Personal Essay Vs. Memoir

In doing a little research this is what I've come to understand of personal essays versus memoirs.

The personal essay is an inner exploration of the writer's inner life. These are the essays that allow the writer to explore the confusion and revelations of their independent experiences. The use of the personal essay is a way for the writer to divulge and the reader to discover the hidden thoughts of the subject at hand.

Memoirs on the other hand give a greater detail into the experience being exposed. This form tends to be book length because it offers greater insight into what happened, not exactly how the writer felt about what happened.

NOT A TEST

This is not a test. This is an actual recording of the infamous Butterfly Corner. And we are PATCHED!

Personal Essay Freewriting

My Mom

- First Memory

- Good Times

- Relationship to Others

- Fall Outs

- Reasons

- Who I was

First Memory
Kindergarten Daisy’s Meeting – My mom was the Girl Scouts Daisy Troop Leader. We played Alligator, Alligator, had a snack. I’m friends still with many of the girls I was in that troop with. It is one of our most memorable first memories.

Good Times
Shopping on Saturdays. Hanging out on Mondays after school. Being silly during drill team shows and competitions. My first year in college.
- we were alone and felt like friends

Relationship to others
Most of my friends refer to her “like another mom”

Fall outs
She called me a liar when I was 9 years old, I vowed to not need her then.
My desire to show her that I was independent at a young age.
The relationship that developed with my best friend after she moved in with us at 16.

Who I was
At the peak 17. Still young. I truly believed that I knew everything and my mother understood nothing.