Soul Surfer By William Zinsser Summary

“How to write a memoir,” by William Zinsser gives details for memoir writers. He writes about to “Be yourself”, “Speak freely”, and “Think small” (2, 4, 6). In, Soul Surfer, Bethany Hamilton has Zinsser’s writing ideas in his advice article. Zinsser said “The best are written from the point of view of a child” (26). Bethany Hamilton sometimes does this as well. The story starts off with Halloween day. Then it moves on about the parents and their journey to Hawaii. In the chapter, ”A perfect match”, it writes about her parents and how Hawaii was the place they were bound to live. Also, in the chapter “The attack”, she writes about how the shark attacks her and how it was such a surprise. She was only thirteen when the shark bites her left arm off. At the end of the chapter “The attack”, she states “How am I ever going to surf again” (100). We learn that at the end of the story, she starts winning her surfing challenges again. She writes as her seventeen year-old self.

Zinsser stats “If your sister or brother has a problem with your memoir, tell them to write their own to express their feelings” (Zinsser 17). In Soul Surfer, Bethany writes about her best friend, Alana. Bethany stats, “She is my best friend and I love her because she’s herself” (26). She also writes about her brother, Timmy, “He sometimes can be very annoying but I still love him because he is my brother” (13). Bethany Hamilton does not worry if about if her friends or family is mad at her, and she writes