Black women, it has actually set

Music has a major influence over people presently. When it comes to the artists that have had the most influence on people in the 2010’s, we have to see that there have only been a few substantial people who have managed to create such a large fanbase from their music. In this essay, I will state who, in my opinion, are the 3 most popular and influential music artists are from 2010 to present, who are Kendrick Lamar, Jermaine Cole (J Cole), and Frank Ocean. These artists all just happened to be men, so please don’t think of me as sexist, it’s just a coincidence. To start, I'll be discussing Kendrick Lamar.

When I listen to this music I feel as though the artist is speaking to me personally and telling me their story. When you listening to them you hear their tone (positive or negative) and it impacts how the story is interpreted. I do not feel the same way if I were reading a story. After listening to the albums we discussed earlier I can appreciate the inspirational message each one conveys. My personal favorite of the three artists is Kendrick Lamar. I find him to be a more relatable artist and I enjoy his music. In good kid, m.A.A.d. city, he talks about how his parents were always telling him what to do and who to hang out with. In the end, even after making mistakes, his parents were always there for him and they were proud of the man he has become. My parents are similar to his. They have opinions about everything I do. And, up to now I have not done everything the way they would have liked. I have made my own mistakes. But, my parents have taught me to be a good person and I know that they will always be there for me. Kendrick Lamar’s album depicting his life experiences is inspiring to me. I can work hard to make something of myself and I will have people around me that will support me while I am doing just that. If artists like Kendrick Lamar can inspire me, I believe they can inspire others that may be going down a worse path in life than I am. As a generation we must

I remember myself sitting near a little block with letters and my mother teaching me the name of each of them. She starts to sing me a song to help me to memorize the alphabet. It is so funny singing the ABC song. At that instant, the door opens, and my father enters the room. That is the first thing carved in my memory, and each time when I think about it, I conclude that we are the best family in the world.