Personal essay

Grade 7

1. PERSONAL ESSAY

2. PERSONAL ESSAY The personal essay is different than a formal essay. In the personal essay, the writer writes about experience without having to prove the point. The author needs only to introduce the subject and theme. It is based on feeling, emotion, personal opinion, and personal experience. It is autobiographical.

3. It is either a personal narrative in which the author writes about a personal incident or experience that provided significant personal meaning or a lesson learned, or it is a personal opinion about some topic or issue that is important to the writer.

4. The Personal Essay as a Personal Narrative has the following elements: It is based on a personal experience in which you have gained significant meaning, insight, or learned a lesson. It can also be based on a milestone or life-altering event. It is a personal narrative. The writer tells the story by including dialogue, imagery, characterization, conflict, plot, and setting. It is written in the first person. (“I” point-of-view) It is an autobiographical story in which the writer describes an incident that resulted in some personal growth or development. A personal essay is a glimpse of the writer’s life. The writer describes the personal experience using the scene-building technique, weaves a theme throughout the narrative, and makes an important point. There must be a lesson or meaning. The writer cannot just write an interesting story.

5. It does not have to be objective. However, the writer must express his/her feelings, thoughts, and emotions. The writer uses self-disclosure and is honest with his/her readers. The writer writes about a real life experience. The incident or experience must have occurred. The writer must use fact and truth. The writer must dramatize the story by using the scene building technique. A scene includes setting/location, intimate details, concrete and specific descriptions, action, and often dialogue.

6. The Personal Essay as a Personal Opinion A personal essay is a conversation with your readers. The personal essay is an informed mixture of storytelling, facts, wisdom, and personality. The personal essay examines a subject outside of yourself, but through the lens of self. The subject of the personal essay may be the self, but the self is treated as evidence for the argument. Passages of narrative often appear but generally get used as evidence in the inductive argument. The personal essay strives to say what is evident, and to come to a conclusion that the reader may agree or disagree. A personal essay can wonder through its subject, circle around it, get the long view and the short, always providing experience, knowledge, book learning, and personal history.

7. Subjects for the Personal Essay Your subject can be about anything that you are passionate about. You can write about a “turning point” in your life, or a milestone, or adversity, such as death, illness, divorce. The subject you choose must have provided you with significant personal meaning or a lesson that you have learned .. So, write about the following: Personal experience Incident Anecdote Topic Issue A memory

8. Think of a milestone, or something memorable, or a turning point in your life. What were your impressions? What did you learn? What meaning came from the personal experience? Be sure that your topic has a universal theme—such as hard work, love, death, bravery, wisdom. Your goal is to make others laugh, learn, hope, empathize, sympathize with what you have written. Your readers must be able to identify with what you have written. If something happened to you that was interesting, humorous, sad, and so forth, you can write about it. Write about personal experiences that have taught you a lesson.

9. How to Choose a Topic Choose a topic that you are interested in and passionate about. Your writing needs to be a process of inquiry. So answer the 5-Ws: Who? What? When? Where? Why? Brainstorm your topic. Create a list of topics. Then create subtopics. Mind map your topic. For more information on mind mapping , search the Internet. This is a popular form of creative thinking. Narrow your topic . Example: Instead of writing about global warming, you can narrow your topic by writing about “going green” or “how you should recycle in your home ”.

10. ACTIVITY: Write your own personal essay about any topic or subject you want. Write at least 3 paragraphs with at least 5 sentences each. Do this on a one whole sheet of paper.