Year 3 · Unit 1 · Lesson 4 of 5
Memoir and Evaluation: Read Between the Lines
"Repairing it takes patience."
Who might say this, and what might it tell you about them, before you have read a single line of the story?
Already you can infer something: the speaker values care, skill and keeping things rather than replacing them. Evaluative questions ask you to go one step further: to judge how well a writer shows such things, and to prove it with evidence.
Master the essentials
Memoir
A true account of a few meaningful moments in the writer's own life, told in the first person, with reflection on what they meant.
Not a full life story: that is an autobiography.
Literal questions
The answer is stated in the text: find it.
"What did Nana do for thirty years?"
Inferential questions
The answer is suggested: read between the lines.
"Why did the father carry the machine 'as if it were made of glass'?"
Evaluative questions
Judge the writing: give a view, evidence and an explanation.
"How effective is…?" · "What is the writer's attitude to…?" · "Do you agree that…?"
Attitude and tone
How the writer feels, shown by word choice.
nostalgic · admiring · regretful · grateful · dismissive
Techniques
Look for imagery, simile, contrast, short sentences and endings that link back to the opening.
"like a tiny heartbeat" (simile)
Answer with P-E-E
Point (your view) → Evidence (a short quotation) → Explain the effect.
Keep quotations short: a few words, not whole paragraphs.
Memoir · written for this course
The Sewing Machine
1The sewing machine arrived at our flat the week my grandmother died. It was black and heavy, with gold letters worn almost smooth, and my father carried it up four flights of stairs as if it were made of glass. I was twelve, and I could not understand why anyone would want such an old thing when you could buy a shirt for less than the price of a cinema ticket.
2Nana had brought the machine with her when she left her village to start again in a new country. She spoke little of the language there, and she had no money, but she had two hands and that machine. For thirty years she mended other people's clothes in a narrow shop beside a bakery. The smell of fresh bread, she used to say, was the only perfume she ever needed.
3As a small child I spent Saturday mornings in that shop, sorting buttons into jars by colour. Nana worked without stopping, her foot rocking the treadle, the needle rising and falling like a tiny heartbeat. Customers came in with torn jackets and left with something better than new. "Anyone can make a thing," she told me once. "Repairing it takes patience."
4Now the machine sat in the corner of our living room, silent. For months nobody touched it. Then, one rainy afternoon, I tore the pocket of my favourite jeans. Without quite knowing why, I lifted the cover, threaded the needle the way I had watched her do a hundred times, and pressed my foot down.
5The stitches were crooked. The thread snapped twice. But when I finally held up the jeans, the pocket was back where it belonged, and I felt, for the first time since the funeral, that Nana was in the room.
6I am older now, and I can sew a straight seam. I still do not know the name of her village, and I cannot speak her language. But every time I mend something instead of throwing it away, I hear the needle's heartbeat, and I know which part of her I have kept.
See it done
1. How does the writer feel about the sewing machine in paragraph 1?
Point: At first the writer is puzzled and a little dismissive. Evidence: "I could not understand why anyone would want such an old thing." Explain: Comparing it with a cheap shirt shows that the child sees only its price, not its meaning, which sets up the change at the end.
2. How effective is the simile "like a tiny heartbeat" (paragraph 3)?
Point: It is very effective. Evidence: "the needle rising and falling like a tiny heartbeat". Explain: It makes the machine seem alive, linking it with Nana herself, and it returns in the final paragraph ("the needle's heartbeat"), so the image ties the whole memoir together.
Common mistake: Retelling the story instead of evaluating it. "Nana had a shop and then she died" earns little. An evaluative answer gives a judgement, evidence and an explanation.
10 questions with instant feedback
Read "The Sewing Machine", then choose the best answer.
Memoir · written for this course
The Sewing Machine
1The sewing machine arrived at our flat the week my grandmother died. It was black and heavy, with gold letters worn almost smooth, and my father carried it up four flights of stairs as if it were made of glass. I was twelve, and I could not understand why anyone would want such an old thing when you could buy a shirt for less than the price of a cinema ticket.
2Nana had brought the machine with her when she left her village to start again in a new country. She spoke little of the language there, and she had no money, but she had two hands and that machine. For thirty years she mended other people's clothes in a narrow shop beside a bakery. The smell of fresh bread, she used to say, was the only perfume she ever needed.
3As a small child I spent Saturday mornings in that shop, sorting buttons into jars by colour. Nana worked without stopping, her foot rocking the treadle, the needle rising and falling like a tiny heartbeat. Customers came in with torn jackets and left with something better than new. "Anyone can make a thing," she told me once. "Repairing it takes patience."
4Now the machine sat in the corner of our living room, silent. For months nobody touched it. Then, one rainy afternoon, I tore the pocket of my favourite jeans. Without quite knowing why, I lifted the cover, threaded the needle the way I had watched her do a hundred times, and pressed my foot down.
5The stitches were crooked. The thread snapped twice. But when I finally held up the jeans, the pocket was back where it belonged, and I felt, for the first time since the funeral, that Nana was in the room.
6I am older now, and I can sew a straight seam. I still do not know the name of her village, and I cannot speak her language. But every time I mend something instead of throwing it away, I hear the needle's heartbeat, and I know which part of her I have kept.
1.A memoir is best described as:
Not quite. A memoir is true and personal. Answer: B. a true account of the writer's own memories.
Correct. A memoir is true and personal.
Not quite. A memoir is true and personal. Answer: B. a true account of the writer's own memories.
Not quite. A memoir is true and personal. Answer: B. a true account of the writer's own memories.
2.In paragraph 1, the writer's attitude to the machine is:
Not quite. "I could not understand why anyone would want such an old thing." Answer: C. puzzled and dismissive.
Not quite. "I could not understand why anyone would want such an old thing." Answer: C. puzzled and dismissive.
Correct. "I could not understand why anyone would want such an old thing."
Not quite. "I could not understand why anyone would want such an old thing." Answer: C. puzzled and dismissive.
3."My father carried it … as if it were made of glass" suggests that he:
Correct. Carrying something like glass shows how much he valued it.
Not quite. Carrying something like glass shows how much he valued it. Answer: A. saw it as fragile and precious.
Not quite. Carrying something like glass shows how much he valued it. Answer: A. saw it as fragile and precious.
Not quite. Carrying something like glass shows how much he valued it. Answer: A. saw it as fragile and precious.
4.In paragraph 2, "she had two hands and that machine" emphasises:
Not quite. It mentions poverty, but the point is what she did despite it. Answer: D. her determination to work with what she had.
Not quite. It shows how little she had, and how she made it enough. Answer: D. her determination to work with what she had.
Not quite. It shows how little she had, and how she made it enough. Answer: D. her determination to work with what she had.
Correct. It shows how little she had, and how she made it enough.
5.Nana's words "Repairing it takes patience" reflect:
Not quite. They show what she believed mattered. Answer: B. her values.
Correct. They show what she believed mattered.
Not quite. They show what she believed mattered. Answer: B. her values.
Not quite. They show what she believed mattered. Answer: B. her values.
6."The needle rising and falling like a tiny heartbeat" uses:
Correct. "Like" makes a comparison: a simile.
Not quite. "Like" makes a comparison: a simile. Answer: A. a simile.
Not quite. "Like" makes a comparison: a simile. Answer: A. a simile.
Not quite. "Like" makes a comparison: a simile. Answer: A. a simile.
7.Why does the writer admit that "the stitches were crooked" (paragraph 5)?
Not quite. The imperfect repair still brings back Nana's presence. Answer: C. to show that the result mattered more than perfection.
Not quite. The imperfect repair still brings back Nana's presence. Answer: C. to show that the result mattered more than perfection.
Correct. The imperfect repair still brings back Nana's presence.
Not quite. The imperfect repair still brings back Nana's presence. Answer: C. to show that the result mattered more than perfection.
8.What is the main theme of the memoir?
Not quite. The writer keeps Nana's habit of mending, and so keeps part of her. Answer: B. keeping a loved one's values alive.
Correct. The writer keeps Nana's habit of mending, and so keeps part of her.
Not quite. The writer keeps Nana's habit of mending, and so keeps part of her. Answer: B. keeping a loved one's values alive.
Not quite. The writer keeps Nana's habit of mending, and so keeps part of her. Answer: B. keeping a loved one's values alive.
9.How does the ending link to the beginning?
Not quite. The child who saw an "old thing" now treasures what it represents. Answer: D. It shows a complete change in the writer's attitude to the machine and what it stands for..
Not quite. The child who saw an "old thing" now treasures what it represents. Answer: D. It shows a complete change in the writer's attitude to the machine and what it stands for..
Not quite. The child who saw an "old thing" now treasures what it represents. Answer: D. It shows a complete change in the writer's attitude to the machine and what it stands for..
Correct. The child who saw an "old thing" now treasures what it represents.
10.Which is the best evaluative answer to "Is the title well chosen?"
Not quite. It gives a view, evidence and an explanation. Answer: C. "Yes: the machine links Nana's past to the writer's present, as the final 'needle's heartbeat' shows.".
Not quite. It gives a view, evidence and an explanation. Answer: C. "Yes: the machine links Nana's past to the writer's present, as the final 'needle's heartbeat' shows.".
Correct. It gives a view, evidence and an explanation.
Not quite. It gives a view, evidence and an explanation. Answer: C. "Yes: the machine links Nana's past to the writer's present, as the final 'needle's heartbeat' shows.".
Write an evaluative answer
Answer in one P-E-E paragraph of 4–5 sentences: How does the writer show that Nana's influence lives on? Then compare with the model below.
Your answer
Model answer. The writer shows that Nana's influence lives on through the habit of mending. In the final paragraph, the writer says that "every time I mend something instead of throwing it away, I hear the needle's heartbeat". This echoes Nana's belief that "repairing it takes patience", so her values have passed to the next generation. The heartbeat image also suggests that she is still alive in a sense, in what the writer does. Even though the village and language are lost, the most important part of her has been kept.
Next: the Lesson 4 exit quiz. Five questions, recorded on your dashboard. Aim for 4 out of 5.