1. A personal essay is that which grants the writer freedom.

It allows the writer to

narrate her own thoughts and ideas, which in turn allows readers to explore those
ideas and connect with the author in one way or another. Another advantage of
personal essays is how it allows writers to reflect on whatever it is they are writing
about. For example, when one chooses to write about an experience, one is granted
the opportunity to explore and examine the pros and cons of that experience or how
that experience made her feel. That reflecting process adds value to that experience or
whatever the subject of the essay is.
There are many elements of a personal essay. Elements of a personal essay include the
narrative of an event or experience and some personal essays, for academic purposes, are thesis
driven, while others are not, such as the ones published in popular magazines. All personal
essays have a central idea whether stated in the form of a thesis or not. Personal essays are
comprised of the conversational style of writing and the strongly preferred first person narrative.
Those two bring about more of the personal aspect of the essay. Other elements include the
personal tone and ensuring that your essay is descriptive and engaging.

2. The purpose of journaling in any instance is to reflect upon an experience, ones day,

or a reading. Journaling in academia requires one to reflect mainly on an experience

or a reading. It is mostly object and subject writing. It also requires one to
contemplate questions that will initiate the reflection process. In an attempt to
respond to reading response #1 I would ask myself questions such as: summarize
what you read, what information did you gather from the text that may be useful in
my own journaling process?, what makes this information useful?, what may you

struggle with in the process of writing either a personal essay or journal?, which do
you favor more and why?