College/Personal Essays Week of August 29

have your notebooks ready to take notes M 8/29/16 Introduction – have your notebooks ready to take notes

What is a Personal Essay? The personal essay is one of the most popular forms of creative nonfiction. A personal essay can be based on a personal experience that results in a lesson that you learn. A personal essay can also be a personal opinion about a topic or issue that is important to you. 

Now YOU Teach: You will be split into groups to research and “teach” the class about some topics that will help you better understand the college/personal essay. You will be responsible for sharing the information with the class. In your groups, be sure to have someone record notes.

Now YOU Teach: Group 1: Purpose of the personal/college essay Group 2: Basic Structure of the personal/college essay Group 3: Different Types of personal/college essays Group 4: What should I write about in my personal essay? Group 5: What should my topic/essay display about myself?

Purpose of a Personal/College Essay It paints a compelling, vivid picture of your unique personality and character. It showcases your writing skills (i.e. grammar). It conveys your ability to organize thoughts and write in a coherent, structured manner.

Basic Structure of a College/Personal Essay All essays, regardless of the subject matter, the writing style, or propose length, have 3 basic components: The Introduction The Body Conclusion

Basic Structure: The Introduction This may be the most important part of the essay. Why? Because if you don’t immediately HOOK your reader, there’s a chance that he/she won’t bother to read on. Begin with an attention grabber – a surprising fact or witty anecdote, a shocking statistic, or even lines of dialogue State your thesis – indicate what your essay will discuss Include a brief sample of the ideas you’ll be expressing to support and develop your thesis.

Basic Structure: The Body Three to five paragraphs, one paragraph for each supporting idea Start each paragraph with a topic sentence (expressing the focus of the paragraph). Follow up with sentences that will support your main idea.

Basic Structure: The Conclusion The conclusion wraps up your entire essay by briefly reminding the reader of your thesis statement. Take the conclusion one step further and offer an brane new perspective or opinion that you’ve reached by the end of the essay.

What are the Different Types of Personal Essays? Standard Essay: take two or three points from your self-outline, give a paragraph to each, and make sure you provide plenty of evidence Less is More Essay: in this format, you focus on a single interesting point about yourself. It works well for brief essays of a paragraph or half a page Narrative Essay: a narrative essay tells a short and vivid story. Omit the introduction, write one or two narrative paragraphs, then explain what this little tale says about you.

What Should I Write? Surprise them; bring something new to the table. Make yours stand out. Express your uniqueness – more often than not, prompts will be an open-ended question to solicit creative answers that reveal something personal about the applicant

Your Topic/Essay Should Display Any or All of the Following Qualities: Emotionally moving Intimately personal Exceptionally unique Profound or philosophical Ethnically or culturally related

Personal Essay Tips W 8/31/16

Use STRONG Verbs Use active rather than passive verbs (see warm up from last week). Be precise and concise. Use vivid and powerful verbs to fizz up the action, paint word- pictures, and evoke feelings in your readers.

Show, Don’t Tell Don’t just simply state a fact to get an idea across, but describe a situation or tell a story!

Use Your Own Voice Avoid overly formal or business-like language. Don’t use unnecessary words. Don’t rely on phrases or ideas that people have used many times before – be original!

Effective Writing Work with the people around you to read the following examples and see if you can come up with a rule that would explain why one example is more correct than the other. 10-20 mins. Discussion.