----------Personal Essay----------

*Is a kind of creative nonfiction writing on personal experience of the writer.

*It can also be an opinion of the writer about a topic or issue.
*The tone of the personal essay is typically intimate and conversational.
How to Write a Reader-Friendly Essay
Crafting the Personal
Essay, Dinty W. Moore
“Privacy is for your diary. Essays are for readers.”
1. Find a healthy distance
Make your personal essay public not in private.
The private essay hides the author, the personal essay reveals ( what is truly there)
Shortly after I published my first autobiographical essay seven years ago, my mother wrote me a letter pleading
with me never again to write about our family life. “Write about something else in the future. Our family life is
private.” And besides: “Why do you need to tell the gringos about how ‘divided’ you feel from the family?” I sit at
my desk now, surrounded by versions of paragraphs and pages of this book, considering that question.
2. Pursue the deeper truth
The best writers never settle for the insight they find in the surface of whatever subject they are exploring.
Here is the opening:
A year ago today, my mother stopped eating. She was ninety-six, and so deep in her dementia that she no longer
knew where she was, who I was, who she herself was. All but the last few seconds had vanished from the vast scroll
of her past.
3. Final thoughts
Writers have to step outside of their own thoughts.
Thoughtful literate readers are large good people with large hearts.
Final Thoughts
Self-expression may be the
beginning of writing, but it should never be the endpoint. Only by focusing on these anonymous readers, by
acknowledging that you are creating something for them, something that has value, something that will enrich their
existence and make them glad to have read what you have written, will you find a way to truly reach your audience.
Three sections of personal essay
*Introduction
Develop a “hook” for your essay. A hook in attention-grabbing device , such as famous quotation, a thought-
provoking question, or an interesting anecdote use to pique the readers’ interest and motivate them to read further
*Body
The body contains the meat of your essay.
Recall your purpose in writing this essay.
What are your opinions, thoughts, and experiences on the topic?
Observe a chronological order of your ideas.
*Conclusion
End your essay by providing a closure for your readers.
a) Is the lesson you learned is evident in your personal essay?
b) What do you want your readers to “take home” from your essay?
----------What makes up a sentence?----------
1. Complete subject- contains the simple subject, or the topic of a sentence, and the words that describe the simple
subject
Ex. This present generation is faced with many challenges.
2. Complete predicate- contains the simple
predicate (the action or state of being of the subject) and explains what the subject is or does.
Ex. This present generation is faced with many challenges.
a)This present generation is faced with many challenges.
b) Faced with many challenges is this present generation.
a)This present generation is faced with many challenges.
When the subject comes before the verb, the sentence is said to be in its normal order.
Ex. Faced with many challenges is this present generation.
Verb comes before the subject in this example is said to be an inverted order.
Inverted order
Seems to give a statement a more literary/ artistic spin.
To show emphasis, and highlight certain details in the sentence as more important than other details
Normal order
Is used in journalistic, academic text, etc
*1. Using a prepositional phrase*
1. Inside that envelope is money.
2. On the doorsteps lies a bunch of roses.
3. In the cavern dwell a miner and his daughter
*2. Using negative adverbs*
1. Seldom does she visit this place.
2. Rarely did he pay anyone a compliment.
3. Hardly had I begun to speak when I was interrupted
*3. Asking questions*
1. Are the students ready to listen to her lecture?
2. Does the speaker know our students’ concerns?
3. I know he can dance, but can he sing?
*4. Using here or there as a subject*
1. Here comes the bride!
2. There are more motivational speakers not than in the past decade.
3. Here are some tips.
----------Following Instrusctions----------
Following and Giving instructions
It is an important skill because it does not only help you accomplish things more easily and correctly, but also helps
you to avoid serious and costly, or even harmful consequences.
1. Take down notes
Review and perform the procedure on your own
2. Keep your eyes open for gestures/demonstrations/visual aids
Watch it carefully or take note of details
3. Clarify instructions
Ask questions or request that the questions be repeated.
Here are some pointers to remember when giving instructions:
1. Make sure that the instructions you give are complete
Write all the instructions so that you will not miss anything crucial
2. Use words that your audience will easily understand
Instructions should be clear and simple.
3. Practice your delivery
Just at the right pace. Speak loud and clear Emphasize any important details.
4. Use visual aids
Enhance instructions with appropriate gestures and visual aids (charts, graphs, and photographs).