William Zinsser's How To Write A Memoir

The autobiography Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt tells the life of the McCourt family while living in poverty in Limmerick, Ireland during the 30's and 40's. Frank McCourt relates his difficult childhood to the reader up to the time he leaves for America at age nineteen. The book has many prevailing themes, but one of the most notable is the settings relationship to the family. The setting of the book ultimately influences the choices and lifestyle of the McCourt family in many ways.

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!

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.

Michael Odaatje’s, Running in the family demonstrates the effects of the poetry with prose, memoir stories, and history with fiction contributed to the aspect success of fictionalised memoir by breaking off the traditional boundaries of limited genre as a unique style which narrow down to numerous genres.

There are many similar and different qualities between ‘Popular’ and ‘Zinsser’s Advice On How To Write A Memoir’. In my opinion they are both very good stories, but here are some things I noticed about them.

On the other hand, Miller successfully argues that fake memoirs are meant to “highlight the problematic nature of authenticity” and capitalism has changed the idea of what we think is real and what is not. By citing Baudrillard, Miller states that our idea of real is only a series of representations that we think are real. In fact, all our ideas of reality are fabrications because memory is not factual. The discovery of these fake memoirs can cause society to realize that all memoirs are, in fact, fabrications. With that in mind, this article contradicts the idea that the public can understand trauma through experiencing art. Overall, “Stylised Configurations of Trauma” contributes to the art, trauma, and memory theme through proving that the study of fraudulent memoirs can help explain “the strange expectation that literature is able to provide access to something

“Angela’s Ashes”, A Troubled Family Frank McCourt’s,” Angela’s Ashes,” is a memoir, that chronicles the hardships his family endured. The McCourt family would suffer through the depths of poverty, hunger, alcoholism, depression, disease and death. By exploring these tragedies, we will learn how Frank McCourt, was able to overcome such a life riddled with strife.

My SOUL, Josh Fleisher, that i had last year did a nice job with me being an incoming student. I would like to be able to have the same opportunity as he did and make the transition from high school to college go much smoother than it would be at other schools. Im hoping to gain friendships with some of the incoming freshman, but also hope to gain work ethic and break out of my shell. I was quiet in high school and would like to branch out and help others that are transitioning and make it much easier on them. Also to meet other souls that may be connections and close friends that ill have for the rest of my life is truly remarkable to me. Im hoping to gain experience among working with others regarding performing scenes for the incoming students or just being able to talk with the incoming families about what Miami is like and how incredible it can be, purely on how you make it.

Things I would add or deducted from this memoir is its length I seem to be able to catch what the writer is trying to express in his own words a lot earlier then the writer probably would have like us to catch on to his moral of the

A boy and his family struggle to survive in a harsh unfair world. A classic story of struggle but through his excellent use of memoir and narrative writing Frank McCourt turns his own story into a gripping masterpiece. In his memoir Angela’s Ashes Frank McCourt reveals his childhood for all that it was. Through his words the reader is able to feel what he experienced as a child. The narrative techniques that Frank McCourt uses set a tone for the whole story and provide an interesting perspective into his early life. McCourts use of setting, characterization and perspective allow a deeper understanding of his feelings as well as those who influenced him in his journey through childhood.

Angela’s Ashes is a uniquely crafted autobiography by Frank McCourt, who recites his difficult youth in Ireland. The author describes the many relationships between his parents and exposes the harsh reality brought up his family. The McCourts suffer from extreme poverty, hunger, sin, and countless unwise decisions. There is a cast of characters who’ve interacted with Angela, Frank McCourt’s mother, that sculpt Angela based on their relationships. Let’s unravel the depths of this sad, but beautiful story.

A brand new country. A lonely pub. Two different people, living entirely different lives. Drunken laughs. A one night stand. And 9 months later the introduction to author, Frank McCourt, whose early life became a memoir that is more than worth your time. Angela’s Ashes tells the story of a boy who watched the world crash around him as hearts broke and promises were left unkept. But that’s not why this novel was written. It was written because Frank McCourt believed he had words that people needed to hear. He had a message that someone has been waiting to receive.

In his chapter from On Writing Well dealing with family history, author William Zinsser has written, “Writers are the custodians of memory.” (281) This means that those who write preserve history. I hope to accomplish this here by remembering my late uncle Khaled’s experience of the Iraqi invasion, and occupation of, my native country of Kuwait. In doing such a nonfiction assignment, it is important to recall something else Zinsser wrote in his book: “The moral for nonfiction writers is: think broadly about your assignment…Push the boundaries of your subject and see where it takes you.” (247) This represents another key objective for this effort. Thus, if Uncle Khaled’s memory is

It was a frosty Monday morning, in a small town no more immense than ‘The Average Joe’. Only a slim amount of houses to be seen. “Today is the day” I uttered breathlessly, removing the warm boundary separating me from the cool chill of a winter’s morning. The aroma of pancakes with a hint of my mother’s homemade golden syrup left even the fullest of people wanting more. Who would ever have guessed that this would be the last remaining day in my homeland.

Writing memoirs is cathartic for most authors. Frank McCourt, the author of various forms of literature, mostly wrote memoirs to cope with his traumatic experiences. Many of his novels relate to his experiences as a child when he lived in poverty. For an example, in Angela’s Ashes Frank describes how he had to provide for his family at a young age because his father was not present. Although Frank McCourt was raised in poverty, it influenced and motivated him to write a novel about his traumatic experiences as a child so others could learn from them and he could cope with the past.