...23 September 2015 Risks Worth Taking? A Reflection on the Effects of Memoirs The primary purpose of my research paper is to present a cross-section of the current conversations taking place around the way memoirs affect the writers who publish them. Based on my research, it appears that the effects tend to involve emotional and psychological consequences, as well as legal troubles in some instances. The discovery of this conversation helped me to refine my research topic into the question, “Do the benefits of publishing a memoir outweigh the risks of their effects for writers?” This research explores the positive and negative effects of memoirs on their writers to determine whether or not the risks are worth the rewards. Although writing a memoir can result in lawsuits and family discord, it more often proves to be therapeutic and can be the starting point of a nonfiction writer's career. What if I told you that memoirs are incredibly important to our society, because they document the human experience in such an honest way? Although they are valuable, they can also be risky. One key issue is that a memoir’s admissions risk causing major drama for writers, including legal trouble. In addition, they can be a catalyst for burning bridges with former employees. They can also potentially destroy long-term personal relationships. In this paper, I work to discover if it is worth all the drama to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. As I began my research...
Words: 1434 - Pages: 6
...Orient is not a property of bodies or something originally existent in human beings; rather it is the social construct. Specifically, it is the product of the society’s dominant class – the Whites, the master- narrative. Racial differences have been used as a basis for racial stereotypes, for instance the White “norm” versus Non-white people. It is clear that racial identity is marked on skin. It is undeniable that some stereotypes do/might have a basis of truth, however such stereotypes do not take into the account of differences among the Orient. It is out of fear and apprehensiveness that lead to the birth of such unjust stereotypes, the film “Memoirs of a Geisha” directed by Rob Marshall highlights the irony of the stereotypes resulting in fragmentations of identity. “Memoirs of a Geisha” (Marshall, 2005) offers an interesting twist to our typical story-telling, the women are no longer silenced, and the story is told through the voice of a woman (though written by a male writer). It highlights the death of the master- narrative, as it highlights the differences among the “other” women, the presence of “Geisha” debukes the stereotype of women as “Angel of Home” perception (diversion of the master-narrative). Identity crisis is a major theme in the film, at first glance, audience is introduced to Sayuri as an innocent 7 year old and seems like...
Words: 567 - Pages: 3
...It can wash away earth; it can put out fire; it can wear a piece of metal down and sweep it away. Even wood, which is its natural complement, can't survive without being nurtured by water. And yet, you haven't drawn on those strengths in living your life, have you?” (Golden, 125) What Separates Sayuri for the Other Geishas During the Shōwa period, Geishas were high-class entertainers that sometimes sold their bodies for money. They strived on perfecting their artistic attributes rather then prostituting their bodies for money. In the novel Memoirs of a Geisha, Arthur Golden writes primarily about the life of a nine-year-old girl named Chiyo and her path to becoming a geisha. Golden uses Chiyo’s origins, eye color (destiny) and determination to contrast her with other geishas. However, he does not just narrate her life from another’s perspective. He gives Chiyo herself the role of telling her own story. As Golden introduces Chiyo’s memoir, he exaggerates the hardships in little Chiyo’s life. Coming from a poor fishing village (called Yoroido), she is sold off to a geisha house, separated from her sister, who she finds and tries to escape with (which failed). Later on in life when Chiyo (Sayuri) becomes a geisha, she confesses that she rarely tells anyone about where she was born. Their responses concerning her origin go as such, ‘“You growing up in a dump like Yoroido. That’s like making tea in a bucket!”’ These reactions further recluse Sayuri from telling other men she entertains...
Words: 1198 - Pages: 5
...girl who lived with her stepmother and stepsisters. She never received the love and care she deserved, her clothes became rags, she lived in attic, and functioned as the servant of the house. She was at her “family’s” demand. Nearly every person is familiar with this story; it is the classic Cinderella story. However, what if it had a slight twist? In the movie, Memoirs of a Geisha, young Japanese girl Chiyo is sold to an okiya. First, she lives as a servant girl where she is victimized. As time goes on, her life changes to one of a Geisha. With the classic Cinderella story as the outline for the movie, Memoirs of a Geisha has a slight twist to the well known plot. With this plot twist comes the exploration of societal gender roles. In her story, Chiyo exhibits multiple different characteristics; most are feminine, some are masculine. According the article by England et al (2011), popular culture adheres to gender norms. Therefore, a female character will exhibit more feminine...
Words: 1373 - Pages: 6
..."Convert, Irrelevant, Segregate, Allocate," are all words used in Azar Nafisi's Memoir that describe the way women were treated. Opposed to these words, in Persepolis 2 Graphic Novel, drawings depict not only what some of these words would look like but, help the audience visualize an Iranian woman's point of view . With the memoir and graphic novel, each show a different perspective that convey the same concept of unfair treatment to the women that lived in Iran. I.e. “It is in her best interest not to be seen, not be heard or noticed.” and “the black long clothing the women characters have on...” ( Nafisi/From Persepolis 2) In Nafisi’s memoir, the quotes ”It is in her best interest not to be seen, not be heard or notice”. describes how...
Words: 266 - Pages: 2
...Expressive Essay (Observation, Ethnography or Memoir) First Draft ENC 1101 – CR Junkins Purpose: What do I want the student to do? In this course, we will explore the two most commonly used forms of writing for college students: expressive writing and academic writing. Expressive writing captures what is important to the writer. In order to succeed, writers must understand themselves. Such writing is deeply personal. Expressive writing is designed to prepare students for writing outside academics—communicating feelings and observations, beliefs and opinions, community and individuality—all skill sets that will enable students to succeed in any discipline or career path. From a learning perspective, expressive writing is often an easier form of writing than academic. It allows students to begin working with such concepts as language, reasoning and mechanics while working with material they find worth discussing. In this assignment, I want students to carefully examine both themselves and their community. What makes their community unique? What is their place within the community? How did their unique, individual personality take shape? Project Overview: How do I want the student to do the assignment? Component One: Personal Students will choose to write on one of the following three topics: • One’s sense of place (observation) • One’s place within a community (ethnography) • One’s relationship to an event from the past (memoir) Observation ...
Words: 1855 - Pages: 8
...Tanya Barrientos is the author of the essay “Se Habla Espanol”. Barrientos, originally borned in Guatemala, was raised in Texas. I really enjoyed this essay. It was very truthful and full of emotions. The main point in this essay I believe is how the world views certain groups and how their views of them are. Stereotyping occurs outside and within the person or group. This essay speaks of a female who was born in Guatemala, who is clearly Latino on the outside down to the color of her skin. She moved with her family to the United States when she was three years old so she is completely Americanized on the inside. She is struggling with her race and the stereotypes that go with it. She should be able to speak Spanish but she is still trying to learn the language up into adulthood. She also criticizes her own heritage with stereotyping; stating in the essay “To me, speaking Spanish translated into being poor.” (Roen, 2010) She enjoys in some parts to defy the stereotypes. This is found in when her and her brother went to start school and the teacher showed negativity with saying “You people. Your children are always behind…” (Roen, 2010) They proved to the teacher that they are very capable of keeping up and also exceeding past the others. You can see the internal race struggle within Barrientos throughout the essay. She thought it a compliment when others told her she didn’t seem “Mexican”. She didn’t want the label of being from Mexico which meant poor, dirty, and lazy...
Words: 545 - Pages: 3
...Unit 11 Exercise 1: Reflection Essay Over the course of these last eleven weeks I have discovered more about my writing skills than I thought I had. In the beginning I had neutral feelings about how well I would do in this course. I’ve always known that I had good writing techniques, but have been out of school for over 10 years and wasn’t sure if I could still write like how I used to. When I was in high school I remember writing essays, research papers, and even memoirs but was only the basics of how to properly write. It gave me practice on my vocabulary as well as sentence and paragraph structure. It also allowed my imagination and thoughts to come out on paper and let the reader indulge in my stories. But how good of a writer was I? After taking a course called Composition 1 in college, I found that my writing skills; even though pretty good, had to be improved. I feel that my writing has improved due to learning how to properly brainstorm ideas and set up my research findings before I put them on my final paper. I also learned how to cite my findings which is a skill they don’t stress about in High School. Writing Essays, or Research Papers aren’t difficult for me, however I must say that writing a Memoir would have to be the most difficult because I don’t like talking about myself let alone have people know personal details of my life. Now that I’m at the end of my course in Composition 1 My attitude and feelings toward writing now has changed. I feel more...
Words: 364 - Pages: 2
...non-fiction—and two major techniques—poetry and prose. Literature may consist of texts based on factual information (journalistic or non-fiction), as well as on original imagination, such as polemical works as well as autobiography, and reflective essays as well as belles-lettres. Literature can be classified according to historical periods, genres, and political influences. The concept of genre, which earlier was limited, has broadened over the centuries. A genre consists of artistic works which fall within a certain central theme, and examples of genre include romance, mystery, crime, fantasy, erotica, and adventure, among others. Important historical periods in English literature include Old English, Middle English, theRenaissance, the 17th Century Shakespearean and Elizabethan times, the 18th CenturyRestoration, 19th Century Victorian, and 20th Century Modernism. Important political movements that have influenced literature include feminism, post-colonialism, psychoanalysis, post-structuralism, post-modernism, romanticism, and Marxism. ------------------------------------------------- Essays An essay consists of a discussion of a topic from an author's personal point of view, exemplified by works by Michel de Montaigne or byCharles Lamb. "Essay" in English derives from the French word for "to attempt," essayer.[citation needed] Thus, one can find open-ended,...
Words: 458 - Pages: 2
...The essay “On Becoming a Writer” is written by Russell Baker, an author born in 1925, in Virgina. The excerpt is taken from the article “Growing Up”. “Growing Up” is a Pulitzer-prize winning memoir. The article describes the thoughts and emotions surrounding the moment that he realized his interest in writing. At the beginning of the story, Russell Bakers speaks about the art of writing and how it intrigues him. He also describes what was uninteresting about the English language, as well. He told how he found grammar to be boring and writing papers were much like completing a chore. Russell stated that reading classic novels were “deadening as chloroform” (Baker, 1982). He explained in the except that he did care to write essays because they seemed tedious to complete and difficult for others to read and comprehend in the manner that the author wrote it. I agree with this feeling because the content is usually presented in a dull manner, which causes students to lose interest in the topic. If teachers allow students to be more creative with their writing, such as writing about personal interests, I think it would make the subject more appealing. Further along in the story, Baker describes his junior year of high with his English teacher, Mr. Feagles. He tells us that Mr. Feagles was “prim to a fault” (Baker, 1982) and removed from reality with his expectations for the class. One of the course assignments was an informal essay, in which Baker procrastinated on due to his lack...
Words: 538 - Pages: 3
...Mr. Macomber English 3 AP Syllabus 1.5 English 3 AP Course Overview Students in this introductory college-level course read and carefully analyze a broad and challenging range of nonfiction prose selections, deepening their awareness of rhetoric and how language works. Through close reading and frequent writing, students develop their ability to work with language and texts in order to establish greater awareness of purpose and strategy, while strengthening their own composing abilities. C16 Students examine rhetoric in essays, images, movies, novels, and speeches. They frequently confer about their writing by conferencing in class. C 14 Feedback is given both before and after students revise their work to help them develop logical organization, enhanced by specific techniques to increase coherence. Rhetorical structures, graphic organizers, and work on repetition, transitions, and emphasis are addressed. I comment on individual drafts, and I write memos to the class in a blog about whole-class concerns such as specificity of quotations, parallelism, and transitions. C13 Simultaneously, students review the simple, compound, complex, and compound-complex sentence classifications. We examine word order, length, and surprising constructions. Loose and periodic sentences are introduced. We examine sample sentences and discuss how change affects tone, purpose, and credibility of the author/speaker. In addition, feedback on producing sentence structure variety...
Words: 2702 - Pages: 11
...Reflective Essay When I first started in English 1101, I expected this class to be very challenging, very difficult and very demanding. My experiences have been very challenging with learning to research topics through different resources such as the internet for online books, journals, newspapers, and handbooks. Now I think about the correct organization of my paper, using correct grammar, and making sure that my formatting style meets the criteria that the Professor has requested per MLA or APA guidelines. I learned what you have to consider about the rhetorical situations such as the purpose, the audience, the stance, the genre, and the media/design. I learned this by thinking about what I believe concerning certain things and how I expressed my emotionally views. Through persuasive writing, my focus was to persuade my readers or audience to believe as I believe. In the future, I can apply it to other essays and research papers by remembering all the rhetorical situations. I have learned to remember when I am writing that my focus should be about writing for an academic audience. I learned this by understanding that when I write papers for academic reasons, my audience is my Professor. In the future, I can apply it to any research and essays that I write by remembering the different styles of writing for my audience....
Words: 601 - Pages: 3
...English 1320 Unit 11 Exercise 1: Reflection Essay Antonio Parks R. Schaffer 03/06/14 I really didn’t care for writing at all before this course. I had not written anything longer than a sentence in over 35 years. My mind was clouded and I didn’t take time to write. When asking me “What type of essay had I written before this course”? My response is very simple. I have not written anything, well if you count writing a journal in the 8th grade then that would be it. My writing has improved immensely. I can write and wasn’t aware that I could. The essay that was the easiest to write for me was the memoir. I found that writing about something that I knew about gave me more control over my audience. The essay that would have been the hardest for me would have been romance. I guess I’m not quit in touch with my other side to write romance. My attitude toward writing at the end of the course is one of great interest. I have learned to enjoy it. I believe if I actually spent the time to write, I could get lot better and enjoy it more. Using my ePortfolio in the future will help me prepare for the job market in the future. Listing my classes, accomplishments, and posting my resume are the primary reasons for the portfolio. Thank you Mr.Schaffer for helping me realize again how important writing is in my everyday life. I will do my best to continue to...
Words: 260 - Pages: 2
...Abstract Meditations from a Movable Chair consists of a series of non-fiction essays by Dubus that are detailed memoirs of his life. Just by reading the title, one can tell how the book describes the way that Dubus continued to write from his wheelchair after being “crippled” by his accident. Readers had the opportunity to experience this honest man’s life through his eyes. Being a handicapped man, everyday tasks became challenges, taking much longer to accomplish. Throughout all the hardships, Dubus had the perseverance to continue living his life and do what he loves; write. Book Review Andre Dubus' essay collection Meditations from a Movable Chair, is not a book that I would have chosen off of a prodigious bookshelf to read on my own time. Dubus incorporated twenty-five immensely personal short stories into this book to prove how hard life can be. From the very title of the book, most of the essays explain his reflection on how the accident changed him emotionally, fundamentally, and physically. Position Having read Meditations from a Movable Chair, I was very fond of these essays and actually enjoyed the disorganization of the chapters because I have a penchant for putting pieces together. The great thing about short stories is that they are thorough and get right to the point. Dubus writes about themes that are relatable to ordinary people; some of the themes include: family, tolerance/acceptance, religion/faith, perseverance, tragedy, art, literature, commitment...
Words: 850 - Pages: 4
... |Tips | |Rhetorical mode |Explain when or why each |Explain what organizational method works |Provide two tips for writing | | |rhetorical mode is used. |best with each rhetorical mode. |in each rhetorical mode. | |Narration |The purpose of narrative writing |A strong narrative essay, containing |--Phrases and words related to| | |is an extensive form or |details of the setting, characters, and |the human senses attract the | | |storytelling. It can either be |situations relevant to the conflict of the|audience’s attention. | | |factual or fictional; it depends |story to engage the audience. It gives the| | | |on the purpose of the author, such|audience a vivid illustration of what is |--Minor characters help | | |as biographies or memoirs. |occurring. An essay of this nature is |support main characters or add| | | |structured in chronological order |details to plots and | | | |beginning with the plot, characters, |conflicts. | | | |conflict, and then theme....
Words: 1000 - Pages: 4
