Thoughts on Memoir November 4, 2008

Finding Memorable Moments… -Cecilia M. Espinosa

I love Galo’s story and the description of the process that he went through to get to the final product of his memoir.  What a cool little memory! – His internal voice really brought me into and made me feel his story. 

I feel very strongly about the idea of “showing not telling,” but it’s a very difficult aspect of writing to incorporate into some classrooms.  The way they did it in this article really allowed students to become successful through the process of marinating/immersing them in literature, then modeling and working through the process together.  I love the idea of developing a “community of practice of memoirists” on page 139, where peer response and feedback become a major help in getting students going  in a positive direction with their writing.  The concept of having children ask questions to stimulate ideas is very encouraging, as well.

On page 140, she says, “Classrooms need to be filled with the voices of the children’s and teachers’ stories.”  YES!  It is so valuable for kids to feel like they have a valid voice and a place in which to share their ideas without being judged negatively and therefore see themselves as “those kids who can’t write.”  They need to feel like their stories are worthy of being heard!

I do think that sometimes the most fascinating stories or moments of inspiration in writing come from topics that don’t seem significant or important but become so when expanded on a personal level.

I LOVE Carolina’s piece about her brother waking her up in the mornings.  It’s such a seemingly insignificant every-day moment, but is so touching and powerful and filled with emotion!

 

A Study of Memoir -Amy Arnberg

 I love how she shares her writing journey and how it translated into the classroom.  As a teacher, we are constantly growing and learning along with our students, and it’s so important for them to see us going through the process (and sometimes struggling, too) along with them.

Again, she brings up the idea of marinating/immersing the students in the literature, and also having them work through a definition themselves of what memoir is.  And, not only did she marinate the students, she marinated herself beforehand, as well.

I also really like the idea of having a mentor author – kind of like having their own professional to help guide them in their own writing.  Using quality literature samples as a basis for one’s own writing makes perfect sense!

She really brings the kids through a process of not only connecting reading and writing, but discovering the beauty of language in many forms through memoir.

 

I guess I had written what could definitely be considered “memoir” many times – some even for school – but I had a specific flashback while reading these articles about a reading class I took in my undergraduate program with Terry Cherry.  She had us write a “slice of life” story, and I think everyone in the class really took this assignment to heart and shared themselves in their writing.  So, I have used this concept in my classes ever since, and the students usually respond overwhelmingly.  However, after seeing the process and degree of depth to which these teachers brought these ideas of student memoir writing into their classrooms, I really am enthusiastic about developing my writing assignments like this even further.

 

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