Introduction to Chapter 2

12

Instructor's Notes

The following resources are available for this chapter through the “Resources” panel or by clicking on the “Browse Resources for this Unit” button:

  • The Instructor's Resource Manual, which includes tips and special challenges for teaching this chapter
  • Lecture slides
  • Additional student essays proposing solutions (from Sticks & Stones and Other Student Essays)

2

Remembering an Event

W ere you arrested—when you were thirteen? Why would a child remember being chased by an adult stranger as glorious? Have you been haunted by something you did? These are just a few of the exhilarating, disquieting, even terrifying subjects remembered in this chapter. The kind of autobiography you will be reading and writing in this chapter is public, intended to be read by others. Writing for others enables us not only to revisit our past, but also gives us an opportunity to represent ourselves to others. Our own and other people’s life stories can help us see ourselves differently. They can give us insight into the cultural influences that helped shape who we are and what we value. They can show us what we have in common with others as well as what makes each of us distinctive.

13

People write memoirs for various purposes and audiences and publish them as narratives or graphics in a variety of media (print, digital, audiovisual). In college courses, you may be invited to use your own experience as an example or a kind of case study to apply, analyze, or evaluate ideas you are studying. A student in a linguistics course, for example, might analyze a conversation she had with her brother by looking at it through the lens of Deborah Tannen’s theory that women tend to view problems as opportunities to share their feelings whereas men typically treat problems as occasions for practical solutions. In the community, writers may reveal personal stories to educate and inspire. For example, a blogger may reveal her own history of domestic violence to help readers understand how some victims become trapped by their own hope and denial. Even in professional and business settings, personal stories can play a role. At a conference, a manager might use the story of his encounter with a disgruntled employee to open a discussion of ways to defuse confrontations in the workplace.

In this chapter, we ask you to write about an event you remember. Choose one that will engage your instructor and classmates, that has significance for you, and that you feel comfortable sharing. From reading and analyzing the selections in the Guide to Reading that follows, you will learn how to make your own story interesting, even exciting, to read. The Guide to Writing will show you ways to use the basic features of the genre to tell your story vividly and dramatically, to entertain readers but also to give them insight into the event’s significance — its meaning and importance.

PRACTICING THE GENRE

Telling a Story

The success of remembered event writing depends on how well you tell your story. The challenge is to make the story compelling and meaningful for readers, to make readers care about the storyteller and curious to know what happened. To practice creating an intriguing story about an event in your life, get together with two or three other students and follow these guidelines:

Part 1. Choose an event that you feel comfortable describing and think about what makes it memorable (for example, a conflict with someone else or within yourself, the strong or mixed feelings it evokes, the cultural attitudes it reflects). What will be the turning point, or climax, and how will you build up to it? Then take turns telling your stories.

Part 2. After telling your stories, discuss what you learned:

  • What did you learn about the genre from listening to others’ stories? Tell each other what struck you most on hearing each other’s stories. For example, identify something in the story that was engaging (by being suspenseful, edgy, or funny, perhaps) or that helped you identify with the storyteller. What do you think the point or significance of the story is — in other words, what makes the event so memorable?

  • Think of a storytelling strategy someone else used that you could try in your own story. For example, could you use dialogue to show how someone talks and acts, vivid details to describe how the scene looked and felt, action verbs to make the story exciting, reflection to clarify why the story was significant to you?