A memoir is by definition, a historical account or biography written from personal experience . There are many reasons as to why someone would be motivated to write a memoir. Commonly, they are written to tell of one’s successes. Personal Memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant is a good example of this, where he tells of leading the Union Army to victory. Hardships are another popular topic in famous memoirs. Anne Frank’s The Diary of a Young Girl is commonly known and tells of a Jewish girl and her family hiding from Nazi’s. Buonaccorso Pitti wrote a memoir in the form of a diary in order to pass along his lineage, document his businesses, keep track of his debts, and to simply tell his story. In the second line of his memoir Pitti wrote, “It has been my aim to record here everything I could discover about our lineage and family connections”(p19). He made it very clear that his biggest intention was to simply put on paper everything he knew of his family before and everything that he would come to know in his life. Typically families of this time period have family papers documenting everything, however, Pitti said that the man entrusted with said papers was “such a scandalmonger that he could never be trusted with a public appointment” and that he either sold or burned them before he passed away(p19). Some very old papers …show more content…
For example, when Pittie was denounced to the Signoria he wrote, “I was interrogated and released on paying a surety of 3,000 florins” and told that he was pardoned(p94). His description of the events that occurred are supported by the records of the criminal court. He also mentioned events and important people of the time, such as the Great Schism and Pope Benedict. There were many important historical events recorded in Pitti’s memoir, and today it is interesting to see how things have changed in a person’s daily life from Renaissance times to
Helena Maria Veramontes writes her short story “The Moths” from the first person point of view, placing her fourteen year old protagonist female character as a guide through the process of spiritual re-birth. The girl begins the story with a description of the debt she owes her Abuelita—the only adult who has treated her with kindness and respect. She describes her Apa (Father) and Ama (Mother), along with two sisters as if they live in the same household, yet are born from two different worlds. Her father is abusive, her mother chooses to stay in the background and her sisters evoke a kind of femininity that she does not possess. The girl is angry at her masculine differences and strikes out at her sisters physically. Apa tries to make his daughter conform to his strict religious beliefs, which she refuses to do and her defiance evokes abuse. The girl’s Abuelita is dying and she immerses herself in caring for her, partly to repay a debt and partly out of the deep love she has for her. As her grandmother lay dying, she begins the process of letting go. The moth helps to portray a sense of spirituality, re-birth and becomes, finally, an incarnation of the grandmother. The theme of the story is spiritual growth is born from human suffering.
The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass is an autobiography written by Frederick Douglass himself. No one knows the hardships and difficult times that Frederick Douglass went through as a slave, better than himself. That is why Frederick Douglass is considered to be, in my opinion, is the most reliable author when it comes to telling the story of his life as a slave.
Today was another interesting day. My friends and I went to our traditional tree to look out, yet another day, for kidnappers. To my surprise, I found some! It was up to me to alert the neighbor kids so that they could capture the man before our parents returned home. These foreign men were always trying to come over and steal us, most of the time we were able to group together to fight them off.
Ridolfi, Roberto. The Life of Niccolò Machiavelli. Trans. Cecil Grayson. 1954. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1963. Print.
Lucrezia Borgia was considered to be a nefarious and scheming criminal. On April 18, 1480, in Rome, Italy (Lucrezia Borgia 1), she was born to Rodrigo Borgia, who later became Pope Alexander VI, and his mistress, Vanonozza de Cattanei (Aiuto 4), and became a member of the infamous Borgia family. Lucrezia Borgia’s evil reputation was unjustified because she was manipulated by her relatives to fuel their political ambition, was a recipient of her family’s record of crime, and was a victim of unfair propaganda.
The book “This Boy’s Life” by Tobias Wolff is a memoir written about the author’s childhood memories and experiences. The author shows many different characters within the book. Many of them are just minor character that does not affect the author much in his life choices and thoughts throughout his growth. But there are some that acts as the protagonist and some the antagonist. One of them is Dwight, the protagonist’s or Jack’s stepfather. This character seems to be one of the characters that inhibit Jack’s choices and decisions. This character plays a huge role in Jack’s life as it leaves a huge scar in his memory. The author here spends the majority of time in this character in the memoir to show the readers the relationship between Jack and Dwight.
women not of even of her own calibre. Today she talked to a man not of
In Hawthorne's short story, "Rappaccini's Daughter", Rappaccini is ostensibly a cold, calculating scientist. A pure scientist who would willingly give his daughter, himself, or whatever else most precious to him "for the sake of adding so much as a grain of mustard seed to the great heap of his accumulated knowledge" (1641). This leads most to believe that Rappaccini lacks any emotion and concern for his "scientific subjects" and their desires. This assumption, however, is incorrect. Rappaccini cares dearly for, if no one else, one person and is willing to use his science to meet her needs. This person is his own daughter. Upon Giovanni's angry outburst to Beatrice, Rappaccini says, "My science and the sympathy between thee and him have so wrought within his system that he now stands apart from common men, as thou dost, daughter of my pride and triumph, from ordinary women" (1655). Rappaccini clearly cares dearly for his daughter and is willing to use his science to make Giovanni compatible with Beatrice because he recognizes her human need for companionship.
Memoirs are not essentially all bad, they have certain characteristics about them that make memoirs unique. For starters, the memoir is based on the author; i.e. what the author went/was going through. In this
An autobiography is a story written by the author and describes his or her life experiences. The autobiography written by Benjamin Franklin and Olaudah Equiano written by himself are two autobiographies that are very similar and kind of different from each other. Both authors tell readers about their journeys whether they were good or bad. The authors give off a strong sense of imagery, which makes the readers feel as if they were actually there.
Rappaccini's Daughter by Nathaniel Hawthorne In "Rappaccini's Daughter", Nathaniel Hawthorne examines the combination of good and evil in people through the relationships of the story's main characters. The lovely and yet poisonous Beatrice, the daughter of the scientist Rappaccini, is the central figure of the story, while her neighbor Giovanni becomes the observer, participant, and interpreter of the strange events that transpire within the garden next door. It is Giovanni's inability to understand these events that eventually leads to Beatrice's death. Giovanni sees things that are either all good or all bad.
"An autobiography is only to be trusted when it reveals something disgraceful. A man who gives a good account of himself is probably lying, since any life when viewed from the inside is simply a series of defeats."
After five hundred years, Niccolo Machiavelli the man has ceased to exist. In his place is merely an entity, one that is human, but also something that is far above one. The debate over his political ideologies and theories has elevated him to a mythical status summed up in one word: Machiavelli. His family name has evolved into an adjective in the English language in its various forms. Writers and pundit’s bandy about this new adjective in such ways as, “He is a Machiavelli,” “They are Machiavelli’s,” “This is suitable for a Machiavelli.” These phrases are almost always the words of a person that understands more about Niccolo’s reputation than the man himself. Forgotten is that Machiavelli is not an adequate example of the ruler he is credited with describing; a more accurate statement would be to call someone a “Borgia” or a “Valentino.” Most of the time they are grossly mistaken in their references. All these words accomplish is to add to the legend, and the misinterpretation, of the true nature of Niccolo Machiavelli.
In Donald Kelley's Version of History, the Medici family had brought a form of stability to Florence, but the golden age of Florentine republic soon declined after the death of Lorenzo Medici. Throughout his life Machiavelli had come to develop a strong love for Florence, and an absolute honorable sense of service to those ruling it. He hoped to make it great, powerful, and lasting like that of the Roman Empire.
Do you remember when your sister used to write in her diary and how curious you were on finding out what she wrote in it? If you didn’t have a sister – do you remember keeping your own diary hoping that your mom would not find it one day and read it? At a young age, we all learn to keep a diary or journal. In elementary school, we may have been required to write in a journal in class replying to a question asked by the teacher like “How was your weekend?” or “How was your break?” Simple questions were asked to help generate ideas in our young minds and help us write our own story. But now that we are older, do we still have the opportunity to write our own story the same way we used to? Are we still able to release our emotions and reflect on events in our lives? Though many people see keeping a journal as childish or a waste of time, the effects of recording ones thoughts are beneficial.