Personal Narrative Research Paper

After contemplating the purpose of a memoir several things came to mind. I believe it can serve to be cathartic for the writer as they can be set free by working through certain events in their life. Furthermore, and perhaps more importantly, I think a memoir can serve as a way to for the writer to tell their story in a vivid way that allows the readers to feel like they are living the experience and perhaps to learn a valuable lesson from their story. Therefore, I chose to analyze two memoirs they were Superman and Me by Sherman Alexie and “Salvation” by Langston Hughes. I concentrated on trying to determine the purpose of each piece in order to indicate what pivotal aspects were employed that either helped or hindered them in achieving that purpose.

In the article titled “The Problem with Memoirs” by Neil Genzlinger, the author begins with a clear and brief introduction about his view and definition of personal memoirs and why today this specific set of writing is problematic for the audience reading this style of writing. Some key points that he addresses in the article are the idea that not every personal should be written and publish a memoir. Many personal memoirs contain a variety of stories in which authors explain and emphasize their life experiences. Often times many write about a favorite childhood memory, surviving cancer or other personal situations. For the author of the article, these types of personal memoirs should not be published in writing because it does not attract

It is personal, because it bringing a person into the story, and collective, because it involves teamwork between the students, teachers, and the community. For Christian educators as Espinoza says, narrative pedagogy has an impact in the spiritual life of a community, “Narrative pedagogy seeks to have both teachers and students tell stories to one another, interacting with the grand narrative of scripture and allowing conversation of narratives to lead to growth, maturity, and the transforming of faith” (435). Overall since we are naturally social beings, the communication of ideas is one of the most powerful founts of knowledge, and an informed person can make better judgments. This way, education through collective methods has a stronger potential impact in the world than conventional pedagogical

There are positives and negatives in writing an autobiography. Positive features are that the reader gains an insight into the personality and traits of the author and sees the world through their eyes. However one of the disadvantages to writing in an autobiography style is

It is within the human nature to be interested in other people’s experiences. Whether it be with reality shows or blog posts, people like to hear different incidents through diverse perspectives. Writers take advantage of this curiosity and try to tie experiences into their works. Many times writers will include experiences of their own in order to convince their audience of their perspective on a subject. These personal experiences are done in order to make an impact on the audience and it is written in a certain way to make it the most efficient for the readers. The use of personal anecdotes is effective when details are described to the point where readers can create their own opinions, when they are used as the main topic against an argument as opposed to being an unimportant detail, and when it has the ability to appeal to the audience’s emotion.

I think there are many reasons why I like first person narratives. For one, most of the noteworthy personal essays are written by famous personal essay authors. I think reading a personal essay is like having a deep conversation with someone. I am reminded of the drunken heart to hearts I had in high school with fellow friends out on the ranch. A personal essay is a story filled with feelings,

that she had a male, Igor Gentsaryuk, in custody for DUI near the 3700 block of

Personal narratives are often written when the author feels compelled to tell their story, usually they write them about a significant event. Going back to Columbus, the early explorers and settlers took to writing personal narratives to tell their story of what they found in the New World. The New World has a geography that is unique to each area. One thing all of the early explorers and settlers to the new world had in common was that they all had to deal with the Indians. In each area there are differnat tribes of Indians, it is for that reason the personal narratives written by the explorers and settellers are different from each other. The result of which meant that all of them had different experiences to write about in the

In the reading, “Writing About Yourself: The Memoir” by William Zinsser, the author uses organization, examples, and direct advice to develop the purpose and message of the selection. The message of this piece is that writing about oneself and delving into what has made the author who they are gives the writing individuality and distinction. Like the message, the purpose is to encourage writers to write about themselves and what has shaped them without hesitation. To begin with, the author uses a pattern of organization where he introduces an excerpt of a memoir by stating a quality that makes this memoir exemplary. After the excerpt, he will further comment on what makes this memoir memorable for him. For example, the author states, “One secret of the art [the memoir] is detail… a sound or smell—as long as it played a

For this assignment we were asked to write a memoir about a significant event in our life. We were graded on our ability to create an engaging opening, write a powerful storyline with a complex self-awareness, and create a piece with a clear beginning, middle, and end. It was expected that we followed MLA format and at least two pages long. For my memoir I wrote about a time I injured myself. I think the main purpose of the assignment was to get us to think about how events in our life impacted who we are today. It was also meant to encourage us to analyze how we reacted to a certain situation and why we reacted in the way we did. Overall it was meant to help us analyze who we are as a person and better understand how we came to be that

It was a beautiful day in early winter 2012, my Family had had a big dinner at my uncle's house, the plan was to go a Blazers game after we had all gotten done eating. I had moved to Tigard oregon with my Mom in summer of 2012 from Connecticut, about six months before all of this had happened. We had no idea where anything was, the only thing we had someone what of idea was my uncle's house and the grocery store, but beyond that we were basically lost all the time. At this time we didn't have a car yet, so relied mostly on my uncle taking us places.

Stories are surrounding us. Whether you're in school or at work or simply listening to somebody let you know about their day. We learn through stories. As humans we all share experiences through stories. We learn from ones experiences while they tell us the story of what happen to them. We learn about a 12 year old girl named Lisa Chavez. She tells us her story about the first time she has experienced racism. We also learn about a woman named Chimamanda Adiche's and she tells us about the dangers of a single story. While Chimamanda Adiche's tells us her story she explains to us why people have racist thoughts and it’s because of storytelling. Then we learn about Hampl’s piece about memoirs. He tells us what he thinks a memoir is and how true can a memoir be. Stories affect our everyday life, they affect how we see people and how we learn about things.

Everyone has a different story that they tell which helps defines who they are. These stories are created from experiences, people in our lives, events that took place, important dates, places we have been, interests, and so much more. There are no two people who have the same exact story, which makes us all unique and should drive us to want to have our own individual stories.

Narrative Therapy is an approach to counseling that places people as the professionals in their own lives. This type of therapy aims to view problems as separate individuals to people, assuming that the individual’s set of skills, experience, and mindset will assist them in reducing the influence of

An autobiography is a story of your own life. Even if you think you don’t have much to include in your memoir, you can still make it quite interesting.