I think that memoir, aside from reflecting on one's own experience, also allows for a window through somebody else's eyes into the larger world. I mean, obviously if a memoir were solely about one person's experience nobody would read them because that's just boring. But memoirs tell universe truths about human experiences. For instance, in "Fun Home", I have almost no similarities to the main character, Allison. She grew up with a latently gay father and a fastidious mother in a funeral parlor. But when she described snickering at the absurdity of death, or questioning why she was stuck with one family that didn't seem to suit her, I felt a connection to the text. I think that's what makes memoirs poignant: that, through somebody else's experience, you can see your own.
It allows reflection on a potentially universal theme or experience and it allows one possible method of reasoning with those circumstances without passing judgment on anyone but yourself and those involved. Most important historical texts for the last thousand years have been memoirs.
this might be a bit of a stretch, but just as our literacy projects helped shed light and understanding about different aspects of life...ex: reading more, understanding politics, etc. this project helps communicate understanding about a specific individual. But, as well as learning about someone new, we can also take meaning from these stories and apply them to ourselves. When all is said and done, we will have become much more literate in understanding ourselves as well as others.
I think it's pretty important to understand your history before you try to actually make history. Besides, you can't really make a difference if the cause is something that you don't necessarily care about. I think everyone goes through struggles and hardships in life, and by reflecting on the negative, something positive might emerge. I think people are much more likely to make an impact or get involved if the cause is something they care about or something they relate to. Plus, if the memoir is intended for others to read, it might spark a connection to something in the reader's life, and then they might inspire someone else, etc. Kind of like the domino effect. And if nothing else, at least memoirs seem to connect the world together more. There are hundreds of memoirs on alcoholism, and I would imagine if someone is a recovering alcoholic, it might seem comforting to know that others have experienced the same struggle and come out relatively unscathed.
I think memoirs are a form of social action because although they tell a personal story, they also have elements that everyone can relate to. This large social significance is what drives people to read them, because although they may not be able to connect with the exact situation, they can still sympathize with certain themes of the memoir. For example, in Jo Ann Beard's memoir, I wasn't able to relate with the shootings that impacted her life, but I was able to relate to the theme of loneliness, and on a lesser note, the relationship Beard had with her dogs. Even though the larger issue didn't directly impact me, I still made a connection with the author which allowed the piece to have a greater effect on me. Memoirs provide the reader with life lessons or themes about life that can influence the reader to change. This change can be considered social action, as the author is inciting the reader to live a different way or to appreciate something differently. Writing our own memoirs showed us that although we're college students and we may not have done anything huge in our lives, we still have small meaningful events in our lives that can impact others.
Like Jenny said, it's important to understand your own history before you try to proceed with the future, which is where memoirs come into play. I think that memoirs are particularly significant because they require not only individual reflection, but careful analysis of not only one's own past actions, but all of the factors surrounding them, such as political and cultural influences, and especially the social interactions of others. Writing memoirs forces us to look beyond surface details and gut emotional impulses to see the many layers and sides to the issues we are enduring, in turn making us more aware of our present selves.
Welcome to the official WR121: Genre Blog. This site will allow students to take classroom converstions out of the private sphere of the classroom and into the public realm.
6 comments:
I think that memoir, aside from reflecting on one's own experience, also allows for a window through somebody else's eyes into the larger world. I mean, obviously if a memoir were solely about one person's experience nobody would read them because that's just boring. But memoirs tell universe truths about human experiences. For instance, in "Fun Home", I have almost no similarities to the main character, Allison. She grew up with a latently gay father and a fastidious mother in a funeral parlor. But when she described snickering at the absurdity of death, or questioning why she was stuck with one family that didn't seem to suit her, I felt a connection to the text. I think that's what makes memoirs poignant: that, through somebody else's experience, you can see your own.
It allows reflection on a potentially universal theme or experience and it allows one possible method of reasoning with those circumstances without passing judgment on anyone but yourself and those involved. Most important historical texts for the last thousand years have been memoirs.
this might be a bit of a stretch, but just as our literacy projects helped shed light and understanding about different aspects of life...ex: reading more, understanding politics, etc.
this project helps communicate understanding about a specific individual. But, as well as learning about someone new, we can also take meaning from these stories and apply them to ourselves. When all is said and done, we will have become much more literate in understanding ourselves as well as others.
I think it's pretty important to understand your history before you try to actually make history. Besides, you can't really make a difference if the cause is something that you don't necessarily care about. I think everyone goes through struggles and hardships in life, and by reflecting on the negative, something positive might emerge. I think people are much more likely to make an impact or get involved if the cause is something they care about or something they relate to. Plus, if the memoir is intended for others to read, it might spark a connection to something in the reader's life, and then they might inspire someone else, etc. Kind of like the domino effect. And if nothing else, at least memoirs seem to connect the world together more. There are hundreds of memoirs on alcoholism, and I would imagine if someone is a recovering alcoholic, it might seem comforting to know that others have experienced the same struggle and come out relatively unscathed.
I think memoirs are a form of social action because although they tell a personal story, they also have elements that everyone can relate to. This large social significance is what drives people to read them, because although they may not be able to connect with the exact situation, they can still sympathize with certain themes of the memoir. For example, in Jo Ann Beard's memoir, I wasn't able to relate with the shootings that impacted her life, but I was able to relate to the theme of loneliness, and on a lesser note, the relationship Beard had with her dogs. Even though the larger issue didn't directly impact me, I still made a connection with the author which allowed the piece to have a greater effect on me. Memoirs provide the reader with life lessons or themes about life that can influence the reader to change. This change can be considered social action, as the author is inciting the reader to live a different way or to appreciate something differently. Writing our own memoirs showed us that although we're college students and we may not have done anything huge in our lives, we still have small meaningful events in our lives that can impact others.
Like Jenny said, it's important to understand your own history before you try to proceed with the future, which is where memoirs come into play. I think that memoirs are particularly significant because they require not only individual reflection, but careful analysis of not only one's own past actions, but all of the factors surrounding them, such as political and cultural influences, and especially the social interactions of others. Writing memoirs forces us to look beyond surface details and gut emotional impulses to see the many layers and sides to the issues we are enduring, in turn making us more aware of our present selves.
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