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Non fiction writing writing a personal essay
- 1. NON-FICTION WRITING:WRITING A PERSONAL ESSAY
- 2. PERSONAL ESSAY STEP 1 Choosing Your Subject/Topic To Fit Your Audience
- 4. STEP 2 NARROW YOUR TOPIC TO FIT THE ASSIGNMENT REQUIREMENTS
- 5. "An essay needs conflict, just as a short story does," Philip Lopate warns. "Without conflict, your essay will drift into static mode, repeating your initial observation in a self-satisfied way."
- 6. STEP 3 Start Outlining Your Essay using one of 2 ways: Write down the events that took place in the order they took place OR Write down what happened in the end and working backwards
- 7. STEP 4 Start Writing By Developing the Scenes (Events) Using Descriptive Language: Similes and Hyperboles Dialogue Lively and Vivid Adjectives Short sentences for Effect and Impact Allusion to capture attention Illusions to draw a picture Research facts to add Conduct Interviews Use Active Voice Rather Than Passive
- 8. EXAMPLE Entering the baseball diamond for the first time in April 2006, Thomas Henri Groves realized that a new world opened up to him as did I. The air was crisp and clean and I could smell the dirt on the pitcher’s mound. I looked around the field only to see the differently-able children with two in wheelchairs, a few standing in the dugout and three standing with the coach at home plate.
- 9. Using Dialogue Mike Martin, owner of the Challenger Division of Bridgeport Little Baseball League came over and asked, “Thomas ready to play ball?” Thomas just glanced at him and cracked a faint little smile, as if to say, “Yes Mike!” Mike knew Thomas could not speak, but just the look on his face said it all.
- 10. STEP 5 SHAPE INTO SCENES
- 12. The Personal Essay is What is your take on this subject? How do you feel? How do the details and description you have added reveal your individual point of view? Personal
- 13. STEP 6 In The Beginning
- 14. One of the most played sports is baseball and that is a fact. Many players like Joe DiMaggio and Hank Aaron are great historical baseball players nationally and internationally known. However, they played in the major leagues with unknown local little league beginnings.
- 15. WAYS TO BEGIN Generalized Facts Dialogue / Conversation Argument / Debate Thesis Statement First then Develop Into Conversation Open Ended Questions Quotation Attention Getting Statement Sadness Joke
- 16. Types Implied or Inferred Generalized Definite Stated Placement Introduction Body End Not At All THESIS STATEMENT
- 17. STEP 7CREATING AN ENDING
- 18. SUGGESTED ENDINGS Restate your thesis statement Answers to your opening questions (if you had questions in your introduction) Mini-story with a moral Dialogue / Conversation Joke Sadness An Exclamatory Statement Generalized Facts Rhetorical Question that will keep your audience guessing
- 19. EXAMPLE His greatest interests of the great outdoors and baseball had merged which was a challenge, but easy for him to accomplish and experience in his lifetime. If outdoors was his place he wanted to be, then I made sure that is where Thomas would always be!
- 20. STEP 8PUT THE PIECES TOGETHER
- 21. STEP 9POLISH YOUR PERSONAL ESSAY
- 22. STEP 10 THE FINAL PRODUCT
Editor's Notes
- Welcome to Non-Fiction Writing class for 8th graders. Today we are beginning our journey by learning to write a personal essay. Are you ready to begin this special journey of discovery?
- This journey of discovery begins with choosing your subject that will interest your audience. Consider your audience that will be reading your essay. How much education do they have and what will appeal to them?
- Can anyone guess what my personal essay is about based on this picture? The correct answer is my special needs son, Thomas playing a special kind of baseball.
- Your assignment is to write a 5-page personal essay and you will choose something or someone in your life that has influenced, inspired or guided you in some way to learn something new. Your topic may need narrowed down in order to tell the story correctly and concisely, so as not to bore your audience and put them to sleep.
- Personal essays are to be a guided journeys that teach self discovery. In other words, you experienced something that taught you something new about yourself. Please keep in an open mind as you choose your topic.
- To start your essay, it’s good to start by outlining. For some people, outlining is their starting point and for others, they may choose to just start writing as the words come to them. However, you choose to start your essay depends on you. As long as you get all the details down in order so that your story flows is your goal for this assignment.
- Once outlining or the events are ordered, then it’s time to start writing the sentences of the story, describing the events as they occurred. Just describe the events the way they happened and use a combination of these suggestions will bring your story to life. You don’t need to use all of these, but only a few will help you write the events as if they are just now happening. Your topic may not need to be researched or interviews may not be needed, but whatever it takes to construct the story as it happened will show.
- Here is an example from a recent personal essay I wrote. Words or sentences highlighted in red show the descriptive language I used in order to paint a picture.
- Using dialogue for description can be short or long. Remember to use quotation marks for directly spoken phrases or inferred phrases.
- Begin shaping your essay or story into scenes and this will help form the paragraphs. Don’t worry if you don’t have an introduction. That will come in time. Remember, voice is generally ACTION PACKED to keep your audience interested throughout.
- Once you have developed the scenes with descriptive language, this is what your story or essay shapes up to look like.
- The Personal Essay is all about YOU! From your perspective, did you tell this story to answer these three questions? If you said yes, then it’s time to move you onto the next step. If you answered no or didn’t answer any one of these questions, then you need to revisit your outline and find the “holes in the story” where pieces of action are missing and you need to add more of a climax or middle to enhance your story.
- Now it’s time to work on the introduction to your essay. Revisit the scenes you have created and the answers to the questions on the previous slide. You can begin in a variety of different ways to lead into your thesis statement.
- One way is to begin with generalized facts like I did in my essay.
- These are just a few ways to start your essay. You may choose one of these ways, or a combination of these ways, or you may find your own method to starting. Just remember to have an introduction that leads into the main point of your essay and keeps your audience interested.
- As you write your introduction to your essay, consider you main idea that you are conveying to your audience. Your main idea is in essence your thesis statement and there are three different types. You also need to be conscious of the placement of your thesis statement so that you develop the scenes of your essay based on your thesis statement.
- Time to write an ending to your essay that will leave your audience spell-binded and wanting more. You can create the ending in a variety of ways.
- Using any of these endings will bring an impact effect to your story on a personal level. Remember to add a personal touch in the ending as well as throughout your essay.
- I created a picture as the ending to my personal essay.
- Time to review your essay and make the cosmetic changes that will be put all the scenes together like puzzle pieces. Use transitions and make sure to be consistent throughout each paragraph so that they flow into each other.
- Review your essay and put the finishing touches on it. Look at sentence structure, grammar, spelling and clarify your meaning with every sentence.
- You should be proud at this point that your hard work on this personal essay is over!! Good Luck and turn it in on time!