Our College Essay Work
We will write two separate personal narrative essays so that we begin to get more comforatable with personal narrative essays skills. You will also create a resevoir of personal material to use in future versions of your final college essay and supplemental essays. I will give these two drafts an effort grade.
Personal Mythology: this essay (400-500 words) is usually a family story about you that I would hear when visiting your home. This is the story that your family tells me (probably in the kitchen over some food/drink). The story is usually an embarassing one or perhaps you're just tired of hearing it. But it is typically a story that your family repeats to the visitors (friends) that you bring to the home. Talk to family members if you have to stir your memory. If your story is short, add some material. Don't let the truth get in the way of a good story! The second half of your draft should reflect on how the story dramatizes elements of your personality, such as resilience, humor, problem solving, exploring, experiential learning, etc. These are great stories because they often narrate mythological elements of your personality that run deep. So deep that it is easy to delineate stories that embody these elements throughout various stages in your life. You can also write with more confidence that you will most likely continue these traits when you overcome the transition to college life.
Bliss-buzz Topic: This essay (400-500 words) describes the activity you love--your bliss buzz. You enjoy this so much that you loose track of time when you are doing it. Whatever the activity is, describe it in words as if you were a movie camera capturing how you begin and experience this activity. What emotions do you feel when you do this activity? In the second half of this essay, reflect on how this activity reflects parts of your personality or how this activity might play a role in your future.
General advice for finding your authentic voice. Pretend that you are writing a letter to a friend. So, take your college essay prompt, and turn it into a question that a friend would ask.
This is important: at the top of each essay, write a creative title that captures the essence of your essay. Also write down the two specific adjectives that you want the reader to think about you, the character in this essay, when he/she finishes reading the essay. We will review the essay together to make sure that you dramatically show (not tell) this vital information.