Review for Unit Test on Memoirs

1. Review for Unit Test on Memoirs

2. What is the definition of a memoir? • A memoir is a mode of life narrative.

3. What are the four corners of a life narrative? • Style • Setting • Coaxer • Emplotment

4. What are the two components of style? • Diction-word choice • Syntax-sentence structure

5. What are the two components of setting? • Place • Time

6. What is emplotment? • The order in which the memoir is told

7. What are two types of emplotment? • Chronological • Achronological

8. The Friend by Sarah Stewart • Style-rhyme, repetition, alliteration • Setting-1930’s, a mansion by the sea • Coaxer-to honor her friend Bea • Emplotment-chronological

9. 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

10. An American Childhood by Annie Dillard • Style-detailed, descriptive, fearful and mysterious mood • Setting: Pittsburgh, 1950 • Coaxer-to explain how a small child reacted to a scientific occurrence • Emplotment-chronological • Summary: When she is five, Annie is frightened by a light that enters her room each night. She lies waiting in terror, thinking it is a monster searching for her to devour her. Finally she realizes that it is a phenomenon caused by the headlights of passing cars.

11. “A Glow in the Dark” by Gary Paulsen • Style-informal, descriptive, • Setting-in the woods, at night • Coaxer-to describe an eerie, frightening experience • Emplotment-chronological • Summary: Gary is training his sled dogs for the Iditarod when he and the dogs see a frightening light in the forest. It turns out to be a tree stump which has absorbed phosphorus from the soil and is glowing in the dark.

12. Travels with Charley by John Steinbeck • Style-more formal, longer sentences, more advanced vocabulary • Setting-the Badlands of North Dakota, mid-twentieth century • Coaxer-to reconnect with the America he writes about, to tell about his travels • Emplotment-chronological • Summary: John Steinbeck, an American writer, feels that he needs to travel and rediscover his own country. He has a special truck built and travels with his poodle Charley. This portion of his memoir describes his experiences in the Badlands of North Dakota, a wild beautiful landscape.

13. “When I Lay My Burden Down” by Maya Angelou • Style-informal, descriptive, figurative language • Setting-Stamps, Arkansas, 1930’s • 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.

14. “Cub Pilot on the Mississippi” by Mark Twain • Style-long sentences, archaic words, advanced vocabulary • Setting-a steamboat on the Mississippi River, late 1850’s • 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.