Alecia Ellington
English 101-51
10/09/2015

Memoir First Draft Outline

* Introduction-When I was a child, my grandmother lived with my parents so they could keep a close eye on her and assist watching me and my sister while my parents worked. I had no idea that my grandmother was mentally ill and what type of person she really was. She was diagnosed with Schizophrenia Disorder, early on when my mother was a child. My parents kept that a secret from me and my sister until we reached adulthood. * 1rst main idea- While my parents were at work, my grandmother would always put the kitchen chairs, kitchen table and the dog cage in front of the door to trap us in the house. She would pour salt on the floor in every room, and then have me and my sister sit in the center of the living room. My grandmother would go in her room and get her bible and start reciting bible verses and start having one of her dramatic panic spells. * 2nd main idea-Every night me and my sister were terrified of my grandmother. Reason being, right before my parents would come home from work, my grandmother would clean up all the salt around the house and put everything back in an orderly fashion like nothing never happened. Once my parents reached home, my sister and I would try to convince my parents on how our grandmother was traumatizing us mentally and our parents thought we were telling a story. All along, my parents knew we were telling the truth because they knew how mentally ill my grandmother was and they didn’t want us to be mentally burdened at such a young age. * 3rd main idea- I had no clue how ungrateful my grandmother was to my mother. I don’t understand why my mother would keep that a secret from her own children. My mother endured verbal abuse and mental torment for years behind closed doors. As a child I would go around speaking highly of my