This document provides an overview of memoirs as a genre of writing. It defines memoirs as focusing on past moments and experiences from a first-person perspective, using both past and present views. The document discusses several subgenres of memoirs including personal, war, romance, coming of age, confessional, travel, celebrity, culinary, and spiritual. It provides examples of famous early memoirs and how the genre developed over time. Students are then asked to write down a memory from their own life and stylize it into a short fictionalized memoir.

1. Memoir:
Factual Fiction
By: Trea, Jade, Grace, and Taylor

2. Activity I
Take 5-10 minutes to write down a memory
Something that has had some significance in your
life
Preferably from childhood
Be factual and objective
(We will do more with this later)

4. Definition
Different from an autobiography (though seperated
by a fine line)
The defining factor is simply time

5. Criteria
focuses on the past
recreates moments
could include fact or fiction
experiences put in historical/cultural context

6. Criteria
usually first person POV
include past and present perspectives
looks at things that have been overlooked or
forgotten in one’s life
reflective

7. Examples
Discuss the readings that you did for homework:
what are the similarities and differences between
the stories if any?
what elements of a memoir did you see in the
readings? any discrepancies?

8. Early Memoirs
Earliest memoirs- Roman
Empire
 Julius Caesar- The
Conquest of Gaul
Medieval times- mostly
religious
Renaissance- higher literacy
rates
Puritans- conversion
narratives

9. Developing the Genre
Daniel Defoe- Robinson Crusoe
Romanticism- “window to the soul”
Henry David Thoreau- Walden
Walt Whitman- Leaves of Grass
19th century- relationships with
others
20th century- social statement,
mental illness, addiction, poverty,
etc.
Frank McCourt- Angela’s Ashes

10. Modern Memoirs
 Late 20th century- started using
the word “memoir” more
 Celebrity memoir trend
 Amy Poehler- Yes Please
 Ghostwriters
 Modern memoirs are more
popular when they are actually
true

11. Subgenres
Memoirs have now branched out as history went on
What do they all have in common?
Each memoir
Reconstructs the experience or events
Builds scenes and conveys the significance
Uses various literary devices
The writer must “mine his/her memories” (Andrew 23).

12. Common Subgenres
 How are they all different?
 Nine subgenres
 Personal
 War
 Romance
 Coming of Age
 Confessional
 Travel
 Celebrity
 Culinary/Food
 Spiritual

13. Culinary Memoirs
 Impassioned descriptions of unusual and well loved
comestibles
 Metaphorical Associations
 Cultural Identity, Ethnic Community and Family
 Imagery
 Links smell and taste with strong emotions and
memories
 The Physiology of Taste by Jean Savarin
 Chronicles the growth and development of the memoirist

14. Spiritual Memoirs
 Searches for a transcendent meaning
 Uses material from the past and present
 Links one’s life in relationship to something greater
 Why are they written?
 Praises or address the sacred in prayer
 The Confessions of St. Augustine
 Life of Saint Teresa

15. Activity II
Take your memory from the beginning of class and
stylize it into a memoir.
Here are some tips for “converting truth to fiction”
 Don’t be afraid to bend the truth, be convincing
 Cut it down to the most essential elements
 Consider what makes the story compelling
 Keep the criteria of a memoir in mind

16. Works Cited
Andrew, Elizabeth. Writing the Sacred Journey: The Art and Practice of Spiritual Memoir. Boston: Skinner House, 2005.
Google Books. Web. 10 Oct. 2015.
"Autobiographical Fiction: Using Your Real Life To Craft Great Fiction." LitReactor. LitReactor, 29 Feb. 2012. Web. 10
Oct. 2015.
"Criteria for a Short Memoir." Criteria for a Short Memoir (n.d.): n. pag. Web. 17 Oct. 2015.
*Harari, Yuval Noah. “Military Memoirs: A Historical Overview of the Genre from the Middle Ages to the Late Modern Era.”
War in History 14.3 (2007): 289-309. Print.
Images sourced from Google.
Kihlstrom, John. “Memoir.” University of California, Berkeley. University of California, Berkeley, 14 September 2015. Web.
8 October 2015.
“Memoir: Historical Genre.” Encyclopædia Brittanica. Encyclopædia Brittanica, n.d. Web. 8 October 2015.Kelms, Brian A.
"Memoir vs. Autobiography." WritersDigest.com. N.p., 08 May 2013. Web. 10 Oct. 2015.
Mrduttfn. "New Lives." Teen Ink. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Oct. 2015.
Lumbert, Julia. "Why I Am Who I Am." Teen Ink. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Oct. 2015.
Scriba. "Seasons of Love." Teen Ink. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Oct. 2015.
Shmoop. “What’s a Memoir?” Online video clip. YouTube. YouTube, 11 June 2013. 10 October 2015.
*Waxman, Barbara F. Food Memoirs: What They Are, Why They Are Popular, and Why They Belong in the Literature
Classroom. 4th ed. Vol. 70. N.p.: National Council of Teachers of English, n.d. JSTOR [JSTOR]. Web. 10 Oct. 2015.
*Yagoda, Ben. Memoir: A History. New York: Penguin, 2009. Print.