LITT 14310G Memoir: Reflecting on Love, Loss, and Life Lessons

This assignment consists of a personal memoir and an analysis of it. The memoir narrates a significant moment in the author's life, focusing on a painful lesson learned about love and emotional investment during high school. The author reflects on a past relationship with a senior, highlighting the immaturity and the eventual heartbreak experienced when the senior abruptly left. The analysis delves into the author's writing choices, including the use of first-person narration and the inspiration drawn from James Frey's writing style. The author reflects on the theme of childhood memories and the realization that realities are subjective. The memoir aims to inspire readers to be cautious about where they invest their emotional energies.

Running head: PERSONAL MEMOIR
PERSONAL MEMOIR
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1PERSONAL MEMOIR
The purpose herein is to provide a short personal memoir which is serious in
nature and then conduct an analysis of it, both of them under two headships
separately. The chosen serious being serious in nature shall not be having any
element of humour in it. The aim is thus to inspire change. Though the narration of
the memoir shall be serious and serious in nature, the style of writing shall not be
in formal style, but in the style of James Frey involving several styles.
Short Personal Memoir
This piece of personal memoir is a piece of my mind which showcases a dark side of my
life which neither do I want to change, nor do I want to recall it. Yet it seems like the horrors of
it do not want to leave me. It is like a bone stuck to the throat but it is difficult to remove, rather
impossible. Anyway, coming straight to the point, it is about one of the various lessons of my life
which I have learnt the hard way out. This chapter of my life is about learning that love is
painful, if it is not love at all. But how can we be sure of whether what we are into is genuinely
love or love masquerading in form of an imminent doom with its tentacles hidden ready to
tamper the state of mental piece. I like a senior of mine when I was at my high school, who was
just two grades ahead of me. He was not the charming, dashing, Daney Casey type as Barton had
portrayed in the short story ‘Going Places’, but I used to be the girl lapped in her world of day
dreaming, Sophie. He was introvert, and kind of weird as he hardly interacted with anyone even
if there was a purpose. He was not like that always but he turned like that because of some
personal reasons which I had come to know eventually. Would have been better had I not come
to know of it. Surprisingly, he took interest in me, maybe he had noticed my fondness for him.

2PERSONAL MEMOIR
The journey was a non-stop flight from singlehood to being in a relationship. I can say that I was
quite immature back then and was more in love with the idea of being in a relationship than
actually being into one. I ignored the signs that I was into a mess, as I was made to compromise
with myself to become his estranged Deborah, as he preferred her and me, him. Then suddenly
he disappeared someday, soon after he graduated from school, never to be seen again. He had
shifted to a different city with his family leaving me clueless and restless for days. That is the
lesson I want people to take from my experience. Do not rush, and use your emotional
investments diligently.
Analysis of the Personal Memoir
I chose to write about the particular topic as I have want to inspire people to be careful
about upon whom they are investing their emotional energies.
I majorly used first person to write the memoir as I am narrating the chapter of my life
and I am the central character of my narration. I have also used the third person to refer to the
man I was in a love relationship with, who was the determining factor behind the shaping of my
character during that phase of my life and in the memoir. I have also used first person plural
‘We’ to give a general appeal to the memoir, as the aim is to deliver a message and not to evoke
laughter (Hooper, 2016).
Memoirs of childhood would be the most appropriate theme for it as the incident has
been taken from my school days and though I had advanced towards maturity but I was still a
child at heart then. I was then yet to be familiar with the realities of the world, hence the theme is
the most appropriate one in this regard.

3PERSONAL MEMOIR
I was inspired particularly by James Frey as the style which he used had a consistency
despite being an eclectic mix of several styles something which is commendable (Gale, 2016).
The incident is true and the only form of embellishment that I have used is the personal
reflection and my realizations with specific reference to the maturity that I have attained now.
The reflective memoir has an element of judgement in it.
I have gained the insight that things are not always the way we imagine and that relaoties
are relative, they tend to differ.

4PERSONAL MEMOIR
References
Gale, C. L. (2016). A Study Guide for James Frey's" A Million Little Pieces". Gale, Cengage
Learning.
Hooper, J. (2016). " Things Work Out For Me," A Memoir-Writing and Art Practice.

5PERSONAL MEMOIR