Paper Due Tomorrow: Just the final, with a digital copy to turnitin.com

Ideas for your opening ‘hook’:

• Scene-Setting – The writer creates a picture for the reader, puts the reader there, creates a mood, or sets the atmosphere:  “There was broken glass and garbage everywhere.  Even syringes.  I wanted to get out of there as quickly as possible, but leaving wasn't an option...”

• Telling Detail – The writer uses a single unique detail to draw the reader into a much larger story: “I remember that they brought my tennis shoe to me in the hospital.”  We, as readers, picture a lone tennis shoe lying on the pavement.

• Character Throwing – The writer just throws a character at the reader: “Teddy Howland was the skinniest kid in Eureka.  His arms were too long, his legs were too long and his eyes stuck out like lightbulbs. His squeaky, high voice sounded as if it belonged to a third-grade girl more than an eighth-grade guy.  Teddy was a freak of nature.  Teddy was my best friend.”

• Walking – The writer walks right into the middle of the story in the first line: “Giving credit where credit is due, if it hadn’t been for my mother, I never would have gotten him in the first place mainly because my father didn’t like dogs.”

Characterization

Character Name or Short Story: _____________

Technique Used                Example 1                Example 2

Direct Characterization
Speech/Dialogue
Thoughts
Effect on Others
Actions
Looks/ Physical Description

Recall your first memory of each of the people in your memoir. What age were they at the time? What age were you? What did they look like? What were you doing together at the time of your first memory; what kind of activity, if any, was taking place? Were any words spoken? What were they? What sensations do you remember in relation to your first recollection of each person -— what smells, colors, textures, sounds?

Make sure you save this for future use!

Things to consider while you picture this person in your head:

Hair color

Name

Skin color

Age

Height

Eye Color

Clothing

Facial expressions

Voice

Laugh

One specific memory you have of them

Internal conflict they are struggling with