Memoir Unit Blog #2

      I do not believe that what Pat Conroy said was true for my memoir. I'm reading Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris. There has not been anything truly torturous in his childhood. He felt left out by his peers in school. He had a lisp and could not make an 's' sound, instead making a 'th' sound. He was embarrassed about this and avoided saying words with the letter s in them. He was likely teased by other students for this and for being different in other ways such as enjoying "girl activities" like baking cookies and singing. I do not think that he had a tortured childhood. However, these difficulties helped him learn about the world and shaped him into the man he is. I think everyone experiences some sort of torturous event as a childhood but the extremity of these varies greatly and one does not need to be a child soldier or similar traumatizing event to write a good memoir.