Unit 8: The Memoir

A memoir is a type of autobiography that focuses on one event or period in an individual’s life.

Like its close relative the autobiography, the memoir is rooted in fact.

The memoir often is placed in the category of literary nonfiction, a hybrid form or genre sometimes referred to as creative nonfiction.

The memoirist straddles the worlds of nonfiction and fiction, simultaneously playing the roles of essayist and storyteller.

The setting of a literary work is the time and place in which it occurs, together with all the details used to create a sense of a particular time and place.

The mood is the emotion created in the reader by part or all of a literary work.

Tone is the emotional attitude toward the reader or subject implied by a literary work.

Like a work of fiction, a memoir may include elements of plot, or a series of events related to a central conflict or struggle.

In describing the clash between the Native American and dominant white cultures, Momaday provides exposition, introducing necessary background information.

In the excerpt from Kingston’s The Woman Warrior, the account reaches a climax, or high point of interest or suspense, when the writer tries to force a silent girl to speak.

It then reaches a resolution, in which the central conflict is ended, or resolved.

The memoirist also uses characterization techniques to portray other people in the account—for instance, describing their appearance or behavior or revealing what others say or think about them.

The use of dialogue, or conversation, is an effective characterization technique.

The author of a memoir, like the authors of fiction and poetry, can use figurative language, which is meant to be understood imaginatively instead of literally.

For instance, Momaday characterizes the prairie home of the Kiowas as “an anvil’s edge,” employing a metaphor, a figure of speech in which one thing is spoken or written about as if it were another.

In stating that “Houses are like sentinels in the plain, old keepers of the weather watch,” he presents a simile, a comparison of two seemingly unlike things using the word like or as.

A theme is a central message or perception about life revealed through a literary work.