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    Definitions of Memoir

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    Derrith Dunn
    The document provides two potential definitions for what constitutes a memoir. The first definition contrasts a memoir with an autobiography, stating that a memoir relies on one's memory of their life while an autobiography requires research and facts. The second definition notes that unlike an autobiography, a memoir focuses more narrowly on a particularly vivid or impactful time period in the author's life, such as childhood, adolescence, or a period framed by significant events like war or travel.

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    Definitions of Memoir

    Uploaded by

    Derrith Dunn
    10 views1 page
    The document provides two potential definitions for what constitutes a memoir. The first definition contrasts a memoir with an autobiography, stating that a memoir relies on one's memory of their life while an autobiography requires research and facts. The second definition notes that unlike an autobiography, a memoir focuses more narrowly on a particularly vivid or impactful time period in the author's life, such as childhood, adolescence, or a period framed by significant events like war or travel.

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    The document provides two potential definitions for what constitutes a memoir. The first definition contrasts a memoir with an autobiography, stating that a memoir relies on one's memory of their life while an autobiography requires research and facts. The second definition notes that unlike an autobiography, a memoir focuses more narrowly on a particularly vivid or impactful time period in the author's life, such as childhood, adolescence, or a period framed by significant events like war or travel.

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    10 views1 page

    Definitions of Memoir

    Uploaded by

    Derrith Dunn
    The document provides two potential definitions for what constitutes a memoir. The first definition contrasts a memoir with an autobiography, stating that a memoir relies on one's memory of their life while an autobiography requires research and facts. The second definition notes that unlike an autobiography, a memoir focuses more narrowly on a particularly vivid or impactful time period in the author's life, such as childhood, adolescence, or a period framed by significant events like war or travel.

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    Two Possible Definitions for Memoir

    A memoir is how one remembers


    ones own life, while an autobiography
    is history, requiring research, dates,
    facts double-checked

    from Palimpsest by Gore Vidal (Penguin, 1996).

    Unlike autobiography, which moves


    in a dutiful line from birth to fame,
    memoir narrows the lens, focusing on
    a time in the writers life that was
    unusually vivid, such as childhood or
    adolescence, or that was framed by
    war or travel or public service or some
    other special circumstance

    p. 15 of Inventing the Truth: The Art and Craft of


    Memoir by William Zinsser (Mariner Books, 1998)

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