Homework for Monday, May 11 - copy these notes

vignette

• a brief story that captures a memorable scene in detail
• a "snapshot"
• a fragment - not a complete story
• can be fiction or nonfiction

"An American Childhood" is a vignette from the author's life.

The term "vignette" also has an artistic meaning. Look at the picture on p. 460 of your textbook. Notice how the edges fade out into the white of the page. There's something incomplete about it (just like a literary vignette!).