Spring Break offers students so many wonderful possibilities \u2013 a quick vacation, a service-learning project, time at home with family and friends, or, this year, the opportunity to create a memoir.<\/p>\n
With the support of the President\u2019s Office, UConn Reads is sponsoring \u201cWrite\/Draw\/Render Your Life,\u201d a student award for creative memoir. Inspired by the remarkable artistry and insight of Marjane Satrapi\u2019s graphic novel Persepolis<\/i>, students are invited to create a memoir in any of several formats: essay or short story, short film or animation, or graphic novel.<\/p>\n
Students shouldn\u2019t measure their experiences against Satrapi\u2019s when thinking about writing a memoir. While some of our students have experienced hardships like war, revolution, hunger, or violence, others may say \u201cI grew up in a sleepy Connecticut town, what do I have to write about?\u201d In fact, students can take a cue from Satrapi \u2013 early in Persepolis<\/i>, the child Marji participates in a bullying incident, and Satrapi uses this small, rather ordinary experience to reveal the nature of group violence and intolerance in a way that connects to the larger politics and culture of the time.<\/p>\n
It may also be worth reflecting on Satrapi\u2019s approach to the creative memoir form. In a recent interview<\/a> about Persepolis<\/i>, Satrapi noted, \u201cIt\u2019s based on my own experiences, but then \u2026 you have to make a story.\u201d This is an opportunity to think about how narratives and images can be structured to create and enhance meaning.<\/p>\n