We all remember differently; we remember different things for different reasons that matter to us. You may remember an event because it appeared funny to you, or your impressions may be formed by the fact that you were scared or deeply hurt. What made a significant impact on you is that which would remain etched in your memory. One way of preserving those impressions is to write them down, that is through personal narrative; that is the subject we focus on in this installment. Let’s go!
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Let’s learn how to develop the craft of personal narrative from the following extract.
“When I was young in South Korea, I would love to visit my grandmother. I couldn’t wait to see her smiling her face each time. When I saw my grandmother, she would give me some kind of a treat.
Then we would just play around because I was young then. I always loved seeing her face and being treated so especially in the only way grandmothers can.
When I was four we moved from Korea to Virginia. From then on I was young in Virginia. There I used to pretend I was a hair stylist and cut my Barbie dolls’s hair. It would end up all uneven.
Unfortunately, the Barbie looked really bad, so then I used to ask an older friend to cut it back even more. I never cut my Barbie doll’s hair again after seeing that awful mess I had made.”
What lovely memories are captured above by the writer. Have you seen how the writer preserved her memories through writing? Have you also seen the different reasons for remembering; in the first instance she had very fond memories of her grandmother because of her lovely smile and the wonderful manner in which she would go out of her way to treat her. The latter memories are filled with pain; she fondly remembers how awkward her Barbie doll looked like after she failed to cut her hair evenly. There is no doubt that these memories were penned down in a journal. We need to keep a personal, reflective journal as a friend. In that journal we scribble every event and impression that matter to us. Let’s try another extract in the form of a poem.
“As onlookers clap
and rap and shout
I curl up and turn myself
inside out.
I can jig horizontal
As I lean on one hand:
I’m a spin-lop, a pinwheel,
a one-man dance bans,
inventing new moves,
when I get a notion.
I can take out the best.
I’m graffiti in motion,
A sidewalk tornado
to the rhythm of rock,
Meet the baddest break dancer
(that’s me) on the block.”
What a creative manner of capturing memories reflected in the poem above? The persona, that is the voice in the poem, has taken us to her best impressions of how he would dance, invent new moves to the amusement of her friends.
You, too, can reflect on your experiences, impressions and preserve them in a journal. Could you think of a visit to a park of museum, a visit to a fond relative, a trip to a dentist or getting lost in a national rainforest?
All these would create very creative impressions in your mind and you would commit that to paper. Well, that’s it for today. Let’s meet for yet another exciting installment.
Vuso Mhlanga
