biography of Ms. Lyon reveals that her father worked as a dry cleaner, and students infer that either her father came home from work smelling of the chemical or she visited him at his business. Either way, that smell takes her back to her childhood.
Another student chimes in, “Clothespins, Clorox, and carbon-tetrachoride are sort of like alliteration—almost the same beginning sound.”
Students observe that people’s names are included in the memoir, and a student says “Imogene and Alafair sound a little old-fashioned, so they could be parents or grandparents,” and others notice the family sayings, such as “Perk up.” We then share maxims from our own families.
How to Teach Memoir Writing:
Brainstorming and Drafting
After noting that “Where I’m From” was created from a variety of childhood topics, such as people, places, events, activities, environment, religion, family sayings and stories, and foods, we brainstorm topics from our childhoods, collecting them on a Memories Chart [see below] to help elicit ideas for writing.
Using a projector I fill in my chart, relating a 1-minute story about each entry, as students fill in their charts. Some students glance up at my chart and listen as they become stuck; others stay focused on their own charts and tune me out. My demonstration is for those who need it. Over the next days as we read more mentor texts and share more personal stories, writers can add topics to their charts (Roessing, 141-142), gathering ideas for the memoirs they will write.
demonstration is for those who need it. Over the next days as we read more mentor texts and share more personal stories, writers can add topics to their charts (see page 22), gathering ideas for the memoirs they will write.
As the next step I composes a short memoir employing some of the same elements and techniques that we have noticed in our two mentor texts. Since at this point we have only heard Jerry Seinfeld’s monologue and read George Ella Lyon’s memoir, I draft my memoir, following much of the poet’s structure and employing many of her techniques, adding a few elements from our analysis of “Halloween.”
Students analyze my memoir, noticing how it employs topics and literary elements from the mentor texts but also how it differs to reflect the individual memories and writing styles of the two authors we have analyzed.
Over the next few days I introduce the students to other memoir mentor texts while they read full-length self-selected memoirs either independently or in book clubs, add topics to their lists, expand the class anchor charts, and draft short memoirs in a variety of genres, shadowing the exemplars read.
Adolescents are natural storytellers. Ask a group of teens why they missed an assignment or broke a rule, and the most incredible, implausible stories will emerge.
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