Presented in 1st or 3rd personPresented in 1st or 3rd personPresented in 1st or 3rd person
Worth 100 points, MLA Style
One aspect of academic thinking is to realize that past experiences make us who we are today. Sometimes we reflect on
our past for inspiration (e.g., when meeting a challenge, we draw strength from remembering a time we conquered a
challenge) or to correct negative behaviors (e.g., when we procrastinate, we determine what in our past triggers this
behavior and this knowledge help us to overcome our procrastination).
Primary Goals: 1) Relate one historical event through a fictionalized or non-fictionalized account; 2) Expand thinking
and invent a story in a way that personalizes the perceived experience; 3) Research and document a historical event in
MLA Style; 4) Challenge ideas of “truth” and reality
As your book states, memoirs are stories that relate an experience to help us remember a significant event, and it is also
written to teach the reader a significant concept. Follow the guidelines listed below.
Assignment Goals:
Presents a basis for understanding and connecting the first-person narrator to engage higher-order thinking by
considering the impact of point-of-view in understanding historical events.
Provides an opportunity for positive discussion on plagiarism showing students that they don't need to rely on the
words of others as their own because they do not trust themselves to find the right words.
Gives students a narrator choice between first-person (I, me, myself, my, mine, we, us, ourselves, our, and
ours) and third-person (he, she, it, him, her, himself, herself, himself, his, her, hers, its, they, them,
themselves, their, and theirs) point-of-view.
Grading includes the use of specific examples, justification for critical conclusions, proper use of voice,
investigative detail, and organization of details, documentation, and grammatical expression.
Understand and utilize the techniques of memoir, report, and research-based writing
Realize that memoirs are useful and appropriate tools for gaining insights as well as complementing aims and
other modes of writing
Become adept at choosing what information is necessary to include in a piece of writing to get one’s point across
Reinforce the foundations of writing: purpose, audience, writer, and good qualities of good writing
Become more detailed oriented in writing
Develop consciousness as a writer
Prewriting Assignment: Timed free-write: Is there a historical moment that you have always been interested in? Did
you experience a social or political moment that you would like to write about, as well as research? When you think of a
historical event, what are your thoughts or reactions to the event?
Assignment Details:
For this assignment, you will combine research and history to create a written description of a historical event as if you
had taken some part in or witnessed the event as it happened.
The paper will be approached from the perspective of the narrator, real or imagined, recalling the event in the past tense.
This means that the point of view can be yours, or you can imagine someone else’s perspective, or you can have an
omniscient narrator telling the story.
Examples of Topic and Specific Narrator Point-of-View:
1. Historical Event: “The Trail of Tears,” the Native American forced migration that took place in the 1830s.
Narrator: Awaiting his hanging, a man explains his reasons for killing two American soldiers in an attempt to
save a native family from a savage beating. You would have to choose if you are the man, or if you are telling his
story for him.Worth 100 points, MLA Style
One aspect of academic thinking is to realize that past experiences make us who we are today. Sometimes we reflect on
our past for inspiration (e.g., when meeting a challenge, we draw strength from remembering a time we conquered a
challenge) or to correct negative behaviors (e.g., when we procrastinate, we determine what in our past triggers this
behavior and this knowledge help us to overcome our procrastination).
Primary Goals: 1) Relate one historical event through a fictionalized or non-fictionalized account; 2) Expand thinking
and invent a story in a way that personalizes the perceived experience; 3) Research and document a historical event in
MLA Style; 4) Challenge ideas of “truth” and reality
As your book states, memoirs are stories that relate an experience to help us remember a significant event, and it is also
written to teach the reader a significant concept. Follow the guidelines listed below.
Assignment Goals:
Presents a basis for understanding and connecting the first-person narrator to engage higher-order thinking by
considering the impact of point-of-view in understanding historical events.
Provides an opportunity for positive discussion on plagiarism showing students that they don't need to rely on the
words of others as their own because they do not trust themselves to find the right words.
Gives students a narrator choice between first-person (I, me, myself, my, mine, we, us, ourselves, our, and
ours) and third-person (he, she, it, him, her, himself, herself, himself, his, her, hers, its, they, them,
themselves, their, and theirs) point-of-view.
Grading includes the use of specific examples, justification for critical conclusions, proper use of voice,
investigative detail, and organization of details, documentation, and grammatical expression.
Understand and utilize the techniques of memoir, report, and research-based writing
Realize that memoirs are useful and appropriate tools for gaining insights as well as complementing aims and
other modes of writing
Become adept at choosing what information is necessary to include in a piece of writing to get one’s point across
Reinforce the foundations of writing: purpose, audience, writer, and good qualities of good writing
Become more detailed oriented in writing
Develop consciousness as a writer
Prewriting Assignment: Timed free-write: Is there a historical moment that you have always been interested in? Did
you experience a social or political moment that you would like to write about, as well as research? When you think of a
historical event, what are your thoughts or reactions to the event?
Assignment Details:
For this assignment, you will combine research and history to create a written description of a historical event as if you
had taken some part in or witnessed the event as it happened.
The paper will be approached from the perspective of the narrator, real or imagined, recalling the event in the past tense.
This means that the point of view can be yours, or you can imagine someone else’s perspective, or you can have an
omniscient narrator telling the story.
Examples of Topic and Specific Narrator Point-of-View:
1. Historical Event: “The Trail of Tears,” the Native American forced migration that took place in the 1830s.
Narrator: Awaiting his hanging, a man explains his reasons for killing two American soldiers in an attempt to
save a native family from a savage beating. You would have to choose if you are the man, or if you are telling his
story for him.Worth 100 points, MLA Style
One aspect of academic thinking is to realize that past experiences make us who we are today. Sometimes we reflect on
our past for inspiration (e.g., when meeting a challenge, we draw strength from remembering a time we conquered a
challenge) or to correct negative behaviors (e.g., when we procrastinate, we determine what in our past triggers this
behavior and this knowledge help us to overcome our procrastination).
Primary Goals: 1) Relate one historical event through a fictionalized or non-fictionalized account; 2) Expand thinking
and invent a story in a way that personalizes the perceived experience; 3) Research and document a historical event in
MLA Style; 4) Challenge ideas of “truth” and reality
As your book states, memoirs are stories that relate an experience to help us remember a significant event, and it is also
written to teach the reader a significant concept. Follow the guidelines listed below.
Assignment Goals:
Presents a basis for understanding and connecting the first-person narrator to engage higher-order thinking by
considering the impact of point-of-view in understanding historical events.
Provides an opportunity for positive discussion on plagiarism showing students that they don't need to rely on the
words of others as their own because they do not trust themselves to find the right words.
Gives students a narrator choice between first-person (I, me, myself, my, mine, we, us, ourselves, our, and
ours) and third-person (he, she, it, him, her, himself, herself, himself, his, her, hers, its, they, them,
themselves, their, and theirs) point-of-view.
Grading includes the use of specific examples, justification for critical conclusions, proper use of voice,
investigative detail, and organization of details, documentation, and grammatical expression.
Understand and utilize the techniques of memoir, report, and research-based writing
Realize that memoirs are useful and appropriate tools for gaining insights as well as complementing aims and
other modes of writing
Become adept at choosing what information is necessary to include in a piece of writing to get one’s point across
Reinforce the foundations of writing: purpose, audience, writer, and good qualities of good writing
Become more detailed oriented in writing
Develop consciousness as a writer
Prewriting Assignment: Timed free-write: Is there a historical moment that you have always been interested in? Did
you experience a social or political moment that you would like to write about, as well as research? When you think of a
historical event, what are your thoughts or reactions to the event?
Assignment Details:
For this assignment, you will combine research and history to create a written description of a historical event as if you
had taken some part in or witnessed the event as it happened.
The paper will be approached from the perspective of the narrator, real or imagined, recalling the event in the past tense.
This means that the point of view can be yours, or you can imagine someone else’s perspective, or you can have an
omniscient narrator telling the story.
Examples of Topic and Specific Narrator Point-of-View:
1. Historical Event: “The Trail of Tears,” the Native American forced migration that took place in the 1830s.
Narrator: Awaiting his hanging, a man explains his reasons for killing two American soldiers in an attempt to
save a native family from a savage beating. You would have to choose if you are the man, or if you are telling his
story for him.