First, read William Zinsser's essay, "How to Write a Memoir https://theamericanscholar.org/how-to-write-a-memoir/#.XtQOiDpKiUk," and then apply Zinsser's ideas about memoir-writing to one of the student examples (of your choosing) from the Creative Nonfiction genre of plainchina.org https://plainchina.org/, a national online anthology of the best undergraduate writing. Browse student-authored memoirs and personal narratives here https://plainchina.org/category/nonfiction/ or choose from one of the following selected student examples: "Killing a Chicken," by Jennifer Fu (https://plainchina.org/2018/08/28/killing-a-chicken/.) "Hey Tray," by Maurice Rippel (https://plainchina.org/2019/09/01/hey-tray/.) "Debt to Bees," by Lauren Goss (https://plainchina.org/2018/08/07/debt-to-bees/) "Blue Magic and Black Rubber Bands," by Dominique Wilkerson (https://plainchina.org/2020/05/01/blue-magic-and-black-rubber-bands/.) "Becoming Zero," by Nadia Ravensborg https://plainchina.org/2019/03/08/becoming-zero/. "Fragile Bones," by Natt Hawkins (https://plainchina.org/2018/08/06/sonora/.) "Sonora," by Molly Kigin (https://plainchina.org/2018/07/31/how-to-smoke-a-cigarette/.) "How to Smoke a Cigarette," by Kitty Elmer-DeWitt (https://plainchina.org/2018/07/31/how-to-smoke-a-cigarette/) "The Things I Have Been," by Eve Gleichman (https://plainchina.org/2018/07/31/the-things-i-have-been/.) You may choose to respond to any of the selected student-authored personal narratives for this discussion board post. Zinsser had three main points about memoir-writing: 1. Think Small: Don't choose a big, obvious moment. Choose a small, unique, personally significant moment as the subject of your memoir. 2. Speak Freely: Tell your story, your truth, not someone else's version of your story. Don't censor yourself or water down your perspective. It's your memory. You can tell it exactly the way you remember it. 3. Be Yourself: Use your own voice, your own language. Don't try to sound like someone else, or to formalize your vocabulary. After reading Zinsser's essay, choose one of the student-authored personal narratives and read it, looking at all of the ways you see the student author doing these three things. Then, answer the following question: In what ways did the author of this personal narrative adhere to Zinsser's advice to: 1. Think Small: In what ways did this author choose to think small? 2. Speak Freely: In what ways did this author tell their own, uncensored story? 3. Be Yourself: Where do you see evidence of the author using his or her own narrative voice? 4. Sensory Details: Where do you see the author using details that appeal to the five senses? (Sight, Touch, Taste, Sound and Smell)? How do these details enhance your understanding or enjoyment of the narrative? 5. Finally, ask yourself how you were impacted by reading this student's personal narrative. Unlike the other narratives we've read, all of which were written by professional authors, these narratives are written by regular people, students like yourselves. How did this change your reception of the work? Do you think these authors had a different audience and purpose than the professional authors may have had for their work? Why or why not?