A Short Memoir; Using Patrick Lane's First Paragraph as a Model

Use Patrick Lane’s first paragraph (128 words; your paragraph should be the same length exactly) as a model to write about a memory of your own. You may use some of his words; for example, I follow the model of Lane’s first sentence but tell my own story: “Back in the summer of 1974, I was 18 years old, working for the cook and living in a mining exploration camp with 23 men 50 kilometers shy of the Arctic Circle.”

Note how I've used the same number of words (32) and almost the same structure. Do the same, as much as you can. Post to the blog as a “comment”; I will post an example on the weekend. Bring your work, word processed and double spaced, to class that day.

If you would like to read the first draft writing I did in class, these are provided below in Word 2007 format (docx).

Link to the narrative I wrote in English 12 class.

Link to the narrative I wrote in English 11 class.