1. Personal Writing: The Memoir and the Personal Essay
The Glass castle
And
“This I Believe”

2. Personal Writing
The personal memoir
The personal essay
Focused on an important relationship between the writer and a person, a place, or time in his/her life
It is defined as a sustained written meditation on an individual experience
Focused on a belief or insight about life that is important to the writer
Personal essays offer writers the unique opportunity to make sense of an experience in terms of how it reflects their beliefs

3. Activity: Read 2 Essays
“My First Life Line” “Accomplishing Big Things in Small Pieces” Decide…personal memoir or personal essay?

4. Personal Essays vs. Transactive Essays
Communicates the significance of a belief or insight about life that has deep personal meaning to the writer
Purpose is reflective, even if the tone sounds persuasive
Development is based on the writer’s personal experiences or anecdotes
Written in the first person
More informal in tone, language and subject matter
Not as likely a school writing assignment
Communicates information to a reader who knows less than the writer; may try to persuade the reader to take action or believe a certain way
Purpose is more persuasive
Development is based on research from credible sources
Written in third person
More issue-driven and formal in style
More likely something you’ve already written in school

5. Activity Read one piece of writing from each column (a total of two)
2) Personal essay or Expository/Persuasive? Complete the sheet!
“A-Rod, Baseball and Honesty”
“Returning to What’s Natural” OR
“Surveillance: Snowden Doesn’t Rise to Traitor”
“Finding the Flexibility to Survive”

6. The Personal Essay The best personal essays will…
be focused on a single belief
tell a story to demonstrate that personal belief
be reflective, not persuasive
be written in the first person
be conversational in tone
I Will Take My Voice Back
Be Cool to the Pizza Dude

7. Powerful leads for your “This I Believe” essay
STRATEGIES
EXAMPLES
Ask a question
Start with a quotation from someone famous or significant in your life
“When was the last time you went without a meal?”
“Be careful were the last words my father said to me each time I left the house.”

8. More “hooks”
STRATEGIES
EXAMPLES
Strong statement (that your essay will either support or dispute)
Metaphor
“If you eat enough cabbage, you’ll never get cancer.”
“The starlings in my back yard are the small boys in the playground, impressing each other with their new-found swear words.”

9. Starting with “I believe…”

10. Final Draft Reminders
Be sure your essay is about you and the events of your life.
While the idea for this essay must be personal, make the frame big enough to allow your readers to find connections between your life and theirs.
Move always from the general to the specific by using concrete details.
Employ the senses — sight, sound, taste, touch, and hearing – to show and not simply tell.
Make sure, after all the idea development, that your readers can summarize your belief — don’t let your essay become all story and no big idea!

11. And remember… Use descriptive, specific details: show, don’t tell
Have an identifiable world view or belief
Voice: keep it conversational and captivating
Write in the first person
Word choice: your voice will be captivating and your writing interesting if you think about the words you use – precision is power