Open Letters Editor Chapter Summary

Being able to get in the university was one thing, achieveing his goal to be part of the football team was much more. Therefore, he always made sure that he gave his one hundred and twenty percent during training in football even though he kept on getting trampled. His hard work paid off when he got the good news, he was accepted as one of the players for the Notre Dame football team. The team saw Rudy’s passion and tenacity that inspired them– their coach called this an extraordinary heart. However, it came to the point that he gave up and quitted in frustration because Coach Dan Devine, who was their new coach never let him address, even once. Though, with his heart to heart talk with Fortune, the man who helped him to get a job, he was enlightened. Fortune told him that he was also once a player but he quitted and regretted it every day. He said to Rudy, “In this life time you don’t have to prove nothing to nobody except yourself.” At the end, Rudy came back and was able to play during the fourth quarter. The Notre Dame football team won and, finally Rudy and his family could not get any happier.

Over the course of the last five years, Tim Tebow established himself as one of the greatest quarterbacks in the history of college football and a top prospect in the NFL. During that time he amassed an unparalleled resume - winning two BCS national championships, becoming the first sophomore in NCAA history to win the Heisman trophy, and in the face of massive public scrutiny, being drafted in the first round of the NFL draft by the Denver Broncos. Now, in Through My Eyes, Tebow brings readers everywhere an inspirational memoir about life as he chose to live it, revealing how his faith and family values, combined with his relentless will to succeed, have molded him into the person that he is today. As the son of Christian missionaries,

In the reading, “Writing About Yourself: The Memoir” by William Zinsser, the author uses organization, examples, and direct advice to develop the purpose and message of the selection. The message of this piece is that writing about oneself and delving into what has made the author who they are gives the writing individuality and distinction. Like the message, the purpose is to encourage writers to write about themselves and what has shaped them without hesitation. To begin with, the author uses a pattern of organization where he introduces an excerpt of a memoir by stating a quality that makes this memoir exemplary. After the excerpt, he will further comment on what makes this memoir memorable for him. For example, the author states, “One secret of the art [the memoir] is detail… a sound or smell—as long as it played a

Hall and Nabokov both shape their stories around things other than themselves for the majority of their memoirs. While Hall’s focuses on the stories of others and how they changed him, Nabokov focuses on all of the thoughts and ideas that formed around the age of 4. Though these subjects go against the traditional memoir format, they further both men’s arguments with those who wish to read about them. Despite the differences of these two men’s lives, they connected their audience through their memoirs that showed the changes that can alter a person. The authors chose what best fit to the stories or the events they chose important enough to write, and the generic memoir conventions were not

When writing a story, authors must think of exactly that when writing, a story. Stories are plots we imagine throughout our days, and most of the times, these said stories, are not true. Therefore, they are considered fiction and fiction tends to be a popular genre in books. However, some stories are not fictional stories but true events. These true events are called memoirs. Memoirs are more rare when it comes to popularity for many individuals feel as though these authors are not interesting and predictable. Yet this is called ‘judging a book by it’s cover’. However, what some do not know, is memoirs are a piece of literature with great advice for all. Advice from individuals that have lived through all events that are imagined in this world. This said advice can not only help others through their own situations, but they will also help guide us to what reality is

Okay, so I'm a bit late, but I don't know how many of you diehard sports fans read this book. You see, it's more about life than it is about football, even though one of the main characters is former Baltimore Colts defensive lineman Joe Ehrmann, now a minister and defensive coordinator for a Baltimore private school, albeit one with what now has become a perennial power in the East. And while the book might fail in its quest to become the next "Tuesdays With Morrie" (its short length and book jacket combine to try to give you that image), it is a book worth reading.

But, my God! It was my material, and it was all I had to deal with. What I cut out of it both physically and emotionally would make another novel!” (Charles Scribner’s sons 204).

Memories and the author’s construction of themselves in autobiography only provide single experiences of a certain person or several certain people within the historical narrative, but they are also an essential part of making the historical archive a more human field of

The experience collected throughout a lifetime shape a person’s identity, with each choice made, bringing one closer to self-realization, and the lessons of the past always affecting the decisions of the future. This phenomenon can be clearly observed when looking back on the life and works of Randall Jarrell, a literary genius during the World War Two era. Throughout his life Jarrell collected experiences which shaped not only his works, but also forged who he became as a person. Events which occurred all the way from Jarrell’s early childhood up to his late adulthood, and everything in-between, were important to his development as a writer. His passion for poetry, his time spent criticizing

The warm, glistering sun slipped below the horizon and the cool, crisp air of fall intervened. The stands were packed full on both sides of the stadium. One side, a sea of red. The other, a group of hunters in their blaze orange jackets. Each was split by 100 lush yards of recently-mowed grass. Parents screaming at the tops of their lungs, student sections spitting out demoralizing chants at the opposing teams, and in the midst of all this—somehow--tranquility. In my element, eyes on me, identity as a football star was about to grow even more. That identity all changed, however, when I looked down to see my right thumb dangling like a broken branch on a tree. I stared at my thumb in disbelief, struggling to accept that my senior season and high school career would be coming to an end that night. To make things worse, I knew I would be missing out on our homecoming game, along with the playoffs. Little did I know that this injury would be a pivotal turning point in my life. The lessons of finding the positives in my life, the power of leaning on Christ, and the endless potential in confidence, are what crafted me into the man I am today.

The crafted memoir of Stephen King “On Writing”, starts off as an autobiography of several tales of inspirational breakthroughs and unfortunate mishaps. “On Writing” recollected with me, From a young age, Stephen King learned the reality of the real world. Though I was much older than Stephen King when my parents had separated I too dealt with the same circumstance. Though I wish i've had the geniuses of Dave King or the talent of Stephen King. My mother didn't just separate with my father, but with her own children. My father struggling to make ends meat for his 5 kids he, too, like Nellie Stephens mother had to make sacrifices. My father became a very busy man I hardly ever got to see him, like Stephen I grew up with lots of sitters. Ordinarily because of the time difference between Stephen and I Stephen saw the world before social media and electronics by his own creativity. Therefore, I found it very discouraging to know that by seven years old, Stephen had begun writing stories. No doubt in my opinion the first part the “C.V.”, King's background story is a very important piece of information. Not for this response paper, but for the readers out there who are in the same way like I need tips and encouragement in ways of tackling writing. I find writing to be torture or more as a punishment from hell. As I read “On Writing”, strangely enough the book felt more as a one on one lesson with Stephen King himself. Ironically “On Writing” isn't so much of a grammar book, but

Like all art, literature serves as a medium of expression. Both cerebral philosophers and heartbroken teenagers have used (and continue to use) writing as a way to convey thoughts, ideas, and stories. Out of all of these, describing someone’s life story is particularly difficult; life is an enigma that can be hard to depict using written prose. Nonetheless, some intrepid writers take on this daunting task. For instance, the authors of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks (Rebecca Skloot), Outliers (Malcolm Gladwell), In Cold Blood (Truman Capote), and The Writing Life (Annie Dillard) all use written expression to comment on the human condition.

His tone when he includes his own opinion is humble and defers to the reader’s authority, which creates a relationship with the reader in which the reader feels superior. Haggard does this with phrases such as “the present writer is bound to admit, speaking both personally and with humility” (177). Similarly, he asks his reader to “let him consult his own mind, and see how many novels … have excited his profound interest” (Haggard 179-180). Haggard’s use of a first person point-of-view highlights the fact that his essay is his own opinion, again encouraging the reader to “consult his own mind” (180). By encouraging the reader through this use of tone and point-of-view, Haggard bolsters the reader’s freedom of speech and

History can be studied and recorded in a multitude of ways. Historical autobiographies offer insight into personal stories of the past but raises the question of whether or not these individual histories have been skewed by memory. Historians can learn about more than just historical events by reading historical autobiographies. Autobiographical accounts are a unique form of history in which the reader takes on the perspective of the author and has the opportunity to get a first-hand glimpse of their personal experience and a feel of the environment in which these individuals lived their lives. In order to obtain an understanding of a specific time period, historians search for knowledge that can be verified (Popkin 11). In reconstructing

In the story True Grit, there are many interesting things about football, and quarterbacks that one can learn about. There are many ways this story, and the terms that are in it can be viewed. In other words, one person might read the story, and take it in a whole different perspective than someone else. The different words that are used throughout the story can also be seen differently, and people could have different opinions of what these words mean since there aren’t any specific definitions. My goal in this paper is to discuss what I think the story is truly about, and how I feel these terms are used throughout the story. I will also be discussing some of the topics that are in the story.