As a speaker, Esther Ngumbi does numerous things well when telling her story. First, throughout the speech, Ngumbi chooses the right intonation patterns and body language to emphasize her key points. For instance, she implements pausation, speaks considerably louder, and nods to accentuate the fact that her parents invested everything they had in her education (The Moth, 2016). Second, Ngumbi successfully incorporates dialogues with the mother in her story and handles them with artistic expression by speaking in different voices. Third, it is notable that Ngumbi keeps her story vivid and easy to imagine since each scene and description of interactions features abundant detail, including the participants’ emotional states and physical surroundings.
Some things Ngumbi did that I should emulate in my memoir essay include using humor and keeping the story clearly structured so that the audience understands the sequence of events. Ngumbi successfully inserts humorous remarks, describing faking her academic progress report and the confusing moment of being exposed as a liar (The Moth, 2016). In my essay, I should follow this and highlight the funnier aspect of situations that I have experienced. In terms of structure, Ngumbi avoids non-linear narratives and follows the standard formula for the plot, providing the exposition and covering the climax and the resolution. From my perspective, keeping the storyline linear and simple maximizes utterances’ effectiveness, so I should take a similar approach to story organization when writing my memoir paper.
Finally, certain parts of the story I find the most compelling are the mother’s encounter with the headmistress and the description of Ngumbi’s changing attitudes to learning. Both parts are compelling since they illustrate the power of strong and somewhat negative experiences, such as shame and noticing others’ wisdom, in urging people to prioritize their values in a different way. In other words, these parts are exceptionally expressive from the emotional perspective as they reveal how a single incident makes an individual take a new direction in life.
Reference
The Moth. (2016). The Moth presents: Esther Ngumbi [Video]. YouTube. Web.