It was an assemblage.
-- Margo Jefferson (I)

Importance: In Chapter I, Jefferson introduces her ongoing work to curate an authentic sense of self. After years of attempting to chop away the seemingly unacceptable and unworthy facets of herself, she decided to create a new self composed of mobile parts. In this moment, she is introducing the reader to this work, and to the assembled identity she has created. The line introduces the author's explorations concerning identity, while simultaneously clarifying her structure and form.

And now to another story, one told by an unsheltered 'I.
-- Margo Jefferson (I)

Importance: Throughout Chapter I, Jefferson struggles to inhabit her first person pronouns as she begins her memoir. In this moment from the chapter's closing passage, she attempts to free herself from her guises and trappings. She wants to embrace her own perspective in the pages that follow, and thus to claim ownership of her story and experience. The line is...