Wednesdays 10-12 Noon
March 26 through May 14, 2003
D.O.C. House
In the novelist-playwright Michael Frayn's recent novel, a character says, "What I remember, when I examine my memory carefully, isn't a narrative at all. It's a collection of vivid particulars. Certain words spoken, certain objects glimpsed. Certain gestures and expressions. Certain moods, certain weathers, certain times of the day and states of light. Certain individual moments that seem to mean so much but that mean in fact so little until the hidden links between them have been found."
This isn't a bad definition of "memoir."
Everyone in this Study Group will write memoirs and share them. The class format is simple: each week some members of the class will read their work aloud. The class will then comment on, assess, critique what's been read. The following week the Study Leader will share a written critique with each memoir-writer.
Memoirs are personal. All pieces read in class will be considered confidential.
I'll assign an inexpensive paperback for the class, a book to serve as a model memoir.
This is the eleventh (11th) time that "Remembrances" has been offered in ILEAD. Those who have taken the class - and those who haven't - are welcome.
Class is limited to 15 participants.
Joe Medlicott is a Dartmouth graduate, with an MA from Trinity College and a Ph.D. from the University of Washington. He has taught English at several universities; prior to his retirement he was Master of English at Deerfield Academy.
