# Bestsellers: The Memoir

Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. Cover of the first English publication, J. Parson's, London, 1793. (Image courtesy of wikipedia.org.)

### Instructor(s)

Wyn Kelley

### MIT Course Number

21L.310

### As Taught In

Spring 2010

### Level

Undergraduate

###

Some Description
Instructor(s) | Prof.
As Taught In | Spring 2002
Course Number | 2.24
Level | Undergraduate/Graduate
Features | Lecture Notes, Student Work

## Course Description

## Course Features

- Assignments: written (no examples)

## Course Description

What is a "life" when it's written down? How does memory inform the present? Why are memoirs so popular? This course will address these questions and others, considering the relationship between biography, autobiography, and memoir and between personal and social themes. We will closely examine some recent memoirs: Tobias Wolff's This Boy's Life, Barack Obama's Dreams From My Father, Edwidge Danticat's Brother, I'm Dying, Ayaan Hirsi Ali's Infidel, and Alison Bechdel's Fun Home. Students will write two brief papers: a critical essay and an experiment in memoir.

As a "Sampling," this class offers 6 units, with a strong emphasis on close reading, group discussion, focused writing, and research and presentation skills.

## Other Versions

## Other OCW Versions

OCW has published multiple versions of this subject.

- 21L.310 Bestsellers: Out for the Count (Fall 2018)
- 21L.310 Bestsellers: Detective Fiction (Fall 2006)

## Related Content

## Course Collections

See related courses in the following collections:

### Find Courses by Topic

- Literature > Biography
- Literature > Nonfiction Prose
- Literature > Criticism

Wyn Kelley. 21L.310 Bestsellers: The Memoir. Spring 2010. Massachusetts Institute of Technology: MIT OpenCourseWare, https://ocw.mit.edu. License: Creative Commons BY-NC-SA.

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