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Successful memoirs tell a GOOD STORY. Do you think “Us and Them"

meets that requirement? Why or why not? Refer to specific details
from the text in your response.

2 Answers

2 votes

Final answer:

If “Us and Them” utilizes personal reflection, relates to broader themes, and employs vivid details and narrative elements, then it meets the criteria of a successful memoir that tells a good story.

Step-by-step explanation:

To evaluate whether “Us and Them” qualifies as a successful memoir that tells a good story, one must assess how well it satisfies the criteria for engaging personal writing. A memoir should create a composition that is emotionally authentic and conveys the core sentiment of an event or period and its impact on the author, focusing on a universal understanding, lesson learned, or common human experience to which readers can relate.

Without access to the specific content of “Us and Them,” we can't critique its effectiveness directly. However, from what is known about successful memoirs, if “Us and Them” reflects on deeply personal events related to broader cultural and social issues and presents a story from the life of the author that sheds light on a universal theme, then it is indeed meeting the requirement of telling a good story. A memoir that uses vivid details, sensory descriptions, and narrative elements like setting, plot, characterization, and dialogue can create reader engagement and plot movement, which are critical to storytelling success.

A memoir told effectively can utilize a framework like the story arc to develop characters and plot, thereby enhancing the emotional impact of the story. Characteristics of memoirs and personal narratives include being structured around a specific theme or memory, and if “Us and Them” employs these techniques, it likely succeeds in telling a good story.

User Idali
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1 vote

Answer:

"Us and Them" meets the requirement to present memories of success in building a good story.

Step-by-step explanation:

"Us and Them" by David Sedaris tells the narrator's memories during his childhood and in relation to a peculiar family that lived on his street, the Tomkeys.

The narrator reveals his memories of this family, his eccentricities and all the rumors that came up in the neighborhood regarding their behavior. The way the narrator tells his memories makes the story exciting and the reader is instigated to learn more about this family.

A story that manages to move the reader and his curiosity, leaving him motivated to read more and more is a good story, especially when there is such a great narration, without becoming tiring.

User Mwilson
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4.6k points