Memoir

      The first blog I chose to read was by a girl named Milena, age 17 in Virginia. It was on the first page of memoirs on the scholastic website and the title was so interesting. After reading several other ones I had to chose the very first one I read " Coughing and Strawberry Jam". I think that it had more good elements of a memoir then of storytelling but overall I think it was an good example of a memoir.
      The elements of a memoir are storytelling and reflection. Storytelling in that it should read like a fictional story and reflection as in not only telling what actually happened but also your opinions and emotions then and now. A good memoir focuses on a distinct period of time with a specific subject in 1st person narration.
      The storytelling elements are to have a plot, that consists of a conflict, to have a setting, character development, such as actions, and narrator descriptions, to have voice and tone, and style "show don't tell".
       The first time I read Coughing and Strawberry Jam it was a fun story and I really enjoyed it. When I went back to read it as a writer I noticed all the little things that made it a good memoir and just a good story in general. First off it tells a story and Milena is reflecting on it. As I said before when you first read it , it reads like a fictional story , a good story. Then she gives her opinion and how she feels saying that she was self-conscious and embarrassed that they had sided with the man that made them feel like crap every other day of their lives. She focuses on a period in her life when her grandmother got sick and it brought them closer together by realizing that how her father was treating her grandmother was wrong. For the most part she also uses the storytelling elements. She has a plot with a conflict of man vs man. Her dad kind of influences the rest of the family that their grandmother is a very annoying, nagging lady and that when she has a really bad cough  that it really is nothing. Her setting is in her house, but she does mention something about their church. She talks about how her greandmother has come to live with them and how her dad didn't allow her to sit next to them in church. What I think she does the best is character development and narrator descriptions. She gives a sense of who her family is, her dad, her mom, her sister, and her grandmother. She tells us how dad would roll his eyes when her grandmother would cough and how she would too, and how her mother and her would blow kisses to her grandmother because she couldn't sit by them at church. She also  says how she would say love you but not I love you, and how before she would play cards on her grandmother's bed and listen to her stories.
         I think the Melina did a great job with this memoir because her memoir contained all the key elements of a memoir and of storytelling. She made it vey fun and interesting also. Sure made me wnat to read it!