Emerson College Library: WR121: Research Writing: Memoir

Are there books on memoir writing?

Old friend from far away : the practice of writing memoir
Call Number: PE1479.A88 .G63 2008
The memoir and the memoirist : reading and writing personal narrative
Call Number: CT25 .L28 2007
Courage and craft : writing your life into story
Call Number: CT25 .A23 2007

Search the FLO Library Catalog to find books and audio visual materials.

What do memoirs look like?

From Harvey River : a memoir of my mother and her island by Lorna Goodison
Call Number: PR9265.9.G6 Z465 2008
Shaking the tree : a collection of new fiction and memoir by Black women by Meri Nana-Ama Danquah
Call Number: PS647.A35 S53 2003
What I talk about when I talk about running : a memoir by Haruki Murakami
Call Number: PL856.U673 Z465 2008
A wolf at the table : a memoir of my father by Augusten Burroughs
Call Number: PS3552.U745 Z48 2008

Where can I get historical information about events, people, etc.?

Background information can help you contextualize your topic, adopt appropriate vocabulary and terminology, and support, refute, or define your assumptions.

Biography Resource Center This link opens in a new window
A comprehensive database of biographical information, including articles from magazines and newspapers.
CQ Researcher This link opens in a new window
Weekly reports on topics of current interest, with pro and con arguments. Limited to 5 users at a time.
Credo Reference This link opens in a new window
Collection of virtual encyclopedias with over 3 million entries from 300+ reference books in a variety of subjects.
Issues and Controversies This link opens in a new window
Current in-depth information on the most prominent and hotly debated issues of the day.

Are there articles about the people, places, or events I'm covering?

To find magazine, newspaper, and scholarly articles on your topic, consult the following databases. Remember to:

Connect words with"and," "or," and "not"
Use "quotation marks" to orcing phrases
Use the * to truncate keywords (ex. librar* = libraries, librarians)

Academic Search Premier This link opens in a new window
Full text coverage of social sciences, humanities, business, general science, and education.

Google News
Search and browse 25,000 news sources updated continuously.
Google Scholar
Google Scholar provides a simple way to broadly search for scholarly literature. Remember to set your scholar preferences to Emerson College to get full text of articles through many of Emerson's database subscriptions

JSTOR & ArtStor This link opens in a new window
Complete full-text runs of 10,000+ top scholarly journals in the humanities, social sciences, and sciences. Also includes ebooks and primary source documents. For expanded JSTOR access, register for a free eCard through Boston Public Library. For help, see the JSTOR users' guides.
Nexis Uni (previously Lexis Nexis Academic) This link opens in a new window
Newspaper articles, wire services, legal, broadcast, and business news. Includes Company Info Search with financials (for publically traded companies), executives, current company news, SEC filings, mergers and acquisitions. Complementary with Proquest News database.
Project MUSE, Arts and Humanities Collection This link opens in a new window
Full text of over 100 journals in classics, culture, education, film, performing arts, history, literature, religion, and theater.