A Memoir in Six Words: What Would Yours Say?

In teaching my students the concept of a thesis the other day -- trying to convey that a thesis not just a sentence but rather an overarching statement of what the whole paper will be about -- it occurred to me to have them write a six word memoir about their lives.

The idea came from a book I stumbled upon several years ago. It's called Six Word Memoirs, and is both brilliantly clever and startlingly profound. In the book, numerous famous writers are asked to sum up their lives in no more and no less than six words.

Here are a couple from two of my favorite writers:

"Fifteen years since last professional haircut."