英三 1

24th Jan. 2014

The Truth About Memoirs

The word “memoir” is a French word that means “memory.” In a memoir, an author recalls meaningful experiences in his or her life.

While the memoir is a subclass of the autobiography genre, it is actually quite different from an autobiography.

Summary

An autobiography is a work of nonfiction that is a comprehensive, chronological account of a writer’s entire life story. An autobiography usually requires research of dates, places, and events, while a memoir is shorter and will focus on a part of a writer’s life recalled from memory.

Summary

While an autobiography is an objective retelling of facts, a memoir tends to be more emotional.

With a compelling plot and an almost literary rendering of the real-life characters, a memoir reads like a novel.

Summary

The memoir is a genre with a wide appeal.

One reason that memoirs are so popular is that people are inherently curious about other people.

Memoirs are appealing because true stories are more powerful than fictional stories.

Summary

When we read a memoir, we can enter into the world of the writer and find out what it is like to experience something we may never experience: an incredible adventure, a great loss, or a seemingly insurmountable problem.

Summary

Memoirs are mostly written from memory, and it is natural that memories fade over time.

Summary

____ A memoir is a chronological account of the writer’s whole life.

____ Memoirs are completely accurate.

____ An autobiography is less emotional than a memoir.

True or FalseF

F

T

____ An autobiography usually requires research of dates, places, and events, while a memoir is shorter and will focus on a part of a writer’s life recalled from memory.

____ Since the memoir is a subclass

of the autobiography genre, it is quite the same with an autobiography

True or FalseT

F

____ One reason that memoirs are so popular is that people are inherently curious about other people.

____ While a memoir is an objective retelling of facts, an autobiography tends to be more emotional.

True or FalseT

F

____ Memoirs are appealing because true stories are more powerful than fictional stories.

____ Memoirs are most written from memory, so it’s always true.

True or FalseT

F