Journal 2

"What She Gave" by Anne Lamott is an excellent example of a memoir. It contains all the elements of a memoir as outlined in the Harbrace text book including significant experiences, sensory details, dialogue, transitional phrases, and reflections on key narrative events.

The significant experiences the author recounts take place at the beginning and end of the memoir. At the beginning, Lamott catches our attention by placing us in her bed, exhausted from two nights of insomnia, only to be woken up by her fifteen year old son who is perfectly capable of falling asleep on his own. What comes next is what makes this anecdote significant. Lamott's son reminds her that she is his mother and the person to whom he should be able to take his problems to. The second significant experience occurs at the end of the memoir when the author visits her mother after her mother informs her that she has a box and cheese. Confused, Lamott discovers that her mother has rented a cable box so the two of them can watch tennis and (for reasons unexplained in the memoir) a refrigerator full of cheese. This too is significant because it proves the author's point that her mother was crazy, but still loved her in her own special way.

The second characteristic of a memoir is sensory details. Lamott uses these throughout her memoir, however there are two places that these details really jump out at me. First, when Lamott is describing her mother's bed. She paints a very clear picture of socks and juice boxes leaving bumps in the covers. It made me envision a very disgusting mess of covers and pillows all sticky, crumby, and unkempt. Likewise, Lamott does a beautiful job of describing her mother's eyes. She mentions that they are large and brown, but then continues to say,"...they were always frantic, like a hummingbird who can't quite find the flower but keeps jabbing around." This is a wonderful description of not only how quickly her eyes moved, but also the pain that may have been behind them.

The author chose wisely when incorporating bits of dialogue into her memoir. She included dialogue when discussing personal experiences at the beginning and end of the memoir. The dialogue that I felt was most pertinent to the story was when her son said, "But you're my mom. I'm supposed to come to you with my problems." This statement really reveals to the audience the issue that is plaguing Lamott. It reveals the subject of her memoir: the conflict and impact her mother's life had on her.

Lamott uses transitional phrases four different times in her memoir. Each time the phrase introduces another year since her mother has passed away as well as signifies a new realization about herself and her relationship with her mother. The phrases are all crafted similarly: "The first year after my mother's death..." or, "The second year after my mother died..."

Lamott also did a good job of reflecting and analyzing key narrative events. After the first narrative event, where her son wakes her up, she goes on to say that she struggled because she was never able to take her problems to her own mother. She then says that a good mother is supposed to listen and respond with wisdom, which was something her mother could never do for her.