21W.022

Lepera

Essay 1: Memoir Essay

Overview

– Essay 1, First Version: Wed Feb 26 @ 12 noon (on Canvas)

• 4-5 pages or 1200-1500 words
• And First Version Reflection Letter (1 page or 250-300 words)

– Conferences to discuss first versions: Mar 2-4 (by appt)

– Pod review meeting (peer review in small groups): Mar 2 (in class)

– Essay 1, Second Version (+ Second Reflection Letter): Wed Mar 16  @ 10PM (~2000 words)

Essay 1 Memoir (First Version): Guidelines and Getting Started:

Using the essays and extracts we have read in class to guide you (including the student essays from Angles) take a memory—perhaps writing you produced from class exercises or another significant memory –and develop it into a narrative memoir essay that satisfies Louise DeSalvo’s criteria for a completed memoir (we will be discussing her criteria in class).

Remember that although we use the term “story” as a synonym for “narrative,” your essay should abide by the expectations of truth-telling and authenticity associated with the memoir genre. Feel free to write about any challenges you encounter with this constraint—either weave that exploration into the narration of the essay or discuss it in your reflection letter.

This project is intentionally structured as a two-stage process, giving you time and space to experiment with different approaches to telling your story.

Consult the readings discussed in class to get a sense of what kinds of stories work well in approximately five (5) double-spaced pages. Notice especially how Chang-rae Lee, Maisha Prome, and Virginia Woolf create a world from the first sentence, and then use vivid details to explore one striking moment in their lives.

As you work with your ideas, you may find it useful to revisit these questions more than once:

MOTIVE/PURPOSE FOR WRITING:

• What motivates you to write about this particular memory, event, or realization?
• What about this memory or topic is intriguing and important to you?
• What would you like your reader to visualize or understand after reading the essay?

DEVELOPMENT:

• Have you explored the memory or event by free writing and exploratory first drafts?
• Have you fully expressed the complexity of the story you are telling?

GENRE:

• Is there a sub-genre of memoir that offers a useful model for this project (e.g. a travel memoir, a confession, or a food memoir)?
• Is there a way you play might play with or subvert the conventions of a sub-genre?

NARRATIVE:

• Can you identify the central conflict, question, or struggle, and change in your story? Where will the reader see the central realization or turning point?
• Is your memoir immersing the reader in a specific moment and place?
• Would using present tense help create a sense of immediacy and vividness?
• How might you give readers the feeling and flavor of this time and place?
• What is complex about this memory? How can you convey that and avoid over-simplifying elements of your story?

REFLECTION:

• How are you reflecting on and exploring the meaning of what happened?
• Has the meaning of this event changed for you in any way since you’ve been writing about it?

CLOSURE:

• How can you shape the closure of the essay in a way that is engaging and meaningful, and avoid moralizing, clichés, or diminishing the complexity of your story?

NARRATIVE STRATEGIES:

• What literary techniques could you use (e.g. dialogue, interior monologue, time shifts, a changing point of view, etc.) to help you tell the whole truth and immerse your reader in the moment?

Reflection Letter:

In your reflection letter, talk about your experience writing this essay.

What challenges did you face? What was most important to you in telling this story? Which elements would you like most feedback on?

Document Design and Presentation:

Make sure to proofread your essay carefully. Regarding the format of the essay, make sure it

looks its best: use 12-point font, and double-space the text.

Give the essay a meaningful title that frames the story for the reader.

Each page should be numbered and named.

You may include illustrations or photographs if you decide that they will enhance the quality of the readers’ experience.

Use MLA style for any other aspects of the layout and for any citations needed (I recommend you use the app Zotero to manage citations. It’s supported by MIT Libraries.

Conferences:

I will be meeting with each student for a 20-30-minute conference between Mar 2 and Mar 4 to discuss your first version. I’ll let you know a schedule of appointment times in advance and give instructions on scheduling through Canvas.

Pod Review Meetings:

Wed Mar 2 (in class, groups to be assigned)

Sharing feedback and discussing your writing with thoughtful fellow writers is an essential part of the writing process. Giving effective feedback in a supportive, collaborative way is also a crucial professional skill, as is working in groups.

Pod groups will be assigned after the first versions are submitted.

You will have a questionnaire to guide these mini-workshops, and you will have the whole class time to meet as an independent, collaborative group. Your responses to each other will form a vital part of your revision process and you’ll be summarizing the written responses you receive as part of your reflection letter submitted with Essay 1 Second Version.

If you experience any difficulties (e.g. with the group process) feel free to contact me.

Instructions for Version 2:

Due Wed Mar 16 @ 10 PM (~2000 words).

To complete this final stage of the Essay 1 Memoir assignment, you be will revising and developing your first version, with the guidance provided by the feedback from your pod, my comments, and the revision strategies we will discuss in class. This version is expected to be longer and more substantial and polished. This version will receive a grade, and we will discuss the grading criteria in class.

A new reflection letter to me (250-300 words) will accompany your revised essay. Here you can describe and reflect on the second half of the process of writing the memoir. Be sure to explain which of the responses and comments and which essays and memoirs that you read (published or by classmates) influenced the ways in which you revised and re-imagined your essay. Assess the essay’s strengths and weaknesses in its current form, and indicate what skills or aspects of writing autobiography you would like to focus on strengthening.