Preparation
No art form jumbles lies and truth more than creative writing. The elements of fiction exist within the memoir genre, so it is important to define the similarities. John Gardner and Julius Lester refer to all literature as moral art. 3 This implies that authors should be socially responsible, but how can students demonstrate social responsibility within their writing when their lives are crowded with lies, stereotypes, and prejudice? The thin line between fiction, lies, and stereotype is described below. Specific information about the genre of memoir is also given.
What Is the Connection between Fiction, Lies, and Stereotype?
Fiction and the act or art of lying connect in many ways. Both are misleading. Fiction includes falsehoods. The reader often has expectations that the writer may not or cannot reach. The reader brings experience, or the lack of it, into the text. In painting a false reality, however, the writer can cause the reader to uncover greater truths. It is through imagination, a soft-coated synonym for lying, that a reader and writer can use false reality to turn a lie into truth. In fiction, for example, a talking animal can teach a child valuable life lessons; a poorly-raised child can teach an adult about intelligence; a robot can teach man about humanity.
In fiction, the first lie that readers are asked to accept is milieu. Milieu is the story's collective setting–both physical and emotional; inclusive of social climate. In fables, for example, readers are asked to believe in the existence of a little village where pigs can talk and where wolves can summon enough breath to blow down a house of straw. They are also asked, perhaps unconsciously, to believe the underpinnings of a lie?It is only acceptable not to harm the little pigs once they have improved their standard of living.
"Cinderella" is a tale done over in countless ways and in many cultures. Simply put, it is a tale about a beautiful step-child who is treated harshly by her unattractive step family. Magic, not will, helps her to shed her rags and dress her up in respectable garb. She is not the master of her own destiny. It is not until a wealthy, handsome prince chooses her that she is saved from her situation. She is objectified and placed on a princess pedestal 4. In a 2006 New York Times article, journalist and mother Peggy Orienstein wrote, "'Princess,' as some Disney execs call it, is not only the fastest-growing brand the company has ever created; they say it is on its way to becoming the largest girls' franchise on the planet 5." The gist of her tirade is this: consumerism creates a limiting 'princess' mold in which to raise girls 6. And this all started with a little thing called fiction. If fiction is fattening up our children simply to be eaten 7 by stereotypes, how can we possibly excuse ourselves from the responsibility of paying attention to writing as moral art 8?
What Is Memoir and What Are the Important Elements of the Genre?
The word memoir is French in origin. It comes from mémoire, meaning memory 9. A memoir is a single recollection of an event that has shaped the writer's life in some way. The plural form, memoirs, is a thematic collection of events 10. Since a memoir recounts a direct relationship between an actual experience and what was learned from that experience, memoir, like autobiography, is most often written in first person narration. John Gardner suggested this narration type be used by all new writers 11 regardless of the creative genre. First person narration makes the writer take responsibility for the voice within the text. It identifies him or her as taking ownership of what is written. Objectivity is dissolved. Unlike an autobiography, a memoir can be crafted from a specific moment in time or a connection among thematic events – it is not the span of one's entire life. Sequence is dictated by the specificity of details, not the passing of time.
Memoir is like autobiography in that both involve self-told tales of the writer's real life; however, memoir does not entail the entire life span of the writer. Memoir is more reflective, more personal and, at times, more toxic. Toxicity has multiple definitions. It is best described as the emotional texture that makes a writing selection appropriate or inappropriate for a particular audience. For example, an explicit tale of child abuse may be too toxic for an adolescent reader. Toxicity can undulate throughout a memoir or it can remain constant as it does in Richard Wright's Black Boy. Toxicity also relates to the emotional investment that a selection might solicit from the reader. Memoir can also lead a truthful writer toward an exploration of that which may be emotionally jarring for the writer him or herself. Writer Judith Barrington describes this biting situation:
As soon as I started to write about my own life, I understood that to speak honestly about family and community is to step way out of line, to risk accusations of betrayal, and to shoulder the burden of being the one who blows the whistle on the myths that families and communities create to protect themselves from painful truths. 12
Critics often argue that memoirs contain untruths – that the writer fudges many of the details. Pascal states that the failing of work in this genre "is an untruthfulness which arises from the desire to appear admirable." 13 Most writers claim to be truthful; however, relying on memory is tricky – it runs the risk of incorrectly remembering. As with fiction, the reader of memoir must allow his or herself to be absorbed in the milieu since what the writer remembers when creating a memoir may not be an objective truth. What the writer has gained through the experiences, however, can be of great value to readers. As Lisa Dale Norton notes, "[W]e can, by telling our individual truths in the most authentic way, touch the universal truths that can change us all." 14
The three essential components of a memoir are setting, situation, and a sharing of reaction and/or realization. The writer must establish the time, place, and climate?both physical and social. The writer should allow the reader to know the age or maturity level he or she was when the time the situation took place. When the writer addresses the situation, he or she should use concrete, specific details and elaborate without masking the truth. Along with the setting and situation, the writer should share his or her reaction as it relates to the setting and/or situation.
Stylistically, memoir can be formed in many different ways. The writer can follow the sequence directly. He or she can begin with the sharing of reaction. The writer can loop the story, weaving back and forth from then and now. Memoir can be done in many creative forms, such as a poem, a comic strip, or a series of letters or diary entries. In any form, the literary elements of fiction should be used in memoir. They help to enliven the senses of the reader, thus drawing them into the memoir by allowing them to see the writer's reality. Such elements include the use of active verbs, varied sentence length, and literary devices.
What Evidence Suggests that Memoir Will Help Students to Deal with Lies, Prejudice, or Stereotypes?
Robert Coles spoke of his own relationship with literature as a learning tool: "[O]ne keeps learning by teaching fiction or poetry because every reader's response to a writer's call can have its own startling, suggestive power." 15 Reading helps one to grow. Memoir does this as well. It compels the writer to tell the truth as he or she understands it. It should be the most honest form of creative writing, which can also make it the most frightening to explore. It forces the writer to arrive at his or her own meaning. As Natalie Goldberg puts it, this form of writing has teeth. 16
Impressionable young readers and writers need guidance toward a deeper understanding of themselves and others in order to help them tell their truths. Many of my students ask how and why stereotypes develop. These are great questions, but certain questions are not for me to answer. By questioning myself, I have come to realize that the questions for which I do not have answers are those that need to be addressed in greater depth by the individual student. This notion of self-discovery is well documented by Richard Wright as he discussed his experiences with writing Black Boy:
I found that to tell the truth is the hardest thing on earth...you will find that at times sweat will break upon you. You will find that even if you succeed in discounting the attitudes of others to you and your life, you must wrestle with yourself most of all...for there will surge up in you a strong desire to alter facts, to dress up your feelings. You'll find that there are many things that you do not want to admit about yourself and others. As your record shapes itself an awed wonder haunts you. And yet there is no more exciting an adventure than trying to be honest in this way. The clean, strong feeling that sweeps you when you've done it makes you know that. 17
The quotation speaks to the cathartic nature of writing. Memoir can give all students a voice because memoir makes use of personal truth without censorship or apologies. Students can explore any facet of that which would otherwise exclude them.
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