Review for Unit Test on Memoirs

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Review for Unit Test on Memoirs
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What is the definition of a memoir?

• A memoir is a mode of life narrative.

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What are the four corners of a life narrative?

• Style
• Setting
• Coaxer
• Emplotment

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What are the two components of style?

• Diction-word choice
• Syntax-sentence structure

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What are the two components of setting?

• Place
• Time

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What is emplotment?

• The order in which the memoir is told

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What are two types of emplotment?

• Chronological
• Achronological

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The Friend by Sarah Stewart

• Style-rhyme, repetition, alliteration
• Setting-1930s, a mansion by the sea
• Coaxer-to honor her friend Bea
• Emplotment-chronological

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The Boys of Summer by Ann Hood

• Style-informal
• Setting-1970, Providence, Rhode Island
• Coaxer-the sight of a VW makes the author
  remember her brother and all his friends who
  drove VW Beetles
• Emplotment-chronological
• Summary An adult remembers the summer she was
  thirteen, when her brother came home from college
  with new friends and a new appearance, when her
  ideas about the world changed

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Boy by Roald Dahl

• Style-detailed, descriptive, humorous, slang,
  British expressions
• Setting-Llandaff, England, 1923
• Coaxer-to tell a story with a moral
• Emplotment-chronological
• Summary Roald Dahl and his friends play a trick
  on the mean old woman who owns the candy store.
  They place a mouse in a jar of candy to retaliate
  for her filthiness and the way she treats them.
  Dahl thought that beastly should be punished.

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Black Boy by Richard Wright

• Style-informal, descriptive, personification
• Setting-Memphis, Tennessee, 1915-1920
• Coaxer-to describe his childhood, his poverty,
  how he dealt with bullies
• Emplotment-chronological
• Summary Richard is living in poverty with his
  mother and brother because his father has
  recently abandoned the family. His mother forces
  him to confront the bullies who have taken his
  money.

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When I Lay My Burden Down by Maya Angelou

• Style-informal, descriptive, figurative language
• Setting-Stamps, Arkansas, 1930s
• Coaxer-to pay tribute to her grandmother
• Emplotment-chronological
• Summary Maya watches her grandmother, who owns a
  store in Stamps, Arkansas, deal with a group of
  young bullies.

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Havent I Made a Difference! by James Herriot

• Style-more formal, longer sentences, more
  advanced vocabulary, British expressions
• Setting-Darrowby, England, 1950s
• Coaxer-to describe a unique character
• Emplotment-chronological
• Summary James Herriot, a country veterinarian,
  tells the story of Mrs. Donovan, a kind, nosy,
  old woman who rescues an abused dog with her love
  and care.

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Cub Pilot on the Mississippi by Mark Twain

• Style-long sentences, archaic words, advanced
  vocabulary
• Setting-a steamboat on the Mississippi River,
  late 1850s
• Coaxer-to tell about his life learning to be a
  riverboat pilot
• Emplotment-chronological
• Summary Mark Twain begins his dream job learning
  how to be a pilot on a Mississippi riverboat. His
  boss, Pilot Brown, is cruel and abusive. Twain
  finally stands up to him and beats him up. The
  captain laughs and warns him not to do it again
  on board the boat.