The writing styles and text features used by the authors work to relate with the reader and help them find connections between themselves and the subject. Voice was a salient component of the author’s style that was in both memoirs, but unique to each author. Voice also plays a very important role in helping the reader better understand how the subject was feeling and thinking. One example of voice in “Shame” is that after the incident with his teacher there is no more dialogue for the rest of the piece. This is a purposeful choice on Gregory’s part because it shows the reader that he has now lost confidence in himself and is too ashamed to even speak anymore. Another tool used by each author is sentence structure. In “Salvation”, Hughes uses sentence structure to emphasize his turning point by making a one sentence paragraph. The sentence, “So I got up,” (Hughes, 1940) is in its own paragraph.…show more content… The reader is also able to tell that this is the turning point because the first word of the sentence, “so”, and the first word of the next sentence, “suddenly”, show a cause and effect relationship. This guides the reader to see that the events following the sentence, “So I got up,” are an effect of the turning point. Both authors also include a hook at the beginning of their memoirs, but they use different methods to capture their audience’s attention. Gregory opens “Shame” with a startling claim, stating that, “I didn’t learn hate at home, or shame. I had to go to school for that,” (Gregory, 1964). The purpose of the rest of the memoir is to justify this bold statement. Hughes, on the other hand, starts “Salvation” with an anecdote. He says, “I was saved from sin when I was going on thirteen,” (Hughes, 1940). By starting with an anecdote, Hughes is telling the reader that the memoir will be related to the opening anecdote in some
