Writing Memoir/American War Test

AGENDA:

Welcome back!  

American War Test---Open book

READING:

Writing Memoir:

https://thewritepractice.com/19-tips-on-writing-memoir-from-the-memoir-project-by-marion-roach-smith/

https://www.thoughtco.com/what-is-a-memoir-1691376 

http://www.barbaradoyen.com/writing-nonfiction/what-is-a-memoir-what-makes-a-memoir-different-from-an-autobiography-or-biography 

http://www.writersdigest.com/online-editor/write-good-memoir-advice-finding-voice
http://www.writersdigest.com/writing-articles/by-writing-genre/memoir-by-writing-genre

https://thewritelife.com/the-beginners-guide-to-planning-and-writing-a-memoir/

https://blog.udemy.com/how-to-write-a-memoir/

Memoir writing techniques

A memoir is written in first person from the author’s point of view.

It is narrative nonfiction written in story form like fiction. Dialogue can be included, but since few people can remember precisely every word spoken, the dialogue is not literally true; instead the author attempts to recreate it as accurately as possible. For this reason, some memoirs, like Wild Swans, tell the story without dialogue.

The memoir author should “think small” and make a series of “reducing decisions,” says William Zinsser, author of the perennially popular book, On Writing Well, which includes a new chapter about writing memoirs in the latest edition.

WRITING:\

 Select a topic to explore: 

#WritingPrompts: 52 Memoir Prompts

by Jeri Walker | Nov 2, 2015 | Featured, Writing Tips | 88 comments

Behold! These memoir prompts have consistently ranked as the most viewed post on Word Bank Writing & Editing, and I wanted to bring feature them again for those who may have missed out the first time around. I’m currently booked with editing projects through the end of the year, so contact me now if you need to reserve a spot for 2016. Most importantly, know thyself. All good writers should follow that advice. Based on my creative nonfiction post, Confessions of a Motley Crue Fool, I hope it’s now apparent just how seriously I take my own suggestions. 

The following questions function as memoir prompts that can serve many purposes, such as an idea for a last minute blog post. They will take you through a year’s worth of memoir writing if you do one a week. Or perhaps you would rather pick and choose the ones you find most appealing. At the very least, they can be used to fight writer’s block. Remember that writing about something is better than staring blankly and writing about nothing at all.




Make each one as long or as short as you see fit. However, limiting yourself to 300-500 words would be a great exercise in conciseness. Focus on appealing to all five senses. As always, aim to show rather than tell.


#1: Was there anything unusual or unique about your birth?

#2: What is your earliest memory?

#3: What is your first memory about your siblings, parents, pets, toys, or house?

#4: What is your happiest childhood memory? Your saddest?

#5: How have childhood favorites impacted you? (toys, cartoons, books, etc.)

#6: Were your parents good parents?

#7: What event in your childhood had the most impact on your life as an adult?

#8: What is your first memory about school?

#9: Was learning to read and write a struggle for you?

#10: Who was your favorite teacher?

#11: What was your favorite subject in school?

#12: Did you participate in any extra-curricular activities?

#13: What clique did you belong to?

#14: What do you wish you would have learned more about in school?

#15: What schoolmate had the most impact on your life? In what way?

#16: Who was your first best friend? How did they influence your life?

#17: What did you learn about yourself in high school?

#18: What was the first moment you felt truly grown up or independent?

#19: How old were you when you began to drive?

#20: Who gave you your first kiss?

#21: Who was your first love?

#22: What is your best memory as a teenager with your friends?

#23: What was the best party you went to when you were a teenager?

#24: What was your first job?

#25: How much was your first paycheck and what did you do with it?

#26: What moment in your life have you felt most loved?

#27: Which one of your parents are you most like?

#28: Was graduating from high school a big event?

#29: Has education played an important role in your life?

#30: What have you done that you never thought you would do?

#31: What was the greatest challenge of your life so far?

#32: What do you wish you had done differently in your life?

#33: Who do you wish you could see again?

#34: Who was the lost love of your life?

#35: What word would you most like people to associate with you?

#36: Who was the biggest influence (positive or negative) on your life?

#37: How were your belief systems formed? (religion, politics, family, etc.)

#38: What is great about your life right now?

#39: What could be better about your life?

#40: To what degree has technology shaped your life in the past 10 years?

#41: When is the last time you learned to do something new?

#42: Does your career make you happy?

#43: How is your family unique?

#44: Is your significant other your best friend?

#45: What do your pet peeves reveal about you?

#46: What do your tastes reveal about you? (food, music, clothes, books, etc.)

#47: How many life goals have you attained?

#48: What regrets do you have?

#49: What do you think the future holds for you?

#50: Do you spend more time planning for the future or living in the moment?

#51: What will your retirement be like?

#52: What will your obituary say about you?

Other prompts will come to you as you draft, so why not write them down in your writer’s notebook? You never know when it might come in handy.

What do you like and dislike about reading and/or writing memoirs? What memoir prompts would you add to the list?

American War Test

AGENDA:

1st drafts of story DUE TODAY

American War TEST---postponed to Monday when we return to classes--multiple choice and essay.  If you have not finished the book, do so over the Regents week!

Contest entries--Sokol and Gannon--extra credit

New Focus--Marking period 3---NONFICTION

American War/Short Story

AGENDA:

Continue to work on short stories

Sokol/Gannon contests--sign off sheet for Extra Credit

Roc the Sonnet contest

Finish American War for Thursday

Turn in 1st draft of story on Thursday

American War Short Story

AGENDA:

Continue to work on American War Short Story (3 more class sessions).

Read American War: Finish Part III, pg.322 for Tuesday next week

Open book--turn in quiz questions

American War Short Story

AGENDA:

Work on new short story (See previous post)

CONTESTS--Sokol, Gannon--Extra credit

continue reading American War---

American War/

AGENDA:

Welcome back to 2019!

READING:

Think, Pair, Share---POST:

4. What is the significance of Sarat’s changing of her own name when she’s a girl? How does that sense of agency and identity develop as she gets older? How does her having a twin sister fit into your understanding of her independence and actions?

5. The novel presents many different laws, agencies, and other government entities for the future America. Which did you find to be most plausible, including as sources for political conflict that would escalate into war? Are any similar to real-life policies as you’re reading about them today?

6. Describe the dynamic of the Chestnut family, parents and children. What’s similar and what’s different about domestic life in their world versus today’s and during the time of the first Civil War?

7. How pervasive is the allegiance to the Free Southern State where the Chestnuts live and throughout the cordoned region? What threats do those who disagree with the cause face?


Definitions:
Nonlinear narrative, disjointed narrative or disrupted narrative is a narrative technique, sometimes used in literature, film, hypertext websites and other narratives, where events are portrayed, for example out of chronological order, or in other ways where the narrative does not follow the direct causality pattern of the events featured, such as parallel distinctive plot lines, dream immersions or narrating another story inside the main plot-line. It is often used to mimic the structure and recall of human memory, but has been applied for other reasons as well.

Metafiction is a literary device used self-consciously and systematically to draw attention to a work's status as an artifact. It poses questions about the relationship between fiction and reality, usually using irony and self-reflection. It can be compared to presentational theatre, which does not let the audience forget it is viewing a play; metafiction forces readers to be aware that they are reading a fictional work. 

Intertextuality is the shaping of a text's meaning by another text. Intertextual figures include:allusion, quotation, calque, plagiarism, translation, pastiche and parody.^[1][2][3] Intertextuality is a literary device that creates an ‘interrelationship between texts’ and generates related understanding in separate works (“Intertextuality”, 2015). These references are made to influence that reader and add layers of depth to a text, based on the readers’ prior knowledge and understanding. Intertextuality is a literary discourse strategy (Gadavanij, n.d.) utilised by writers in novels, poetry, theatre and even in non-written texts (such as performances and digital media). Examples of intertextuality are an author’s borrowing and transformation of a prior text, and a reader’s referencing of one text in reading another.
Intertextuality does not require citing or referencing punctuation (such as quotation marks) and is often mistaken for plagiarism (Ivanic, 1998). Intertextuality can be produced in texts using a variety of functions including allusion, quotation and referencing (Hebel, 1989). However, intertextuality is not always intentional and can be utilised inadvertently. As philosopher William Irwin wrote, the term “has come to have almost as many meanings as users, from those faithful to Kristeva’s original vision to those who simply use it as a stylish way of talking about allusion andinfluence.

WRITING ASSIGNMENT:


Your assignment:

Write a short story of at least 5 pages that:

1. Has a historical background of your choice--

2. Explores multiple narrative lines
a. traditional 3rd person narrative

b. possible prologue from narrator  telling the story about the protagonist

c. Intertextuality:
Evidence paragraphs or sections--quotes, interviews, newspaper clippings, historical facts, documents, etc.