Essay on Truth- Blog 7

What is your story about? Are the details you selected true to that focus?

My memoir is about the struggles that my family went through with my sister, and my own personal feelings of abandonment, inferiority, weakness, and disregard that were approached at that time.

Are there any "facts" which you are uncertain of which you have set forward as true?

Most of the details in my memoir I have full and clear memory of because this was an emotional standpoint in my adolescence. The only details I was unsure was the name of the group, and the exact time when my parents would leave.

Have you made changes in setting, time, or sequence which are unacknowledged?

No, all of the settings, times, and sequence are in chronological order over the time period of several years.

Have you fabricated dialog which you cannot remember (without acknowledging that you do not remember exact words)?

One of my first initial scenes when my sister was elsewhere and my parents were sitting watching TV is slightly sketchy. I do remember the name of my sister coming up, as well as her whereabouts but I’m not sure on the exact words.

Have you written your experience - or does your story cast you in terms of a "type" (like Frey)?

I’m not quite sure what this question is asking. At the time this situation occurred, I had no written acknowledgment of it (like a diary, journal, etc) but I remember the situation very well so I do not believe it is cast in terms of a type.

Are there relevant details which you deliberately left out? Why did you leave them out? Anything you are trying to avoid?

No, any details that occurred during the course of my story were not relevant to this memoir.

Can you detect any hedges, evasions, revisions which represent the self as more sophisticated, experienced, thoughtful, etc than the self at the time of the writing?

Not at this current time. When I was writing, I tried to put myself in the place that I was in during this occurrence. I’m sure that there will be revisions once I step back and look at this essay from a more updated perspective, but I haven’t done that yet.

What is suggested by what you selected to represent, and what you chose to leave out? Have you selected details to make your story more dramatic, more persuasive, or more "profound" than it merits? Does it need to be balanced by the addition of other selections in order to make it "true"?

While writing this story, I tried to suggest the roles of a family and how parents’ decisions make a big impact on their children’s’ adolescence. I would not consider this a dramatic or persuasive essay, but it is far from profound. It’s a work in progress.

Does the tone of your essay reveal anything about your relationship to your material? Why do you think you chose the tone you take in your essay (humorous, ironic, serious, self-righteous, respectful, lyrical . . . .)

Absolutely. That is what I was going for. I want my essay to reveal the abandonment, inferiority, weakness, and disregard that controlled my adolescence in many ways. I want my story to reveal that decisions made when we were children are going to have a presence in our adult lives.

Have you demonized or idealized any of the people in your story? If so, what was your motive? Why do you think you wrote to that particular need?

After re-reading the story, I realized that I have demonized my sister. Although everything in this essay is true, I have let out the fact that she has severely changed in the years after all of this.

If there are some pieces of the truth that you intend to hold back, can you tell this story "truthfully" despite those missing pieces? What might you need to add to make sure you do not misrepresent what your story is about?

As I mentioned previously, I have not left out any relevant information into this essay. I can say that this story is told very truthfully despite outside information.