Assignment 4

The past couple of weeks, we have been studying and writing about Elie Wiesel's haunting memoir of the Holocaust, Night. We've done so with an eye toward (a) enhancing our understanding of 20th-century history, (b) sharpening our interpretive reading skills, but also (c) toward getting a feel for the elements of memoir writing. As you know, in this (last) assignment, you will be allowed to exercise your own "creative" muscle and write something like a miniature memoir of your own. Search your experience for suggestive ideas and moments that could be commuted into a memoir.

We'll be talking in class about some of the steps en route to your assignment. Here, let me list some of the elements you may want to keep in mind as blossoming writers. While sticking to this (check)list does of course not guarantee a good memoir, it may help guide your efforts as you embark on your creative writing venture.

• Is the occasion of my mini-memoir well chosen? Does the situation have a recognizable conflict (either between characters or within one)?
• Do the characters all measurably contribute to the memoir—i.e., what function(s) do they serve?
• Is my point of view consistent with my intentions as a writer? Does it have a "voice," or perhaps voices, and are these voices (if necessary) sustained throughout?
• Do I establish enough of a setting, in both time and place, to allow the reader to picture the events? Is the memoir sufficiently textured?
• Does the dialogue in the memoir (if it contains any) contribute to it—to the unfolding of events and characters, in the largest sense?
• Does my memoir emphasize telling details that resonate in the reader's mind?
• Does the ending—(in)conclusive as it may be—invite reflection?

Length and Due Dates

• 4-5 typed, double-spaced pages
• Mon 27 Nov, three interpretive notebook entries on Night
• Wed 29 Nov, no class in lieu of writing time, conferences, or visiting the Writing Center
• Fri 1 Dec, First draft (bring a second copy)
• Mon 4 Dec, no class in lieu of conference time: 10:00–11:30
• Wed 6 Dec, Final Draft (with earlier drafts appended)

Please Note

• As with your earlier essays, make sure that you have stapled together with your materials so that your final draft is on top and clearly recognizable, followed by your earlier draft(s).

Purpose and Goals

• Sharpen your reading skills and recognize that memoirs have more than one "fixed/built-in" meaning
• Translate your own experiences into narrative form (or perhaps enable you to invent a story altogether
• Discover your own storytelling instinct, and hence part of what, fundamentally, makes us human

Evaluation

• Your grasp of a film's major themes and the way these themes are related to the film's technical/formal qualities
• Your ability to move from your notes to the essay
• Proper mechanics and punctuation

Sincere Tips

• Visit the Writing Center at whatever stages of the writing process you deem necessary
• Do not print out your paper (at home or at school) on the morning your paper is due
• As always, think of me as a resource

A toast to all of you future Herman Melvilles and Stephen Kings and Toni Morrisons!