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Mementos: A Collection Of Essays, Linda S. Foster

MSU Graduate Theses

This thesis begins with a critical introduction about my journey from fiction student to nonfiction writer. I use quotes from Michel de Montaigne, Lee Gutkind, Phillip Lopate, Joan Didion, Mark Doty, Jo Ann Beard, and others, to discuss nonfiction writing as a genre. I develop the idea that the nonfiction writer is influenced by past experiences or memories, and uses those memories to create a work of nonfiction. The research and reflection necessary to the writing of nonfiction often allows the writer to be shaped by the narrative she is attempting to shape. This often results in a journey of …