Paired Texts > What Your Most Vivid Memories Say About You

Published in 1916, this poem is one of the most frequently cited and most misunderstood of Frost's poems.

In his 2005 commencement address at Stanford University, the late Steve Jobs discusses the challenges that ultimately shaped him into a successful entrepreneur.

In Marcel Proust's "Excerpt from Swann's Way," a narrator's past and present blur together as he is on the verge of sleep.

"Self-Concept" introduces several psychology concepts that describe how people think about themselves.

In "Spin," an excerpt from Tim O'Brien's novel The Things They Carried, a former soldier reflects on his experiences in the Vietnam War. 

In "Our Red Road," a Hawaiian speaker describes his feelings as he cares for an elder suffering from dementia in her final days.

In "The Canyon Was Serene," a Navajo (Diné) speaker longs for a loved one and a way of life that they have lost. Pair “What Your Most Vivid Memories Say About You” with “The Canyon Was Serene” and ask students to discuss memories. According to “What Your Most Vivid Memories Say About You,” how do memories contribute to our sense of self? In “The Canyon Was Serene,” how do memories help readers make sense of who the speaker is? What do you think the author of “What Your Most Vivid Memories Say About You” might say to the speaker in “The Canyon Was Serene” based on the memories they shared? Explain your thinking.

In "Notes from a Fragmented Daughter," Elena Tajima Creef uses form to explore an evolving perspective on her Japanese American identity. Pair “What Your Most Vivid Memories Say About You” with “Notes from a Fragmented Daughter” and ask students to discuss the role that memory plays in identity formation and self-perception. According to “What Your Most Vivid Memories Say About You,” what are self-defining memories? Which of Elena’s memories described in “Notes from a Fragmented Daughter” are likely self-defining memories, and how do you know? How might self-defining memories change over the course of one’s life? How can a person grow as a result of negative self-defining memories? How have Elena’s self-defining memories and her self-perception changed by the end of the text? Provide one example from the text that demonstrates this change.

In Excerpt from Solito, Javier Zamora recounts the days before his harrowing solo migration from El Salvador to California at just nine years old. Pair “What Your Most Vivid Memories Say About You” with Excerpt from Solito and ask students to discuss the role that self-defining memories might play in the art of memoir-writing. According to “What Your Most Vivid Memories Say About You,” what are self-defining memories? Which of Javier’s memories described in Excerpt from Solito could be a self-defining memory, and how do you know? Although a focus on memory is a core component of memoir-writing, why should the reader resist the assumption that all memories are portrayed in a text exactly as they happened? In what ways might the author of a memoir manipulate the reader’s emotional response, depending on which memories are shared, and how? In Excerpt from Solito, what emotions might the author have intended to evoke through Javier’s experiences just before leaving El Salvador? Explain your response using details from the text.