So, this week is a transition week…
We’ve just written two memoir pieces and read a variety of memoir examples! Yay! Pat yourselves on the back a few times. 🙂
Thursday we’re going to share with each other the memoirs we’ve written with a class “Open Mic.” I’ll be asking you to read either “Meet My ___” or Memoir 2 with small groups. This is a great way to get to know each other beyond black boxes on the screen! When we’ve done this in a physical classroom, students have always loved this experience–even those that were nervous about sharing.
Another activity this week is to debrief on the experience of writing memoir. I ask students to share what they liked/didn’t like, and what they learned either through the reading the work of others or the writing process. It’s a time to connect and reflect. I’m asking you to write a short Journal reflecting on the process.
Please note: Not only will this help connect with your experience so far, this Journal will also assist you later this semester, when I’m going to ask you to reflect on the semester as a whole (and you can include parts of this Journal in your Final Reflection).
Now on to our next creative writing genre: fiction, or rather, short fiction!
Short Fiction: An Introductory Reading
A reading assignment to introduce you to writing short fiction is the story “The First Day,” by Edward P. Jones. (A copy is in the Course Profile section–the link is also on the Assignment page.) Right now, please read the first paragraph here and consider the questions that follow.
In an otherwise unremarkable September morning, long before I learned to be ashamed of my mother, she takes my hand and we set off down to begin my very first day of school. I am wearing a checkeredlike blue-and-green cotton dress, and scattered about these colors are bits of yellow and white and brown. My mother has uncharacteristically spent nearly an hour on my hair that morning, plaiting and replaiting so that now my scalp tingles. Whenever I turn my head quickly, my nose fills with the faint smell of Dixie Peach hair grease. The smell is somehow a soothing one now and I will reach for it time and time again before the morning ends. All the plaits, each with a blue barrette near the tip and each twisted into an uncommon sturdiness, will last until I go to bed that night, something that has never happened before. My stomach is full of milk and oatmeal sweetened with brown sugar. Like everything else I have on, my pale green slip and underwear are new, the underwear having come three to a plastic package with a little girl on the front who appears to be dancing. Behind my ears, my mother, to stop my whining, has dabbed the stingiest bit of her gardenia perfume, the last present my father gave her before he disappeared into memory. Because I cannot smell it, I have only her word that the perfume is there. I am also wearing yellow socks trimmed with thin lines of black and white around the tops. My shoes are my greatest joy, black patent-leather miracles, and when one is nicked at the toe later that morning in class, my heart will break.
EDWARD P. JONES, “THE FIRST DAY”
Answer the questions below in the “reply” section of this post by 11:59 PM on 3/9/21 (this is the quick assignment I mention in the Assignment post for this week).
- What is the point of view of the narrator? (First person? Third person?) How do you know?
- What is the age of the narrator when the story occurs? How do you know?
- What is the age of the narrator when they share this story? How do you know?
- What time period do you imagine this story takes place? (Present, 1990s, 1970s, or a different time?) What are the clues to your guess?
Now, read the entire story by class time on Thursday, 3/11, and see if your answers stay the same from this first paragraph to the end. (Again, you can find the story here.) For more detail, go to the Assignments for Week 6 post.
We’ll talk more about point of view (POV) next week, and prepare to write short fiction! Woot!
1)The narrator’s point of view is in first person. I know this because they use “I” and “my” many times throughout the first paragraph.
2)The age of the narrator seems to be around 5 – 7. This can be tld because her mom still styles her hair. She is still at the age where she drinks milk with breakfast. the mention of the packing of the undergarments she was wearing had a little girl on them. Finally she attends school.
3)The narrator shars the story later in life proplary around her 40’s. She uses the words “before I learn to be ashamed of my mother” which indicates she is in a later stage of her life.
4)I imagine this story taking place around the 1960’s and the 1970’s. I think this way mostly because of the way she is dressed and the hair product she used was popular in the 1960’s.
The point of view of the narrator is in first person because the author is using the words “i” and “my”. The age of the narrator when the story occurs is about 10 years old, probably less, probably more because her mother had done her hair and she apparently had new underwear that came in a package of three with a little girl on the front. The narrator is much older now because when she talks about the Dixie Peach hair grease, she states that “The smell is somehow a soothing one now and i will reach for it time and time again before the morning ends.” She also talks about the perfume that her mother put on her and says that it was “the last present my father gave her before he disappeared into memory”. The story most likely takes place sometime around the 1950’s to the 1970’s because of the dixie peach hair grease and her style of fashion.
1. The view of the narrator is first person because she constantly uses terms like “I” and “my”.
2. I believe the age of the narrator is about 6 or 7 the age of a child start first grade. I would say that’s her age because the details of how she’s dressed and they way her hair is done reminds me of how my mother used to dress me and do my hair before going to school when I was in elementary school.
3. The narrator is clearly much older because in the beginning she says “..,long before I learned to be ashamed of my mother,” this tells us that since then time has passed, she’s no longer a naive little and she has discovered certain things about her mother since then
4. I think the time of the story took place was the 90s since the narrator is going back in time telling the story. Also once again the details about the way she was dressed I think was big in the 90s.
1. The first paragraph of “The First Day” is written in the first-person point of view of the narrator. We learned that from her use of languages such as “I”, “My”, and she was telling her own stories.
2. My guess is that the narrator was a child in the stories that she told in the first paragraph. We learned that from her choice of clothes; she needed her mom to take her to go to school; her mom was helping her with her hair; she was eating breakfast that typically a kid would eat.
3. My guess is that the narrator was an adult when she shared the story. We learned that from her attitude towards her mother.
4. My guess is that the story took place in the 80s or 90s. She was using Dixie Peach hair grease and the brand was popular in the 80s and 90s; her shoes were a pair of black patent-leather miracles, they are the style of the 80s and 90s (my guess).
1) The narrator of this piece of work is writing in first person. As we can see the narrator uses the words “I” and “Me” which is a clear indicator of this viewpoint.
2)Since the narrator speaks about her first day of school we can assume she means her first day of kindergarten. Most kindergartners are around 5-6 years old when they attend, therefore, she is around 5-6 years old when the story occurs.
3) The age of the narrator when she shares her story isnt really mentioned but we can make some guesses. According to the story, the narrator states the words “…long before i learned to be ashamed of my mother.” From this statement we can guess she is in her 30’s or 40’s however it is almost impossible to pinpoint her exact age.
4) By the clothing and perfume the narrator speaks about we can assume the story takes place during the 1960’s. According to the narrator the perfume that she uses is gardenia perfume. After a bit of googling I found that this perfume was popular during the 60’s. Also the blue and green checkered cotton dress was up and coming during this time period.
1) The point of view of the narrator is first person but I think its worth saying that since he’s is not experiencing what she is saying while narrating she could also be a third person narrator.
2)When the story occurs, the narrator is a child going to school for the first time, which means that he is probably around 4-7 years old which is the average age children go to school for the first time.
3) I think the narrator could be a young adult or a teenager (16-21 yrs old.), since he still remembers in detail what happened in that time which many people wouldn’t at a later age or so I suppose.
4)I personally couldn’t recall any detail that could tell me in what year this could represent. But maybe the events happen before the 70s.
1) The point of view of the narrator is First-person. I can tell this because the way the character is speaking is from her point of view and the story that is being told has her in it as she is telling it.
1) The point of view of the narrator is First-person. I can tell this because the way the character is speaking is from her point of view and the story that is being told has her in it as she is telling it.
2) Based on things such as school and a heavy reliance on her mother I can tell that the narrators age is young, and probably still in elementary or middle school
3) Seeing that she says things such as ” learned to be ashamed of my mother” I can assume that she has grown up and is telling this story as if she was looking back on her childhood. I would assume that she was in her late 30’s or definitely a middle-aged adult.
4) While it is a bit tricky I would say this story took place in the ’80s or ’90s. Many things like the underwear in a pack of three are recent enough to be relevant within the past 30 years or so, furthermore based on the assumption that the writer is middle-aged we can assume it would take place around then. The lack of mention of technology also tips this off.
1. The point of view of the character is first person because she uses first person vocabulary words such as “I” and “my”.
2. The narrator does not mention their exact age of when the story occurs but I believe they are around 4-6 years old because they mention it’s their “very first day of school”.
3. The age of the narrator when they share this story is not also mentioned but from the context clues, she is an adult because she starts off by saying “long before I learned to be ashamed of my mother…” and also “The smell is somehow a soothing one now…”. In addition, the narrator also mentions her father and says “the last present my father gave her before he disappeared into memory.” I feel like this line gives us a clue that she may be a very old woman now because her memory is fading.
4. I imagine this story to take place during the 60s because she mentioned the Dixie Peach Hair Grease which was very popular in the 60s. Also, the way she described her clothing/outfit just gave me very ancient but not that ancient vibes. She also mentions the gardenia perfume which was also very popular back then.
1. The POV of the narrator is that of First-person, as seen with their use of possessive adjectives (“my”, “we”) and the use of “I”.
2. My assumption is that the narrator is either three or four years of age, given that they describe the day as their “very first” day of school, and therefore may be starting Pre-K.
3. The narrator is likely an adult when they share this story, not only given their prescience of the day (as seen by them sharing that their hair will last even when they go to bed), but also through implied perspectives (“…long before I learned to be ashamed of my mother” seems as if it’s coming from someone that has since learned to be ashamed of their mother) and knowledge that a child wouldn’t typically have (her mother’s gardenia perfume being the last thing her father gifted her mother before he left).
4. The story may take place between the 50’s and the 70’s, given the style of clothing the narrator is wearing, the Dixie Peach pomade, and just the general imagery and vibe given off by the piece.
1.What is the point of view of the narrator? (First person? Third person?) How do you know?
I think the point of view of the narrator is in first person. I think first person because the narrator uses words like “I” and “my”, so he’s referencing to himself.
2.What is the age of the narrator when the story occurs? How do you know?
The age of the narrator when the story occurs is probably in her single digits of age like 6,7, or 8 years old. I say this because her mother still does her hair, her underwear had little girls on it, and her mom held her hand as she dropped her off to school.
3.What is the age of the narrator when they share this story? How do you know?
I think the age of the narrator when they share this story she is an adult now maybe in her early 30s or late 40s. I say this because she says, “long before I learned to be ashamed of my mother,” and ” My mother has uncharacteristically spent nearly an hour on my hair that morning, plaiting and replaiting so that now my scalp tingles.” She’s recalling things that happened in her childhood.
4.What time period do you imagine this story takes place? (Present, 1990s, 1970s, or a different time?) What are the clues to your guess? I imagine this story takes place in the 1990s. My clues to my guess is what she wearing and the hair product her mom was using in her hair.
1- The narrator’s point of view of the story is in first person because the narrator uses “I” and “My” to state herself.
2- The child could be at an age of 6 since her mother still takes care of her by fixing her hair, her underwear has a little kid on the front of the packaging, and it’s her very first day of school.
3- The narrator might be an adult or mid 30’s- 40’s since she states that “before I learn to be ashamed of my mother” and “the last present my father gave her before he disappeared into memory.” Which indicates that she will grow up and be ashamed of her mother, and she forgets her father.
4- I would imagine the story taking place in the 60’s since dixie peach hair grease since the pomade is very old fashioned and used for hair around that time period.
(1) In the story, the narrator was using the first person. She used “I” many times.
(2) When reading her story, she describes her day as if she was very young, still in the ages of 6-10.
(3) I’m pretty sure the narrator is grown and is an adult because she is reminiscing her memories as a kid. I’m assuming she’s pretty old like in her late thirties.
(4) I personally think that this story takes place not in the late 1900s but rather in the 1970s-1980s. Because the way she describes her story does not sound like it would take place in the late 1900s, she includes the smell of fragrance and etc.
1.What is the point of view of the narrator? (First person? Third person?) How do you know?
The narrator’s point of view is first person. You could tell their use of pronouns. When they refer to themself, they use “I” or “my” showing that we are seeing the world through the narrator’s eyes or in a first person perspective.
2. What is the age of the narrator when the story occurs? How do you know?
The narrator is about 6 or 7. They still need to hold their parents hand when traveling. Also the narrator states that it was long before they felt ashamed of their mother, possibly referring to a time before the teenage angst or puberty.
3.What is the age of the narrator when they share this story? How do you know?
They are most likely an adult in between their late twenties and early thirties. The narrator details their younger ways with the expertise of someone who has not only gone through them, but also watched children from the outside. So the narrator would have to be far past their teenage years while also being old enough to have watched children grow and mature, noticing trends or patterns in their behavior.
4. What time period do you imagine this story takes place? (Present, 1990s, 1970s, or a different time?) What are the clues to your guess? I imagine this story takes place in the 70’s or 80’s.
Our character uses “Dixie Peach” hair products and “Gardenia Perfume”. Though I’m not familiar with different brands of perfume and hair producers they brand sooun older. Also the choice of shoes is not a noteworthy brand, they’re black, leather and seemingly old fashioned.
1. What is the point of view of the narrator? (First person? Third person?) How do you know?
The point of view is first person. I can tell because of the pronouns (I, me)
2. What is the age of the narrator when the story occurs? How do you know?
The narrator is 6 or maybe 7. That’s usually the age for first grade, especially back than.
3. What is the age of the narrator when they share this story? How do you know?
The narrator was probably grown during this story. The details and the wording seem to come from an adult.
4. What time period do you imagine this story takes place? (Present, 1990s, 1970s, or a different time?) What are the clues to your guess?
I’m not too familiar with how old the stuff mentioned in this story are, so it’s kind of a guessing for me and I would say 1970s.
1. What is the point of view of the narrator? (First person? Third person?) How do you know?
The point of view is first person. I can tell because of the pronouns (I, me)
2. What is the age of the narrator when the story occurs? How do you know?
The narrator is 6 or maybe 7. That’s usually the age for first grade, especially back than.
3. What is the age of the narrator when they share this story? How do you know?
The narrator was probably grown during this story. The details and the wording seem to come from an adult.
4. What time period do you imagine this story takes place? (Present, 1990s, 1970s, or a different time?) What are the clues to your guess?
I’m not too familiar with how old the stuff mentioned in this story are, so it’s kind of a guessing for me and I would say 1970s.