Professional Documents
Culture Documents
“Memoir” comes from the French word for memory. It’s a genre of literature
where the author writes about his or her memories, usually going back to
childhood. Memoirs are typically written by celebrities, world leaders, pro
athletes, etc. But anyone can write a memoir, and sometimes they turn out to
be great works of literature even when the author hasn’t led a particularly
unusual life.
Memoirs usually cover the entire span of the author’s life, but in some cases,
they just cover the important parts.
Commentaries on the Gallic Wars, by Julius Caesar, is one of the first major works of
memoir. In the book, Caesar talks about his experiences fighting in Gaul. This
was definitely a propagandistic memoir: Caesar presents himself as a
conquering hero triumphantly marching through barbarian lands. This was
intended to get people on his side against his enemies – both his external
enemies (the Gauls) and the internal enemies who opposed his rise to the
throne.
Example 2
The philosopher Rousseau wrote an incredibly bizarre memoir about his
experiences as a young man in France. Rousseau was an eccentric who
frequently violated the rules of polite society in pretty extreme ways. Because
he was a philosopher, many people expect Rousseau’s memoir to be a dry read,
but they’re in for a shock! Some people see this as a kind of
philosophical propaganda as well – Rousseau wanted people to disrespect
authority and throw away their “civilized” lives in a return to “nature.” His
memoir was an example of someone living exactly that way.
Anecdote
An anecdote is a short story about something that you’ve seen or experienced.
A memoir might be described as a collection of anecdotes. However, there are
other uses of anecdote, including in essays. An anecdote can help frame
your argument or illustrate a particular point. Be careful, though! While
anecdotes are useful for illustration, they’re not the same thing as data, and
generally should not be used as evidence for what’s happening in society
(unless no data is available).