SIX- WORD MEMOIR

What’s your story?

WHAT IS A MEMOIR? A memoir is a special kind of

autobiography, usually involving a public portion of the author’s life as it relates to a person, historic event, or thing. The text is about the personal knowledge and/or experiences of the author.

Examples: Night by Elie Wiesel The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi Marley and Me: Life and Love with the World’s

Worst Dog by John Grogan

WHAT IS A SIX- WORD MEMOIR?

What do students consider to be their “life story”? Would they need to write a novel to explain everything, or could they tell about one event that helped shape them as a person?

http://www.smithmag.net/sixwordbook/2010/09/13/video-six-tips-for-writing-six-word-memoirs/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ejndNExso9M

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS After reading/seeing some six-word

memoirs, what surprises you about this form?

What do you think the pros/cons of writing a memoir only using six words are?

Which were your favorites out of the ones we saw?

NOW IT’S YOUR TURN! You will now be writing your own six-

word memoir! You will be given time in class to

brainstorm and choose which one best suits you.

We will share some later!

TIPS FOR WRITING YOUR MEMOIR

You need to get your point across in ONLY six words

Your words are valuable and have meaning; don’t waste them!

If you are stumped as far as words go, use a thesaurus; it might give you some ideas

EXTRA CREDIT 3 Points Extra Credit if you go online to

http://www.smithmag.net/sixwords and publish your effort. Print a copy as proof and turn that copy in