New Student Book Experience: Current Book: Hints for Reading

WHAT IS A MEMOIR?

Before you can begin to read any sort of book, you have to know the genre into which the piece of literature fits.  Knowing the “rules” of that genre allows you to make predictions about the literature.  For example, because a memoir is a “shaped” memory, you would not take a guess at what happens to the central character because you already know a couple of facts:

1. The central character is alive.
2. The central character is still an actor in his/her own life.
3. Whatever is important in the main character’s life remains of great importance.
4. The style of writing in the literature continues to be characterized by literary devices such as metaphors and similes as well as by deeply descriptive language.
5. The reader is drawn to and through the text by the immediacy of the action as well as the beauty of the language.

Once you have familiarized yourself with the “rules” of the genre—in this case creative non-fiction—you are ready to “attack” the piece of literature.
Ideally, you have read and seriously considered the entire piece of creative non-fiction . Realistically, you probably have read segments of The Glass Castle.  In that case, you are posed with a dilemma:  How to think about a book you haven’t read.

Although they probably didn’t intend to, the authors/designers of your book have offered you a solution in the snippets of book reviews at the beginning.  Read these for whatever information they might offer in terms of plot and author’s style. 

Next, examine other “hints” about the book to help guide your reading.  Why is a crudely drawn map included?  What do the chapter names suggest about the book? Read the “Historical Note” carefully.  What does it tell you about the book?

Once you have read and analyzed these “hints,” you are ready to begin reading/answering questions about The Glass Castle.