“A Remembered Event”
In The Gangster We Are All Looking For, we are reading a series of remembered events that add up to a
longer narrative. For this essay, I want you to focus on a remembered event from your own life—
something specific and unique. You should have an idea of the event’s significance to your
development, your sense of self, or even to choices you have made. This significance will serve as your
thesis, or your driving idea.
You should write this essay in the 1st person, that is, you should say “I.”
Remember to ask yourself the following questions (gleaned from your handout):
1. Is the uniqueness of the experience clear to me? Have I figured out why it has special
significance, especially if it is the kind of experience that many other people are likely to have
had themselves?
2. How can I begin the narrative to arouse curiosity? Should I use dialogue? Description?
3. Is the story in chronological order? Does it go from beginning, middle to end? Or is it
nonsynchronous—that is, out of chronological sequence. (Both are fine, but make sure you are
clear.)
4. Is the story laced with details—of people, places and things? If not, how can I get them into the
narrative?
5. What do I want my reader to learn about me from this story—what is the message, or the
moral, and what does that say about my personality, sense of self, or future direction?
6. Will I reflect on the meaning of the experience, or will I leave the reflective evaluation out of the
essay, as Le Thi Diem Thuy does? In other words, will I state to my reader why things are
important, or will they just get an overall sense of it through reading.
