Just like any other essay, you don't want your topic to be too broad in a memoir. Some topics are too general to be manageable, no matter how true they might be. |
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Too general: My grandmother was a huge influence on me when I was growing up. |
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You probably couldn't sum up all of the reasons your grandmother had such an impact on your life in three or four pages, especially while using the elements of story listed above. That's not an essay, that's a book! Even a topic addressing one or two personality traits is awfully broad.
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Still too general: My grandmother taught me the values of responsibility and patience. |
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If your grandmother's influence on your life is enough for a book, then responsibility and patience would have to be a thirty-page chapter. In addition, without a specific moment of your grandmother in mind, the body of your essay will probably sound vague. |
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Vague: My grandmother was a very patient woman. She never yelled at me when I didn't understand something or made a mistake, only explained it to me over and over again. |