One-semester Course
Open to 11, 12
Range of difficulty: 1 – 4
1. Rationale
This is a course designed for those interested in reading modern-day memoirs and exploring the art and craft of writing about one’s life. A critical study of works such as the following – some in their entirety, some extracted – will drive the course: A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah, All Souls by Michael Patrick MacDonald, The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls, Holidays on Ice by David Sedaris, and I Love Yous Are for White People by Lac Su. Students are expected to participate in discussions of the above works either in a classroom setting or on an individual basis. Students also are expected to write up to six original essays (based on their life experiences) and to present them to the class throughout the semester. If time allows, the class will put together an anthology drawn from pieces written throughout the semester. The final exam will be based on the reading and writing techniques studied.
2. Topics or themes emphasized
Memoir: Elements of fiction will be employed by students to tell their stories in the essays they produce for this class. The following will be emphasized: narrative voice, use of dialogue, providing descriptive details, creating scenes, knowing when to use summary, and plot. Students will be expected to provide essays that are carefully proofread before they are photocopied and shared with the class.
Personal writing: In journals, students are encouraged to write about emotions, discoveries, and impressions and to explore questions they are not yet ready to ask aloud. No emphasis is placed on spelling, punctuation, or grammar.
3. Methods and sample assignments
– Grammar, punctuation, vocabulary, and editing skills emphasized
– Workshop format – each student will present four pieces to the class for critique
– Critical reading skills – evaluation of published works as well as student works
– Constructive criticism – how to, when to, and why
– Slice of life assignments; specific scenes required as opposed to broad strokes of summary of one’s life
– Exploration of the past through mnemonics, music, friends, parents, teachers, etc.
– Reflective writing in journals vs. polished pieces presented publicly
kinds of questions and thinking required
a.) Is it the writing or the life that makes successful personal writing?
b.) How does the writer recollect a life? How is the past reconstructed?
c.) What are readers looking for in personal stories? What is the role of the audience? Does a writer write for an audience?
d.) What is truth? How is fact different from personal truth? What is the difference? Is it possible to tell the whole truth? Who cares about the truth?
e.) Where does the writer’s story begin? End? What goes in the middle? What is the principle of selection?
f.) What is the writer’s ultimate goal: to analyze, justify, report, instruct, connect?
4. Expectations for students
Reading
Students will study several full-length memoirs as well as a variety of excerpted memoirs; in the final weeks of the semester, each student will study a memoir selected strictly on personal interest.
Writing
a.) Students are given the opportunity to write up to eight three page essays per quarter based on their life experiences. The topics are up to the students, but the teacher will provide exercises that will assist in remembering the past. The teacher will also assist students in recognizing a good story.
b.)Student will keep journals throughout the semester. The journals will be checked eight times per quarter.
Speaking and Listening
Students are required to listen to one another, make useful commentary when discussing student essays, and present their own work several times during the semester.
5. Reading list (in order if applicable) and other materials
Elements of Style, Strunk and White
Writing the Memoir, Judith Barrington
All Souls, Michael Patrick MacDonald
Tuesdays with Morrie, Mitch Albom
Lying, Lauren Slater
Autobiography of a Face, Lucy Grealy
Naked, David Sedaris
The Liars’ Club, Mary Karr
Wasted, Marya Hornbacher
When Broken Glass Floats, Chanrithy Him
Angela’s Ashes, Frank McCourt
The Glass Castle by Jeannette Wells
A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah
Holidays on Ice by David Sedaris
I Love Yous Are for White People by Lac Su
Read This!, Volumes 1 and 2, edited by A. Notaro
assorted audio recordings of David Sedaris and Maya Angelou
6. Bibliography
Writing Toward Home, Georgia Heard
Discovering the Writer Within, Bruce Ballinger and Barry Lane
Life Passages, Allan Hunter
Bird by Bird, Anne Lamott