Are you familiar with Dani Shapiro? Dani is a teacher, novelist, memoirist, and she recently joined forces with Facebook to form a new show called Office Hours with Dani Shapiro. It’s from an episode of that show that I was inspired to write this post.
Office Hours revolves around Dani answering peoples’ questions about the art of writing. In a recent installment she was asked, “What are your favorite writing prompts and why?”
She says that she’s been developing prompts for her students for the past 25 years but her all-time favorite comes from the memoir, “I Remember” by Joe Brainard. In this book every sentence begins with the phrase, ‘I remember’. She points out how liberating it is to begin a sentence with ‘I remember’ because the writer knows that s/he will actually complete it.
Dani especially loves it because, as she states, “Memory is just this storage locker of incredibly rich material and we often can’t get at it when we’re trying to remember something or thinking in some chronological way or straining and reaching. Where we can really get to it is on the page, following the line of words, and allowing associations to pile one on top of the other.”. She comments that, “Without fail students remember things they hadn’t remembered or make connections between memories they had never made before.”
And the best part? The writer’s not required to explain or give context to the memory… Just let the remembrances flow.
I’m going to give this prompt a go and see what bubbles up….
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I remember when I first discovered that “Mares eat oats and does eat oats and little lambs eat ivy, a kid’ll eat ivy too, wouldn’t you?” was a complete intelligible statement composed of separate words.
I remember when I first learned that all cows are girls. And all bulls boys.
I remember loving the perfume that my 3rd grade teacher wore. Emeraude. Unfortunately I can’t remember my 3rd grade teacher’s name.
I remember the first time I had the thought that I was good at something. It was my 5th grade Spelling Bee; I came in 4th place. I was good at spelling.
I remember in 4th grade being instructed to read aloud a passage that contained a swear word (pretty sure the word was damn) from “James and the Giant Peach”, and my teacher making me say it even though I was visibly uncomfortable. Then, that very same teacher making one of our classmates put soap in his mouth for swearing during playtime. At 9, I didn’t understand it, at 53, I’m trying to understand it… Do you think integrity was at the root of her decisions? To maintain the integrity of the story as well as the integrity of playtime? We’ll never know.
I remember being all too happy to get off the dodgeball court as quickly as possible.
I remember thinking it was weird and cool that I got to wear slippers to school when I played an angel in my kindergarten Christmas play. (I guess angels wear slippers.)
I remember the Christmas my mom sewed me a nightgown; her first experience with a sewing machine. Rickrack for miles and it was the prettiest nightgown I ever did own.
I remember being on a two-person sailboat with my dad, sitting motionless in the middle of a lake on the stillest day in history and loving every second of it.
I remember going to my friend Beth’s house in 9th grade to rehearse our act for the talent show, “Stop In The Name Of Love” by The Supremes. I also remember Beth’s mom making us sloe gin fizzes, a beverage I had never heard of or tasted before, but kinda liking it.
I remember my first 45 RPM vinyl record… “I Just Want To Be Your Everything” by Andy Gibb. My first album… Styx – Pieces of Eight.
I remember when the style for new school clothes during middle school included white painter’s pants.
I remember ruining said painter’s pants with exploding pens year after year.
I remember being very young, sitting in a child-sized rocking chair in the middle of my grandparents’ living room, gazing out their large picture window at the neighborhood school across the street while eating the best sandwich made of Genoa salami on thick Italian bread, and thinking, ‘Life is good.’
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I have to say, this prompt just may be my new favorite… I recalled things that I haven’t thought about in years. The floodgates certainly did open… It’s magic I tell ya!
If you have an ‘I remember…’, I’d love for you to share in the comments…
Have a great week, my friends!
XO
What a fun exercise, I don’t think I could’ve read the swear word out loud, I would have feared the bar of soap lol . I to loved getting off the dodge ball court, I was many times one of the last few which meant the meanest kid was coming for me and I’d have a bruise from the force of the ball. 🙂 Take care.
The soap incident happened after, thankfully, I don’t know what I would have done! Wow – you were good! 🙂 Have a nice weekend, Stacey!
Loved reading this post – it definitely made me nostalgic thinking of all of the memories “I remember”. In the spirit of Halloween, I remember trick-or-treating with my brother and sister in -30 weather with my Dad dressed up as a giant pumpkin. I remember my parents fishing out all of my candies with peanuts in them and giving them to my brother and sister (I had an allergy at the time), and I remember my first Halloween without parents. I had to run home twice to empty my pillowcase to go back for more candy 😉
Oh gosh – I remember those 30 degree Halloweens! We were always so mad when we’d have to wear a coat over our costume! Those are sweet memories, Katherine!! 🙂
I remember as a kid, probably age 4 or 5, being at my Gram and Pop Pop’s house and my sisters and I would hide in their bedroom closet right before my Pop Pop would get home from work. He’d come up the stairs yelling, “I know they’re here,. Where are they?” He’d find us in the closet and we’d come running out, then he’d open up his top dresser drawer that was always filled with pennies and give us each a handful! I can still hear his voice even though it was so long ago!
Ahhhh! I love that! Truly. You’ve reminded me of my Mema’s walk in closet and her huge jewelry case that we kids would spend so much time goggling over. The most beautiful costume jewels you ever did see. Thanks, Mary Ann!
I think that there is a tremendous healing power potential in this “I remember’ exercise. Like you say, once the floodgates are open, nothing you can do. There are bound to be memories associated with experiences that will be worth reevaluating from the standpoint of a more experienced person, with more profound understanding of life’s values,beauty and tricks and traps. So many of our early experiences dictate our perceptions or interpretations of future ones that I see the “I remember’ drill as a daily, perhaps weekly is more credible, way of unloading old burdens, thinking through what something really meant, freeing yourself and enjoying life today even more. Such a cool thing to read on your blog today. I wonder if I can get my son to start doing it now. May be a great life skill to develop.
I couldn’t agree more. It is a liberating exercise, to say the least. It’s natural to carry the weight of experiences or thoughts that accumulate along the way, and for those that need processing, writing, for me, has always helped lift the weight. This prompt has a magical way of igniting connections that were long buried. It’s a keeper!
I remember screaming fights with my mom because she wouldn’t let me dye my hair in high school. And I remember the day she finally relented and I decided I was too afraid that it would turn out badly, and it wasn’t until college I finally worked up the courage to color it. I remember the year I went as a bag of M&Ms for Halloween and no one could tell what my (pathetically homemade) costume was. And I remember learning the words to “Mares Eat Oats” too! My mom sang it all the time when I was little and I was shocked when I found out it wasn’t gibberish :). LOVELOVELOVE this post, Annie! Have a great week my friend!
Oh yes – those memories exist for me, too! Do you have any pictures of that costume? I’d love to see it!!!! Thanks for sharing, my friend! I lovelovelove all the stories!! 🙂
I remember in 3rd grade, I spelled “tomorrow” wrong on a spelling test. It was memorable, as it was the one and only mistake I had ever had on a spelling test to that point in my schooling. To this day, every time I write or type that word, I flash back to that moment and the feelings of 3rd grade personal failure 🙂
Hahaha! Oh my! Isn’t funny how some things do stay with us! Believe it or not I cannot remember the word that bounced me out of the spelling bee – seems like I should! I bet you never spelled tomorrow wrong, again! 🙂
I could blow up your whole comments page with what I remember after reading this, Annie. What a great writing prompt! It really is magical! I’m confused by your teacher and kind of horrified that she made a child eat soap! Thanks for sharing this and awakening so many memories hidden in the cobwebs of my head. And I do remember those white painters paint’s!
Go for it, my friend! Blow up the page!! It really is a great prompt – it’s interesting how one memory leads to the next. I continued on in my journal after writing this post….those cobwebs in my brain were heavy with memory… Tell me you wore the painter’s pants too?! Love it!
I love the way Dani explains memories. It’s kinda crazy what our ‘storage locker’ chooses to save versus discard… or how some memories are so vivid while others fuzzy. I have so many memories of my Dad, but I can’t remember our last conversation, but I can remember the last thing I ever said to him before he took his last breath (he wasn’t lucid at the time). Anyways, I have zero clue why your teacher behaved the way she did.. I feel like her contradictory behaviors could be very confusing to a young child. But, what do I know? 😉 Love this soul snack post, Annie! I hope you have a beautiful day! Cheers! XOXO
Isn’t that interesting. And she is right on…how often do we struggle to remember something and can’t; but I tell you – this method really works. I think it’s an awesome prompt for journaling… I love when you share memories of your Dad – it warms my heart. Isn’t that something, what the teacher did? Who knows what she was thinking?! Thanks for stopping by, my friend! Have a beautiful day! XOXO
I remember the day that I had to acknowledge (tell my parents) I had to get glasses. I was in grade 7 and was squinting like crazy to see the chalk board. I couldn’t take it any longer and had to give in and get those specs.
I remember the day we brought up little Riley. He was SO tiny and hardly covered my lap…just a little fur ball. It was Easter and it was such a happy time. Now he is 17lbs!
Thanks for another lovely post, Annie! Have a great week! XOXO
That’s a difficult thing, especially for a 7th grader. But I bet you were styling in those specs! There is nothing like that first ride home with a new puppy, especially if it’s the first puppy… Scary and exhilarating all at the same time! Your Riley is so so cute!! Thanks for sharing, my dear! Have a great week! XOXO