On Writing Well Day 10

一 words and expressions

1. When he turned 65 I began to pester him.

pester: to annoy someone, especially by asking them many times to do something不断烦扰，纠缠〔尤指不断要求某人做某事〕

2. or that was framed by war or some other social upheaval.

upheaval: (a) great change, especially causing or involving much difficulty, activity or trouble激变；动荡；剧变

3. and the sight of my mother on her hands and knees scrubbing the linoleum on the dining room floor

scrub: 表达擦地板擦桌子时可以用这个词。

4. Together we researched our past, a search that for me culminated in the Longest Walk, a march on Washington in 1978.

culminate in ：If an event or series of events culminates in something, it ends with it, having developed until it reaches this point以…告终；达到…的顶点

二 thoughts

今天读的这章讲的是如何写好回忆录。

But the most interesting character in a memoir, we hope, will turn out to be the person who wrote it.

确实，我们自己是自己人生的主角。为了更好地了解自己，记录自己的心路历程，回忆录是一种很好的形式。文中提到了一些移民去美国的华裔小孩子的自我回忆，这使我想起了读书会之前读的无声告白中的James. 我觉得一个人敢于写回忆录，也就表明他有勇气接受过去那个不够“完美”的自己，能够积极面对自己过去的不成熟与种种负面情绪。

The best gift you have to offer when you write personal history is the gift of yourself. Give yourself permission to write about yourself, and have a good time doing it.