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THE GLASS CASTLEAND

“THIS I BELIEVE”

Personal Writing: The Memoir and the Personal Essay

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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

Personal Writing

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Activity: Read 2 Essays

“My First Life Line”

“Accomplishing Big Things in Small Pieces”

Decide…personal memoir or personal essay?

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Personal essay Transactive essay

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

Personal Essays vs. Transactive Essays

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Activity

1) 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 OR

“Surveillance: Snowden Doesn’t Rise to Traitor”

“Finding the Flexibility to Survive”

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The Personal Essay

The best personal essays will…be focused on a single belieftell a story to demonstrate that personal

beliefbe reflective, not persuasivebe written in the first personbe conversational in tone

I Will Take My Voice Back

Be Cool to the Pizza Dude

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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.”

Powerful leads for your “This I Believe” essay

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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.”

More “hooks”

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Starting with “I believe…”

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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!

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And remember…

1) Use descriptive, specific details: show, don’t tell

2) Have an identifiable world view or belief3) Voice: keep it conversational and captivating4) Write in the first person5) Word choice: your voice will be captivating

and your writing interesting if you think about the words you use – precision is power