This essay argues that undergraduate courses in memoir and autobiography can improve students' writing, reading, and critical thinking abilities, in part because such courses allow students and instructors to explore contemporary American culture's complex fascination with individuality and self expression. Also, these classes can encourage students to be critics of the commodification of "life stories" and the desire of autobiography readers/consumers for total authenticity—a desire that seems to have been strengthened by recent scandals about fabricated or exaggerated memoirs. First, the essay explores why creative nonfiction courses focused on memoir may be charged with fostering self-indulgence, and why those charges are sometimes justified. Then, the essay builds a case for the unique benefits of teaching, reading, and writing memoir, emphasizing the important issues that memoirs encourage students to contemplate, including the "authenticity" and appeal of narrative voice, the social construction of subjectivities, and the ethics of writers.
The American Revolution was a time when the British colonists in America rebelled against the rule of Great Britain. There were many battles fought and the colonies gained their freedom and became the independent country of the United States. The American Revolutionary War lasted from 1775 until 1783.
"Since the women are the ones who bear the babies and there's nothing we can do about that, our laws and customs then make it the financial obligation of the husband to provide the support. It is his obligation and his sole obligation. And this is exactly and precisely what we will lose if the Equal Rights Amendment is passed."
