Personal Essay Directions and Topics
There are two components to the essay:
1. The personal essay itself
2. Reflection on the essay
Essay will be graded on the following:
· Must create a scene.
Think 80% scene, 20% reflection/analysis in terms of the essay's composition.
Use at least some dialogue to create a scene
Use concrete, sensory detail to create vivid, clear, directed imagery
Employ three of the senses (if all five)
Strong sense of setting (using aforementioned sensory details)
Must have a clear sense of the relationship with the reader
Write to a specific person (e.g. think of someone specific as your reader, rather than someone anonymous)
Think about the audience for Elena Ferrante's My Brilliant Friend
· Must have some sort of conflict—can be with another person, a situation or with yourself
· Must be honest; don't try to sell yourself to me like you might in a college app. Personal essays are far more compelling when they reveal a person's flaws, uncertainties, misgivings, insecurities, etc.
· Demonstrate a personal investment in the topic (topic concerns your past or present life in some way)
· Something changes or is revealed in the essay
· Mechanics! As always, it’s crucial to spell words properly, get your grammar right, use words correctly, indent the essay properly, etc.
Essay must have a title--something that grabs the reader and relates to a theme or subject of the essay
· 900 words for personal essay: NO MORE! (points will be deducted if you exceed the word count)
Please answer the following questions in your reflection on the essay:
Approx. 1 page reflection on essay (250-350 words)
a. Describe the process of writing this essay: How long did it take you to begin the essay? Did you do several freewrites and then edit or edit as you wrote? Did you write in several chunks or all at once? etc
b. What are you proud of in the essay?
c. What was challenging about writing it?
d. How long did this essay take you to write?
e. What questions do you have for me?
·Please include your reflection on the essay when you post your essay on turnitin.com
Put the reflection at the end of your essay
Make it clear where your essay ends and your reflection begins
Topic is friendship in one of its many permutations and manifestations
Write about a complicated friendship. Describe your friend (or former friend) using vivid, concrete (sensory) details about their appearance, gestures, actions, etc. Pick one episode you had with this friend that illustrates why and in what way this friendship is “complicated”; in other words, what makes this friendship problematic or challenging on some level.
a. Make sure you pick an episode, incident, or conversation that you can adequately describe in 900 words. In other words, you’ll create a complete “scene” in approximately 3 pages.
b. Remember that your essay should be approximated 80%-90% scene and 10%-20% analysis.
Variation #1
Describe a time you felt jealous of a close friend. As with the prompt above, craft that time into a scene complete with dialogue and concrete, sensory details.
Variation #2
Describe a complicated friendship from the point of view of your friend. How do you think this friend sees you? Re-create a time where you had conflict with this friend from the point of view of the friend.
Variation #3
Friendship triangle. This might be hard to do in just 900 words, but try to describe two friends and the ways the three of you interact.
Variation #4
Describe a time when you encountered a friend from whom you’ve grown apart. What was it like when you encountered this friend again? How did it feel?
Variation #5
Describe your first encounter with your best friend (or one of your best friends). Try to re-create the setting and circumstances that drew you together as much as possible. What quality of this person drew you to them? Again, try not to be abstract, but convey this quality—and this friend—using as much concrete, personal detail as possible.
Variation #6
Describe a time you felt betrayed by a friend.
Variation #7
Describe a time when a friend stuck up for you or “had your back.”
Variation #8
Describe a time when a friend asked you to do a favor that you were uncomfortable doing.
Variation #9
Describe a moment when a friend told you an uncomfortable truth about yourself, something that you didn't want to hear but that you probably needed to.
Variation #10
Describe an unconventional friendship you have. This may be with a person who’s very different from you in terms of class, age, values, background, etc. Think of a moment in time which captures the essence of this friendship.
Variation #11
Describe a competitive friendship. Think of a particular moment in time or scene when the competitive nature of the friendship was revealed or became extreme.
Variation #12
Describe a friend you copied or who's copied you. Describe the moment when you realized that the friendship wasn't quite equal.
Variation #13
Describe an unequal friendship, where one person was—or seemed—superior to the other. Re-create the moment when this superiority was revealed.
Length:
3 pages for personal essay (900 words): NO MORE! (points will be deducted if you exceed the word count)
Approx. 1 page reflecting on essay (250-350 words)
Due: October 10th
***Important: Please post your essay on turnitin.com
Class ID #: 18739018
Class password: friendship
*** Please make sure to read and sign a copy of the creative writing contract.
Creative checklist:
Click below for a couple sample essays from published writers. They're a bit longer than the ones you'll be writing, but not much.