William Zinsser's How To Write A Memoir

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.

Walcott also uses metaphors to express the importance of the elderly storyteller. “She was the lamplight in the stare of two mesmerized boys”. This quote allows the reader to realize that the lady was able to guide them in a way much similar to the lamp which led them to her. This leads the reader to infer that the experience was meaningful and made such an impact that it will last with them throughout adulthood. In the quote, “There’s childhood and there’s childhood’s aftermath”, Walcott expresses the importance of learning from experiences in our childhood that grant us understanding and

William Zinsser is the person that wrote “How To Write A Memoir ”. William Zinsser gave us some advice to write a memoir. These specific advices are “Be Yourself”,” Speak Freely”, and “Think Small”. In Bad Boy, Walter Dean Myer memoir uses Zinsser advice but not in a exact way Zinsser wrote his memoir. Zinsser give us suggestions such as “Be Yourself” , ”It Your Story”, and “Think Small”.

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.

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!

Of all the forms of literature, the most interesting might be the fairytales, or the science fiction thriller about robots. However, there lacks the sense of truth, in a way blocking the reader from true connection with the story. Memoir is real, memoir is true, and memoir can range from any end of the ocean in structure and theme.

Now before you get too comfortable with the simple little title listen up buttercup and allow me to let you in on a little secret. I’m not what you would call a nice guy I might walk the walk, but deep down once you get to know me on a comfortable level I can come off as a dick and often times I don’t think before I talk. It’s good that I’m getting this out of the way because according to Mary Karr in her book titled “The Art of Memoir” she mentions that “the best writers make you feel they’ve disclosed their soft underbellies." Which I believe highly qualifies my memory as a memoir due to the fact that I’m being honest and I’m being myself. I believe that I have given my all into this paper disclosing to you about my personal love life. Now before you read on into my so called “exciting” life allow me to give you a bit of a warning I may or may not say something that might offend you and if you are one of those that gets easily offended, I highly advice you to put this paper down and walk away just pretend you never even laid eyes on it. Now for you brave souls that are still reading this then congratulations, you have passed and you are ready to read about my dysfunctional life.

Zinsser gave great advice to memoir writers. Soul Surfer a memoir about a girl who lost her arm to a shark. She does and doesn’t follow Zinsser’s advice, “Be yourself, speak freely, tell your story,” (Zinsser 2, 4, 6)

Although the narrators in This Boy’s Life: A Memoir by Tobias Wolff and The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates by Wes Moore both have especially strong female role models, their experiences detailed ,the time period that they grew up in, and their father figures differ dramatically.

A childhood is something all people experience and often times reflect upon. These reflections become the basis for many narratives. In Annie Dillard’s essay from An American Childhood, Dillard recalls a time from her childhood when her skill of dedication she learned from playing football was put to use as she was chased by a man she and her friends had thrown snowballs at. In Sarah Vowell’s personal narrative “Shooting Dad,” Vowell learns that different interests does not necessarily indicate different personalities when she attempts to make peace with her ideologically-opposite father by helping fire a cannon he made. Both authors do a great job of telling a childhood narrative; however, Vowell conveys her deeper meaning much better than

Boy is Roald Dahl’s young self (and also the name of his autobiography), and when he grew up, he wrote a biography about important events in his life. With all of his experiences, he wrote some pretty interesting stories. He was a british novelist.

A Childhood: The Biography of a Place by Harry Crews tells the tale of his own childhood growing up. I purposely referred to his biography as a tale because even he could not be sure that everything he has written has happened the way he has written it, due to the fact that he starts out writing about his life ten years prior to his mother giving birth to him and that many recollections do not come from his own memory, but instead a collection of stories he has been told throughout his life. He, however, does in fact alert us quite early on in his novel that everything he has written in this book is what he believes and knows to be true, and that that is enough for him as he searches to find himself. That is why he had chosen to write a

Being able to depict details from a non-fictional novel and a fictional novel and tie in comparisons is not always an easy task. Boy: Tales of Childhood is an autobiographical novel written by Roald Dahl and Matilda is a fictional novel written by Dahl. Both books have similar aspects such as family life, school life, and living conditions. Dahl makes his experiences come to life when writing his fictional novels, making them enjoyable to the reader.

However, his words are a key element to the story because they reflect valuable lessons that the children may need for future reference. The narrator wants to save the children from heartache and disappointment; however he fails to realize that all children must experience these emotions for themselves in order to become mature. As the narrator stares into the lives of the children, it seems as though he is reliving his own life. His

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.