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As much as we adore fiction, a good memoir really has a huge emotional impact on the reader, because it has the benefit of being true (unless it's by James Frey, in which case, never mind). Beginning by making the readers wonder hooks them, hard. “I was sitting in a taxi, wondering if I had overdressed for the evening, when I looked out the window and saw Mom. “You have to go to the.

1. Every good story needs a theme as part of its foundation. The memoir is no exception to this rule. You’ll find that just about any event that happens in life can potentially be a memoir theme. What a writer must do is separate the good memoir themes from the ones that may not be as meaningful so the story offered can create a maximum impact.
2. Listopia Memoir Book Lists. Best Woman-Authored Books. 7,129 books — 5,693 voters Best Memoir / Biography / Autobiography. 5,080 books — 5,636 voters Must Read Non-Fiction. 3,251 books — 3,354 voters Best History Books. 3,036 books — 3,339 voters Best Feminist Books. 2,239 books — 3,313 voters.

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Memoir Essay Examples: Are you having a hard time writing your memoir essay? If yes, then you should check out this article.

In this article, you shall learn how to write a memoir essay. Also, some memoir essay examples will be given to guide you.

These wonderful memoir examples will show you what a truly good memoir essay is. And what it should look like. However, before then, what is a memoir essay?

Memoir Essay: Definition

Before talking about memoir essay examples, note. A memoir essay is a short, essay-length version of a memoir. And it is typically between 2,000 and 10,000 words. Also, a memoir essay is a first-person narrative drawn from the author’s own life.

Additionally, a memoir essay is a true story. And it is like other forms of creative nonfiction. However, memoir essay writing makes use of many of the literary devices and techniques of fiction.

Furthermore, it is important you note that a memoir essay isn’t meant to be your entire life story. It probably won’t be chronological, and you may or may not even be the main character.

While it may focus on the author’s relationship with multiple family members or loved ones, note. A memoir essay tends to be narrow in scope. In fact, as with a short story or novel, a good memoir essay is consciously constructed and ordered for literary effect.

Tips for Writing a Memoir Essay

Before talking about memoir essay examples, note. There’s no bad subject for a memoir essay. That’s because what makes a memoir special is your writing style. And the way you draw meaning out of past experiences.

Thus, a great memoir essay could revolve around a memory of growing up. Or an account of one day in your life that proved to be consequential. Also, it could be about your first job. Or it could be about your experience leaving home

However, here are some writing tips to keep in mind as you dive into the first draft of your memoir essay:

• Pay Attention to those Memories that Keep Coming Back to You

Even if you don’t know why a memory may be significant, note. The fact that you keep thinking of it means there’s probably a great story worth exploring there.

• Feel Free to Play With Structure

While your memoir essay will be true, note. You don’t have to relate events in the exact order and manner in which they occurred.

As such, reread some of your favorite short stories and novels and see how those writers manipulate time, perspective, and structure to create dramatic effects.

• Include Specific Images

Remember, memory is always tied to the five senses. And the more specific you can recall individual memories, the more vivid your writing will be.

Thus, beginning your memoir with a memory grounded in a specific sense can be a powerful entry into a memory. Also, maybe you begin with the smell of your grandmother’s living room. Or the taste of your favorite ice cream flavor.

• Capture the Complexity and Nuance Of Memory

Remember, while you may be the narrator of your own memoir, you’re not necessarily the hero. Thus, the point of a memoir isn’t to make yourself look good. However, it’s to bravely explore your own memories and perceptions.

Thus, think about how time and distance have changed the way you reflect on the way you felt or acted as a younger person. That tension and complexity will help pull the reader through your whole essay.

Some Memoir Essay Examples

Below are some memoir essay examples:

Example 1

My Pursuit of Happiness

Actually, I started my pursuit of happiness as soon as I came into this world. My Mom says that I was an extremely capricious baby – I could cry out loud for a rather long period of time until all my demands were satisfied.

A little terrorist, with large rainy eyes and a loud voice, I was! Later on, as I grew up, I preserved my willingness to do everything to get what I wanted, but I learnt some new and more effective methods of achieving my goals.

I remember that, when I was 4 years old, I wanted to have a dog. Absolutely nothing, even my allergy to dogs, could prevent me from making my dream come true…

SOURCE?:CLICK HERE

Example 2

A Revolution at School

The events of that sunny spring day turned out to change the course of history at our school. I am proud of being one of the revolutionaries, who drove the change. The problem was our school uniform, which was more or less bearable in winter, but became a cause of students’ torture in spring, because it was too hot.

This is why the girls from our class agreed to wear jeans instead of the uniform one day, to show our protest against the silly school rule of wearing the uniform even when it was too hot for it. We felt a bit scared before the beginning of the first lesson. Mrs. Stone, our Geography teacher, had to be the first to see our silent protest…

SOURCE?: CLICK HERE

Example 3

Notes of a Native Son by James Baldwin

He was, I think, very handsome. I gather this from photographs and from my own memories of him, dressed in his Sunday best and on his way to preach a sermon somewhere, when I was little. Handsome, proud, and ingrown, “like a toenail,” somebody said.

Example 4

The Price of Black Ambition by Roxane Gay

On the bus ride home, I stuffed my shame between the dry, cracked leather of the seat and assumed the matter had been dealt with. The driver, a zealous sort, found my crumpled failure and handed it to my mother when he dropped me off the next day. She was not pleased.

I was not pleased with her displeasure. I never wanted to experience that feeling again. Also, I vowed to be better. I vowed to be the best.

Example 5

Darkness Visible by William Styron

Depression is a disorder of mood, so mysteriously painful and elusive in the way it becomes known to the self-to the mediating intellect-as too verge close to being beyond description.

It thus remains nearly incomprehensible to those who have not experienced it in its extreme mode, although the gloom, “the blues” which people go through occasionally and associate with the general hassle of everyday existence are of such prevalence that they do give many individuals a hint of the illness in its catastrophic form.

SOURCE?: CLICK HERE

From the above, I believe you have learned how to write a memoir essay. Do well to learn from the memoir essay examples given above.

CSN Team.

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Writing a memoir is about more than describing events that have happened in your life; it's also an exercise in writing on a theme. These three powerful memoir examples will demonstrate how to draw people into a stranger's life story. Along with our sample, they will help you craft your own memoir to engage readers and share insights from your life.

Three Memoir Examples to Inspire

A good memoir relays real-life events in an engaging way. Studying memoirs can help you write a personal essay for a college application or an assignment, and it can improve your own storytelling abilities.

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings is a famous memoir by poet Maya Angelou, available from Penguin Classics. It chronicles her experience of growing up amid racial bigotry and personal challenge. It's not just her heartwrenching tale but also the vivid imagery that makes it a page-turner.

The dress I wore was lavender taffeta, and each time I breathed it rustled, and now that I was sucking in air to breathe out shame it sounded like crepe paper on the back of hearses.

Angela's Ashes

Frank McCourt's Pulitzer Prize-winning memoir, Angela's Ashes, tells the story of his upbringing in the Irish slums during the era of the Great Depression. Published by Simon and Schuster, this memoir reads like a novel as Frank somehow manages to withstand an unspeakably difficult childhood.

When I look back on my childhood I wonder how I managed to survive at all. It was, of course, a miserable childhood: the happy childhood is hardly worth your while.

All Creatures Great and Small

James Herriot's All Creatures Great and Small proves that a memoir doesn't have to deal with triumph over adversity; it can also be about finding wisdom and joy in the everyday. This beloved classic, published by MacMillan, tells the tale of Herriot's life as a country veterinarian in the Yorkshire Dales.

I lay face down on the cobbled floor in a pool of nameless muck, my arm deep inside the straining cow, my feet scrabbling for a toe hold between the stones.

Writing a Memoir: An Example

Imagine you want to write a memoir about your experience as a shy child who had just moved to a rural community. This process can help.

List Real Life Facts

Start with a list of facts and experiences that you may want to include:

• You had no friends except your dog.
• Your dad left your family the previous year.
• Your mom made you join Girl Scouts, and you needed to sell cookies door-to-door.
• People in this town were suspicious of outsiders.
• Because you had just joined the Girl Scouts, you didn't have very many badges yet.

Good Memoir Books

Identify a Theme and Conflict

Before you begin writing, you need to know your theme. What do you want readers to learn from your memoir? You also need a central conflict. Study the types of conflicts in stories and decide which one you want to use.

• Theme - People aren't always what they seem.
• Conflict - You must face your fears in order to grow stronger.

Organize the Story to Build Tension

Now that you know the conflict and the theme you want the reader to understand, you need to organize the story so the tension builds toward the conflict. This is something you can do in a memoir that does not ordinarily happen in an autobiography.

In this example, you could arrange the events as follows:

1. The Girl Scout troop leader hands out the cookies and says that if you sell 24 boxes, you will earn a badge for your uniform. You really want the badge.
2. You load the cookies in your wagon and set off to make some sales. As you stand in front of the first house, you are afraid to knock.
3. You remember a previous experience knocking on the door of a house and having it slammed in your face.
4. You walk up to the house and are greeted by a grumpy old woman.
5. You make the sale.
6. Eventually, you receive your badge for selling 24 boxes.

Sample Memoir Excerpt

Putting all these pieces together, here is an example of how the narrative outlined above might play out in the actual text of the memoir:

The gravel crunched under the wheels of my red wagon. My father had bought it for me the week before he left us, and I'd never used it before. I hadn't wanted to use it, not even today, but I needed something to haul the cookies.

Greatest Memoirs Of All Time

I stopped in front of Mrs. Nelson's house. I could feel her looking at me through the lace curtains, even though I couldn't see her. Now that I wasn't pulling the wagon, everything was silent. There was no wind. Even the birds had stopped their chirping. The curtain in Mrs. Nelson's front window moved a little bit.

Last year, the same month my dad had driven away, I'd had to sell chocolate bars for my old school. Dad had promised to take me, but he didn't. So while Mom was at work, I'd packed up the chocolate bars and knocked on the door across the street. When the door opened, I began to talk about my school. Before I'd even explained why I was there, the lady had slammed the door in my face. I was the only kid who didn't sell any chocolate bars that year.

Now, I took a deep breath and pulled the wagon up Mrs. Nelson's front walk. The paint was peeling on her railing, and her front door was a dirty white. I knocked, and the sound seemed to echo.

She opened the door a crack and grumbled, 'What do you want?'

Difference Between a Memoir and an Autobiography

Good Memoirs

Both memoirs and autobiographies involve a person writing about his or her own life, but that's where the similarities stop. These are a few of the key differences:

• Scope - An autobiography covers a set period of time in a person's life or often, the entire life. A memoir may skip around or only cover one or two events.
• Purpose - An autobiography's purpose is to inform a reader or record events. A memoir's purpose is to explore a theme and pass on insights.
• Length - An autobiography is generally a book-length manuscript. A memoir can be any length, from a personal essay of a few pages to an entire book.
• Tone - Because the purpose is different, the tone may be different too. An autobiography is often more formal and factual sounding, while a memoir may employ more humor and casual writing.

Get Inspiration From Fiction Too

New York Times Best Selling Memoirs

Rather than just relaying the facts, a memoir is about telling a great story. It needs to have a central conflict or theme, and then arrange the story so the tension builds. In addition to reviewing memoir examples, take a look at some examples of short stories for inspiration. You'll find that even though they are factual, memoirs have a lot in common with fiction.

Best Celebrity Memoirs And Autobiographies

B.A. English