University Memoir Assignment: LITT14310G Life in Story Analysis

This assignment presents a student's memoir, detailing a pivotal moment in their life where they challenged gender stereotypes and pursued their dream of becoming an automobile engineer. The memoir recounts the student's passion for car racing and driving, their parents' initial disapproval, and a significant event where they demonstrated their driving skills to save a loved one. The assignment also includes an analysis of the memoir, exploring the author's choices of narrative voice, the influence of course readings, and the role of truth in the narrative. The student reflects on the insights gained from the experience, emphasizing the importance of challenging societal norms, encouraging girls to pursue their dreams, and supporting children's aspirations regardless of gender. References to relevant academic works are also included.

Running head: MEMOIR: LIFE IN STORY
Memoir: life in the story
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author’s Note:

2MEMOIR: LIFE IN STORY
Part 1:Construct a Short Self-Memoir
I was fond of the outdoor games, Right from my childhood. Driving and car racing were my
favorites among them. I loved playing with my male cousins. I always had a great interest in
playing chess, driving, horse racing and many others. However, I remember that my parents
never appreciated this. They were always of the opinion that being a girl, I must always try to
learn the household chores like cooking, cleaning the house and others. However, I always had a
great interest in learning are racing and driving. Whenever I got some free time after studying I
used to go out with my cousins and wanted them to teach me driving and car racing. However,
they did not think that I am suitable enough for these activities.
However, I knew that it is my dream to become an automobile engineer and I would never give
up my love for cars or my love for dreams. As per my perception, all the opportunities must be
given to all the individuals irrespective of their gender. I remember that it was a very stormy
night and there was nobody in my home except me and my grandmother. My parents and the rest
of the family members were out for a day to attend some family functions. All of a sudden, there
was a huge storm outside and the lights were all out. I lit a candle and shortly after that, I saw
that my grandmother was suffering running short of breath. She was a patient of acute asthma
and had to be taken to the hospital during emergencies. I desperately wanted to help her and take
all the possible efforts to save her life. I tried calling my parents but could not reach them. I also
called my cousins but they were busy and did not want to take the risk of driving on such a
stormy night.

3MEMOIR: LIFE IN STORY
Luckily, my father’s car was at home and there was a duplicate key kept in our house. I knew
that this was the only way to save the life of my grandmother. Therefore, without wasting any
time, I rushed to the garage, took out the car and made my grandmother seat on the backseat.
I started driving the car and was on my way towards the hospital. I drove amid that dark, stormy
night and reach the hospital somehow. The doctors immediately looked after my grandmother
and took her to the care unit. They informed me that her condition was severe and we could not
have saved her if she was not brought to the hospital on time. The doctors praised my bravery
and my confidence. Following this, they informed my parents and they rushed to the hospital the
next day. After knowing the whole situation, my parents were really happy and proud of me. My
father had tears in his eyes while he hugged me and said that he was sorry for not letting me
pursue my dream all this while. After a month, he gifted me with a brand new car on my birthday
and also enrolled me in one of the best automobile engineering colleges.
I have learned from this experience that it is impor5antn to challenge the age-old societal norms
and gender biases. Both girls and boys are capable of doing anything they want irrespective of
their gender. All they need is the support and love from their families and the encouragement of
never giving up in life.

4MEMOIR: LIFE IN STORY
Part 2: Self-Memoir Analysis
1. Why did you choose to write about your particular topic?
I chose to write about this topic because it will help people to know that all are free to pursue
their dreams. They must never up to the age of old social conventions like gender stereotypes.
Society has often portrayed men and women in different ways but it is high time that this notion
must be stopped. There must be some changes brought within the perception of people.
2. Which narrative voice and Point of View (First-person, Second Person, Third
Person, Omniscient/Limited, etc) did you choose to use in the memoir? Please
provide an example from your writing that demonstrates this choice of
narrative voice
 The first person narrative has been chosen because I wanted to portray my own
experience.
 As per my perception using the first-person narrative will also help in adding a personal
touch in the reflection and all the people will be able to connect with the same (Cole,
2017).

5MEMOIR: LIFE IN STORY
 I have written about my experience-as I mentioned that 'I was very fond of driving and
also had an immense love for cars". This shows that I am talking about my liking and my
views.
 Using the first-person narrative also emphasizes the importance of self and also the need
for giving importance to oneself and pursuing one's dreams rather than thinking about
society. One of the good examples can be -I have learned from this experience that it is
impor5antn to challenge the age-old societal norms and gender biases. This shows that
one is always able to learn something good from their own experiences. It is always essential to believe in oneself and also within their abilities. All individuals need to stay true to their own beliefs and also be able to reach their
dreams without the fear of societal norms.
3. If you were to add your memoir to our class reading list, which weekly theme
would you fit your memoir under (Migration and Diaspora, Gender &
Sexuality, Memoirs of Childhood, etc.)? Include an example from the course
content and explain why you think your memoir belongs in this category?
 Gender & Sexuality is the weekly themes that are suitable for my memoir. This is
because I am talking about my own experiences and how I was not allowed to pursue my
dreams initially because of my gender. (Crosier, 2017)
 Gender biasness is one of the main social evil that is existing in the modern-day scenario
and must be challenged immediately.

6MEMOIR: LIFE IN STORY
 I also wanted to focus on this aspect so that all the families and the parents, in particular,
get to know about the struggles that their children have to go through during such times. I
want people to change their perceptions and give the same rights to all individuals
irrespective of their gender.
 Females must be allowed to educate themselves and lead the life they want.
 Families must be responsible enough to help raise their girl child with all the freedom,
affection and care that they give to their male children. They must never differentiate
between the two and also encourage their daughters to pursue their dream.
4. What author(s) from our course readings inspired you when you were
writing your memoir? Why? What specific ideas, styles, or thoughts of these
authors influenced you?
 The Second Sex presents Simone de Beauvoir’s has helped me a lot for this assignment
(Bauer,2020). I have also been inspired by reading her works because she is talking about
the disadvantaged position of women in society.
 She is focusing on biology, psychoanalysis, and historical materialism s the three theories
that are often used to study and also analyze the understanding and treatment of women
(Hengehold, 2018).

7MEMOIR: LIFE IN STORY
 I have been influenced by her as I could relate it with my own life. I was always ill-
treated or insulted by my male cousins as they did not think me to be fit enough for
playing with them or learning about their sports.
 In this book, she talks about how women have always been considered as suitable for
only motherhood and for repressing only family ties and bonds. I could relate to this as
my parents always insisted on me learn the household chores rather than playing with my
male cousins outside (Prasopoulou, 2017). They wanted me to learn cooking,
clearinghouses and other such feminine works.
 Women are always objectified by men and society as a whole. This is also a very
influential for me as I have been the victim of the same (Meixner et al., 2019). This is
because I was denied to play the same games as my male cousins. After all, they felt
these are not suitable enough for me and I will never be able to do something good with
these so I must focus only on household works (Bacon, 2017).
 Genuine equality must be present at all levels where both genders can enjoy the same
rights.
5. Explain the role of “truth” in your memoir – are your accounts and your
narrative entirely factual? Have you embellished or “rewritten” some of
your history or memories? Why did you make these choices, and how do
they influence your reader?
 These are true accounts as they are my own experiences.

8MEMOIR: LIFE IN STORY
 I have tried my level best to describe all the facts in a very easy and understandable
manner so that all others who are suffering from the same hardships can get some
strength (Dorn, 2017).
 Have rewritten whatever was there in my memory and whatever I could recollect
 I made this choice because I know that there are still societal norms like gender a bias
existing in society and that makes females suffer a lot.
 I wanted all my readers to understand that it is they who have to change their mindsets
and also challenge these age-old norms of the society.
6. What insights into your own life have you gained from this
experience/assignment? How was the memoir writing process reflective (or
not!) for you?
 I have gained this insight that no one is inferior to others
 One must always be able to keep up his or her level of confidence
 Girls must know their worth and do not let others objectify them
 Girls must not be burdened by societal norms. Their families must always support them
and encourage them to live up to their dreams.
 This was reflective because I could go back to my past and think about my struggle and
also how I managed to prove my worth
 This memoir has been reflective because it is through the description of my own
experiences that I have been able to convey my readers about the existing social norms
like gender stereotypes.

9MEMOIR: LIFE IN STORY
References
Bacon, E. (2017). The scholarly exegesis as a memoir. New Writing, 14(3), 386-397.
Bauer, N. (2020). The Routledge Guidebook to de Beauvoir's The Second Sex.
Cole, M. (Ed.). (2017). Education, equality and human rights: issues of gender,'race', sexuality,
disability and social class. Routledge.
Crosier, J. A. (2017). Self-reflection, Memoir, and the True Self.
Dorn, K. (2017). You Are Here-A Choreographic Memoir Exploring Anxiety in the YouTube
Generation: Interdisciplinary Study as a Therapeutic Process. Arizona State University.
Hengehold, L. (2018). Simone de Beauvoir's philosophy of individuation: the problem of The
second sex. Edinburgh University Press.
Meixner, E., Peel, A., Hendrickson, R., Szczeck, L., & Bousum, K. (2019). Storied Lives:
Teaching Memoir Writing Through Multimodal Mentor Texts. Journal of Adolescent &
Adult Literacy, 62(5), 495-508.
Prasopoulou, E. (2017). A half-moon on my skin: a memoir on life with an activity
tracker. European Journal of Information Systems, 26(3), 287-297.