As we have discussed in class on Wednesday, there are differences between personal essays and mamoirs. I thought that Lott's story "Brothers" was a memoir, but I believe that it turned out that it was a personal essay. I found out a little more about personal essays and memoirs to help us tell the difference, although to me they are quite similar.
Personal essays are about a personal experiance, where you can say exactly what you feel about that experiance. I felt that the personal essay was something that was written about over time, and not just about one specific moment. In the personal essay the writer tries to find their personal meaning of the experiance they are writing about. In Lott's essay he is writing about a feeling that he had and that evolved throughout his life.
In memoirs, there is more of an autobiographical feeling to it. The memoir captures a specific moment in the writers life that they want to tell you about. We see this in Beards writing.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
I definitely agree with what you have to say about memoirs; that they are more autobiographical than a personal essay even though both account for someone's individual life. However, my definition of each is switched from yours. What you say may be true, like me, because we both explain our answers.
Post a Comment