Rhetorical Analysis paper for Text-based memoir
According to Barbara Doyen, 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. A memoir should definitely be true but it does not mean that the author has to view his memories from an indifferent prospective. The author should not alter the truth in telling his or her story. The memoir should be honest to the memories and reflect the real situation that the story took place.
When I looked back my life and tried to find a story that hits me as quite profound, I found my experience in Thailand would be the best choice because it was the first time for me to travel abroad. It was also the first time for me to leave the place that I usually stayed. In my memoir, I described two incidents that impressed me a lot and somehow shaped my personality. I wrote about my emotions and feelings when those incidents took place.
Before I started to work on my memoir, I took a look on the example, which Dr. Lauren Holt posted on Blackboard. It is a memoir written by Humera Afridi, called A Gentle Madness. Afridi tells the story of the experience of suffering a bomb raid one night in her childhood. This is a true story of Afridi, which has a profound influence on her life. She carefully described her feelings of fear and uncertainty in her memoir. Moreover, she talked about her guess and interpretation of that incident. By studying from Afridi, I realized that I should not write a very long story. Instead, I should focus on a small incident, but this incident had to be memorable for me as an important and unforgettable experience.
At first, I felt confused about the difference between a autobiography and a memoir. However, I realized it later that although a memoir was somehow similar to an autobiography they were in deed different. The autobiography covers the author’s entire life to the present, and is expected to include details about his or her public and private life. However, a memoir is usually a record of a meaningful incident that happened in one’s life. It does not have to cover a long time. It is somehow like a self reflection for a specific event.
When I was writing my text-base memoir, I wrote the memoir in first person from my point of view.From my point of view, memoir can be regarded as narrative nonfiction written in story form like fiction. I put in dialogues in my memoir, because I aim to vividly present the true situation when those incidents took place. My memoir in fact started with a conversation between my mom and me. Being put into an environment that I was totally unfamiliar with, I was curious about everything surrounding me in Thailand and just kept asking my mom questions. My mom regarded this as an opportunity to teach me to find answers by myself. She played a game with me. She asked to save my questions later and tried to find an answer through my observation of the surroundings. That was not actually a game but it is more acceptable for me as a little girl to accept. When I was writing the first draft, I just described this incident but I did not emphasize how this event changed and influenced me. Thus, I added a story to show that I was getting used to find answers by myself after I got back from Thailand.
Actually my story in Thailand did not just end in playing the little game with my mom. I gained a lot of experience that I had never gotten before. As written in my memoir, when I was walking in the street with my mom, I encountered an open market that sold various fresh food and local-featured products. At there, I firstly saw the tropical food mangosteen. That is also my first time to eat something before paying for it. Although this experience in the market seemed quite common now, it did arouse my passion of traveling and adventure. That open market became a place that I would think of every time that I planned for a new trip.
I also mentioned in my memoir that I was not afraid of touching animals in Thailand. When I looked back, I always believed that it was Thailand that made me have courage to do the thing that I did not dare to do. Thailand was a place that was full of surprises for me. I would be throw back to it every time that I need to get out of my comfort zone. It became my safe house deep in my mind and provide me passion and courage to try new things.
I described my own experience as the speaker of this memoir. However, my readers might feel resonate about what I wrote. They might have similar experiences that had a huge influence in their life. The main readers of this memoirs are my classmates in our English Writing 221RW class and our instructor, Dr. Lauren Holt. Moreover, people who take a look of my portfolio website will probably read this memoir. I put in a column that appears on every page of my website for the viewers to communicate with me. I would be appreciate and delightful if they can share their experiences and thoughts with me after they read my memoir.
When I looked back my life and tried to find a story that hits me as quite profound, I found my experience in Thailand would be the best choice because it was the first time for me to travel abroad. It was also the first time for me to leave the place that I usually stayed. In my memoir, I described two incidents that impressed me a lot and somehow shaped my personality. I wrote about my emotions and feelings when those incidents took place.
Before I started to work on my memoir, I took a look on the example, which Dr. Lauren Holt posted on Blackboard. It is a memoir written by Humera Afridi, called A Gentle Madness. Afridi tells the story of the experience of suffering a bomb raid one night in her childhood. This is a true story of Afridi, which has a profound influence on her life. She carefully described her feelings of fear and uncertainty in her memoir. Moreover, she talked about her guess and interpretation of that incident. By studying from Afridi, I realized that I should not write a very long story. Instead, I should focus on a small incident, but this incident had to be memorable for me as an important and unforgettable experience.
At first, I felt confused about the difference between a autobiography and a memoir. However, I realized it later that although a memoir was somehow similar to an autobiography they were in deed different. The autobiography covers the author’s entire life to the present, and is expected to include details about his or her public and private life. However, a memoir is usually a record of a meaningful incident that happened in one’s life. It does not have to cover a long time. It is somehow like a self reflection for a specific event.
When I was writing my text-base memoir, I wrote the memoir in first person from my point of view.From my point of view, memoir can be regarded as narrative nonfiction written in story form like fiction. I put in dialogues in my memoir, because I aim to vividly present the true situation when those incidents took place. My memoir in fact started with a conversation between my mom and me. Being put into an environment that I was totally unfamiliar with, I was curious about everything surrounding me in Thailand and just kept asking my mom questions. My mom regarded this as an opportunity to teach me to find answers by myself. She played a game with me. She asked to save my questions later and tried to find an answer through my observation of the surroundings. That was not actually a game but it is more acceptable for me as a little girl to accept. When I was writing the first draft, I just described this incident but I did not emphasize how this event changed and influenced me. Thus, I added a story to show that I was getting used to find answers by myself after I got back from Thailand.
Actually my story in Thailand did not just end in playing the little game with my mom. I gained a lot of experience that I had never gotten before. As written in my memoir, when I was walking in the street with my mom, I encountered an open market that sold various fresh food and local-featured products. At there, I firstly saw the tropical food mangosteen. That is also my first time to eat something before paying for it. Although this experience in the market seemed quite common now, it did arouse my passion of traveling and adventure. That open market became a place that I would think of every time that I planned for a new trip.
I also mentioned in my memoir that I was not afraid of touching animals in Thailand. When I looked back, I always believed that it was Thailand that made me have courage to do the thing that I did not dare to do. Thailand was a place that was full of surprises for me. I would be throw back to it every time that I need to get out of my comfort zone. It became my safe house deep in my mind and provide me passion and courage to try new things.
I described my own experience as the speaker of this memoir. However, my readers might feel resonate about what I wrote. They might have similar experiences that had a huge influence in their life. The main readers of this memoirs are my classmates in our English Writing 221RW class and our instructor, Dr. Lauren Holt. Moreover, people who take a look of my portfolio website will probably read this memoir. I put in a column that appears on every page of my website for the viewers to communicate with me. I would be appreciate and delightful if they can share their experiences and thoughts with me after they read my memoir.