Autobiographical%20Genres

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Autobiographical Genres

• Memoir
• Autobiography
• Biography
• Personal Narrative

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Autobiography

• Who you are in life Based on facts and
  research!
• What life means to you Your feelings, both past
  and present
• What your outlook on the future is Usually
  based on one event
• Written by same person that it is about

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Biography

• History of a lifetime Must cover entire life
• Most important facts and events of someones life
• Contains anecdotes, memories, trips and cherished
  moments
• Is about another person

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Personal Narrative

• Focus is on a particular event in a
  person/writers life
• 1st person
• Uses diction and sensory details to express
  emotions that place the reader in the personal
  experience

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Memoir

• Autobiographical writing
• Captures certain highlights or meaningful moments
  in ones past
• Contemplation of the meaning of that event at the
  time of the writing of the memoir
• Much more emotional and connects the writer to
  someone or something that had an impact on their
  life

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Characteristics of the MemoirForm

• Focus on a brief period of time or series of
  related events
• Narrative structure (storytelling elements like
  setting, plot, images, characterization,
  foreshadowing/flashback, and irony and symbolism)
• Retrospective
• Fictional quality
• Higher emotional level/more personal
  reconstruction of the events and their impact

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Memoirs Another perspective

• Explores an event or series of related events
  that remain lodged in memory
• Describes the events and then shows, either
  directly or indirectly why they are significant
• WHY do you STILL remember them?
• Focused in time (not long)
• Focuses on problem/conflict and its resolution
  and why the resolution is significant in your life

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How we will write a memoir

• Relationship between the writer and a particular
  person, place, animal, object or experience
• Explain the significance of the relationship
• Leaves reader with one impression
• Limited to a particular phase, time period, place
  or recurring behavior
• Makes the subject of the memoir come alive
• Maintains a first person point of view

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Outline

• 1 Write down the ending of your memoir first,
  which includes a climax. This the where the
  journey of your personal story ends in the memoir
  and once you decide on an end, you can structure
  the rest of the events in a linear narrative.
• 2 Organize a timeline of important events.
  Memoirs are about changes, turning points and
  challenges of a person's life, and write down
  every event that would inspire others.
• 3 Talk to your parents and relatives about your
  birth and your familys journey before your
  birth. How your ancestors influenced or didn't
  influence you may be important to your memoir and
  this research may work itself into your outline
  and book.

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Outline Continued

• 4 Write all the events of your life into a
  coherent linear narrative. Consider adding
  stories before your birth. Write this down on
  paper in easy to read lines. You are not writing
  the book yet. The outline needs the basics and
  use short sentences as a way to organize the
  structure
• 5 Examine the outline for a three act structure
  or another type of story arc. Memoirs are not
  exactly fiction novels, but they should have all
  of the same elements of a good story.
• 6 Throw out events that are off track to the
  final climax and end of your story. You want a
  sense of unity and focus for the entire memoir
  and the outline stage is the best time to cut out
  unnecessary elements of your story.