Writing a Personal Essay

CH.4

Personal Essay

Places the writer at center stage Photographic self-portrait Written with openness & honesty Written in the first-person as a narrative Subject is often commonplace Thesis can be implied or stated at any point in

the narrative Relies on memory & observation and often

shifts back and forth to then & now

Writing a Personal Essay

Think about subject Generate ideas: lists, fast writing, visual

mapping or clustering Questions for reflection? Evaluate your own sketch Researching, gathering more info.,

drafting, & revising

Features of a Personal Essay

First person Subject commonplace Narrative form Sources of information: memory and

observation Reflective of dialectical process