Today’s goal

To be able to recognize the characteristics of the personal essay

To do Evaluating test

responses Introduction to the essay Focus on the personal

essay The bully and The

revenge

Evaluating test responses

In groups, read the three sample test responses

Arrange the sample responses in order from the lowest quality to the highest

Be prepared to justify your choices

The essay

Primary function The clear communication of thoughts, ideas, or

information Often employ a variety of forms and styles in

their writing Two broad categories Formal and informal

Informal are often referred to as the familiar or personal essay

From the French verb essayer: “to try” or “to attempt”

Formal and informal essays Category depends on the writer’s purpose May be to explain, to recount a story, to

argue a position or opinion, or to persuade An essayist’s purpose may not always be

exact; the purpose can sometimes be blurred (for example, a writer may tell a story in order to persuade his/her audience).

Types of essays

a) The expository essay (explanation) describes or explains a topic

“The Care and Maintenance of a Bicycle” would be an expository essay.

b) The narrative essay (recounting) uses a single well-told story as the basis for drawing a conclusion or making an opinion statement

“My Most Exciting Bicycling Adventure” would be a narrative essay.

Continued

c) The argumentative essay (argues) presents a series of well-thought out arguments to support a position

“Cars or Bicycles: Which is the More Efficient and Safe Method of Urban Transport?”

d) The persuasive essay (persuades) combines reasoned arguments with the emotion required to persuade the reader to take action

“Save the Ozone and Stimulate Your Heart: Leave Your Car at Home and Ride a Bicycle”

More on the essay

Writing forms Tone Writing style and rhetorical devices

The bully & The revenge What makes these two

pieces narrative (also known as personal) essays? Recounting a single

well-told story as the basis for drawing a conclusion or making an opinion statement

So, what conclusion/opinion statement does each author achieve?

Similarities between The bully & The revenge

Narration: first person Conflict: person versus person

Both conflicts culminate in a reunion of the narrator and his nemesis

Topic: bullying, both mental and physical

“Could a scar be like the rings of a tree, reopened with each emotional season?”  -

Magenta Periwinkle

Differences The bully “Being at that time a very

small, measly little boy…” (157)

“As I grew, the memory of him grew…My hatred of him matured, became adult, took on the known shape of a presence.” (158-9)

“…a long-geared, rangey man…” (160)

“Hate dies funny.” (160)

The revenge Father is headmaster, brother

is head of his house (154) “For many years when I

thought back on that period, I found the desire for revenge alive like a creature under a stone.” (154)

“A foxy-faced man with a small moustache…” (155)

“Perhaps, unconsciously, that was my revenge – to have forgotten him so easily.” (156)

The narrator

Long-term effect

The bully

The conclusion

Compare and contrast

Use the “introduction to the essay” Identify at least three of the rhetorical

devices in both The bully and The revenge (total – 6)

As a group, come to a consensus about what conclusion Greene and Clark attempt to draw in his narrative essay

Do both essays employ an anti-climax? Are their conclusions different?