I enjoyed Arnberg’s article A Study of Memoir. Her article brought clarity to my mind about the difference between memoir and autobiography. I liked the definition one of her students provided, ” It’s a snippet of a memory that a writer tells about after they have had time to think about it.”
I think Arnberg’s decision to immerse herself and her class in memoir texts before attempting writing instruction, helped construct the ground work for memoirs. I have read many of the picture books that she referred to in her article, however I never realized they were considered memoirs.
It would be nice to select a particular genre, like memoirs, and focus on it for an entire school year. Students would definitely benefit from an in-depth study, instead of jetting from one genre to another.
Hendrick's Hoppy Pad 