Workshop Response- "A Rose By Any Other Name"

Workshop Response for Chancelee Hart's "A Rose By Any Other Name"

This is a memoir about how Chancelee got her name and how she learned to love it.

            I really loved the voice in this story. I could really tell that Chancelee was speaking. I think it had a lot to do with the sarcasm, especially in the three points at the end. I love the whole story of how your parents chose your name, I think it’s really cute and I love the background you give us. I also thought the experiences you’ve had dealing with your name were hilarious. It’s sad to think that people think they are right about everything when really they have no idea (<- maybe an idea for a personal essay?) I also really really loved this title. I think it fit perfectly with the theme of the story and your ending.

            I wasn’t really sure if this was a memoir or not. I knew it wasn’t a personal essay, because it didn’t have any facts or larger significance, but I wasn’t sure about the memoir. You write the story as if you were there when your parents were talking, and when your grandfather essentially named you, but you weren’t. You were either unborn or very recently born when those things happened. I think you could fix this by making some major changes to your story. If you want to write about something that happened before you were born, maybe you could write about the first time you found out about how you got your name, or just throw in some “my mom told me…” in there. Otherwise, it just doesn’t work as a memoir. I think you could also add a little more about your changed feelings about your name. You very briefly mention that you like it on page five, but I think if you elaborated some it could improve your story.