20th Century Memoirs

Paper Summary:

This paper details two writings - that of Margaret Meade's "Coming of Age in Samoa" as well as Whittaker Chambers's "Witness". These two memoirs show different sides of America and Americans. Meade's "Coming of Age" speaks of a time when she was in Samoa studying adolescent children and trying to figure out why American children seem to have such rough childhoods, while Chambers's "Witness" tells a tale of his adventures as a soviet spy in the 1930s. The first part of this paper examines some of the reasons which make Margaret Meade's "Coming of Age in Samoa" a less effective piece of persuasion, while the second part of this paper examines some of the reasons that Whittaker Chambers's "Witness" is a compelling memoir composition.

From the Paper:

"Memoirs are effective forms of writing to use for a number of reasons. As a 20th Century American, one can look upon memoirs as both a telling of a time past and a time present; memoirs show a piece of our history, and thus by extension a piece of one's own identity as an American. A less effective form of writing is that of social science argumentation, which asks us to believe various results of tests, polls, and studies. While an effective means of persuasion, it is not quite as stirring as that of the "simple" memoir, or story of our "own" people."

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