William Zinsser's Memoir

William Zinsser has advice for writing memoirs. “Be yourself”, “speak freely”, and “tell your own story” (Zinsser, 2, 4, 6). It applies to many different memoirs. William Zinsser’s “How to Write a Memoir”, gives the point of “be yourself” (Zinsser, 2). This applies to “A Summer Life” because Gary Soto writes as if he was a child. According to “A Summer Life”, “I was five…”(Soto, 16). He also was adventurous because he went to find a shoe whose,”…print was almost three of my brother’s hands, and four of mine.” (Soto, 16). Always be yourself when you write your own memoir. The next point that Zinsser makes is “speak freely” (Zinsser, 4). This piece of advice applies to “A Summer Life” because Gary Soto writes what happens. According to “A Summer Life”, “…she came out with the belt.” (Soto, 22). This means that she was going to slap him with the belt. He was more open with his mother. According to “A Summer life”, “… the only thing we got from Mother was a spanking.” Gary Soto’s mother may not have been happy with that in the memoir. When you are writing your own memoir, speak freely because it is your story.
This advice applies to “A Summer Life” because the titles of chapters in the memoir are the titles of significant memories. For example, “The Pie” (Soto, 55) represents the time when Gary Soto stole an apple pie from a market vendor. Another example is “The Rhino” (Soto, 40), which represents the time Gary Soto remembered how much the world relied on animals. Lastly, “The Shirt” (Soto, A Summer Life), represents the time when Gary Soto helped his uncle find copper. When you write your own memoir, make sure to tell your own