GENRE FOCUS- PERSONAL ESSAY

GENRE FOCUS-
Characteristics of aPERSONAL
personal essay ESSAY
A personal essay often combines elements of both the narrative and the memoir since an insight
about life or a personal belief is usually based upon both experiences and relationships that have
taught the writer what individual values are most important. Reading a personal essay is similar
to listening to a good friend chat. But in a personal essay, thuoughts are organized and words are
carefully chosen to make the message more prominent than the normal talk. The author writes
like the way he or she might talk in an ordinary or everyday conversation. He speaks to readers a
sopenly as friends talk to each other. This direct informal approach makes it easy to distinguish
the author’s tone or attitude on a certain topic.

Active strategies for reading a personal essay

Active prior knowledge. Use previous personal experience to relate and to create meaning in
reading a personal essay.
RE FOCUS-
Understanding sequence of events. Note or write down events which took place in chronological
order to help better understand reading a personal essay.
Putting text information in an outline. Prepare an outline to help put information in order. The

PERSONAL ESSAY
headings and subheadings in a text can help you determine the main topics and subtopics for your
outline.

Reading a Personal Essay

Preparing to Read the Text
Background
The complexities of language are not easily learned. In Malcon X’s “Coming to an Awareness of
Language,” he details his experiences struggling with widening his spectrum of language in order to
better communicate. The catalyst of his interest in language was his realization that he was unable to
speak articulately when writing to people he admired. He saw that his inability to express himself
prevented him from conveying himself in the best way possible and sought to change that for himself.
The experience of Malcolm X being able to teach himself to write shows that anyone is capable of
educating himself or herself the perseverance to do so. Any person who is unhappy with his writing
can make a change for himself to improve. In the story, Malcolm X shows that when one has the desire
to do something, he/she can absolutely accomplish it.
Malcolm X was effectively orphaned early inlife. His father was killed when he was six and his
mother was placed in a mental hospital when he was thirteen, after which he lived in a series of
foster homes.
WRITING YOUR OWN PERSONAL ESSAY
PREPARING TO WRITE
Generating ideas for writing
In writing a personal essay, you go one step beyond reminiscing about a significant event or moment. You
choose a period in your life, explain and analyze it, and put it into context.

Choosing a topic. Think about a significant period of time which has shaped you into the person you are
now. Complete the sentence “I am who I am today because of the period of time when...”

Gathering events. Use a cluster to help you think about significant events you experienced during the
time in question. Use sensory and memory details.

Organizing the events. This time decide on an order for the details you have gathered. You may
organize them following a chronological order or you may share them according to your own order of
importance.
 Organizing a personal essay
The following will help you write a well-organized recollection of the event you
experienced:
Introduction point Usually begins with a notable or memorable experience
( a reminiscence)
From A personal essay, like in reminiscence, may be developed in a
direction, with the details unfolding one after the other until the story
is told. In a personal essay however, it includes explanation and
analysis.
Tone Tone refers to the feelings communicated by an essay. Express openly
and honestly to sincerely share thoughts and feelings.
Point of view (POV) A personal essay uses the first-person point of view (I).
 Applying languge skills
Choosing the right point of view using pronouns
Using the rigth point of view is important in ensuring in your essay to have a good impression on readers.
While the content of your essay matters, how you present that content is important as well. Changing the
point of view repeatedly throughout your writing and using personal pronouns that are inappropriate may
confuse readers.
Ther are three points of view used in writing, and each is appropriate in certain situations:

● First person- represents you as the speaker or person sharing information, thoughts or ideas
● Second person- represents the person ( or thing ) to which you are speaking or directing content
● Third person- represent a person (or thing) being spoken or written about
• The focus in this lesson, however, covers only the point of view used in a personal essay.
● Does the beginning introduce the time period?
● Does the body of the essay provide events in the best logical or chronilogical order?
● Does the conclusion sum up the time period?
● Does the essay have effective transitions from sentence to sentence and paragraph to paragraph?
Revising
Revising for conventions
Revise your work based on what your classmate has pointed out regarding
punctuation, capitalization, spelling, and grammar.

Revising for organization

The writer of an essay may miss organization details that an editor can check. In this
case, your classmate’ is in a better position to point out any lapses in your
organization. Follow the recommendations of our classmate in order to provide a
better structure that readers can more easily follow.
Assessing your peers (optional)
You will do your classmates a favor by giving an honest assessment of their work. Read one of your classmates
work and give a rating for each of the criteria given in the rubric below.

CRITERIA 1 2 3 SCORE
TONE The writer was unable to The writer expressed The writer was able to
make the reader feel just a little bit of make the reader feel the
what s/he felt during the how s/he felt during same emotions s/he felt
experience. the experience. during the experience.
FLOW OF STORY The essay does not follow The essay does not The ideas in the essay are
an orderly flow of ideas follow an orderly expressed smoothly
and is confusing. flow of ideas and is enabling the reader to
confusing elements. read without confusion.

BACKGROUND The writer provided very The writer provided The writer provided
little background details some but not enough enough detail to give the
to let the reader background details story a good background.
understand the essay. and the reader did
not completely
appreciate the story.
WORD CHOICE Many word are not A few words are not Most words are
appropriate for the essay appropriate for the appropriate for the essay.
essay
TOTAL
First person
Writing in the first person entails writing from your own point of view. The thoughts, judgments, observations, feelings,
understandings, and experiences you write about are conveyed from your perspective. First-person POV involves using
the following personal pronouns:
● Subjective case: I, we
● Objective case: me, us
● Possessive case: mine, ours
● Reflexive case: myself, ourselves

Writing in the first person creates a tone that is more personal, more subjective writing and more intimate. For
this reason, it is not ideal for all types of academic essay. The first-person point of view is typically reserved for the
following types of essays:
● Memoirs
● Autobiographical essays
● Personal essays
● Stories and other fiction
 Writing from this perspective limits you to one point of view, and it lacks the objectivity
needed in many types of writing, including research writing and essays where the lack of
objectivity hurts the premise of the essay. The biggest risk of using first-person point of view
inappropriately is that you put the focus on yourself instead of on other essential information,
subjects, events or characters.

Writing a First Draft

Now you are ready to write your first draft.
Writing an effective introduction. In your introduction, give emphasis on the meaning
of the time period.
Writing the body. In the body of your essay, explain the events according to your
organizational plan.
Writing the conclusion. In the conclusion, recap how this time period affected you.
use the structure of writing an essay discussed in the previous section of this lesson.
Editing
Editing for conventions
Conventions are accepted ways of doing things. They are the usual way things are done.
In writing, convention refers primarily to punctuation, capitalization, spelling, and occasionally,
grammar. Share your paper with your classmate and let him or her edit based on the following question:
Is the punctuation, capitalization, spelling, and grammar done according to the proper conventions?

Editing for organization

Organization refers to how an essay is structured. It deals with the flow of ideas including how they
move from one to another. Ask yourself the following questions:

Publishing Online
Design a strong presentation. Layout your work as a feature article, using appropriate pictures and
captions. Finally, publish your essay bu posting it as part of your online blog or post a copy on your
online social networking group.
Active strategies for reading memoir
Previewing: Preview the memoir in order to understand the focus and tone of
the memoir– whether melancholic, humorous, wistful, etc. By simply reading the
first few sentences, you will already get an idea of what particular experience
the writer wants to talk about.
Previewing will also reveal the writer’s feelings about the event he or she
experienced. Pay attention to the feeling the writer expresses when you read a
memoir.
Predicting: Having read a section of the memoir, predict what will happen
next. Your prediction must be reasonable enough based on the details you have
read.
Understanding the sequence of events: Understand the sequence of events
based on how the writer narrated them. A writer may not always narrate events
in chronological sequence. Understand when the writer is making a flashback or
fast-forward. Create a mental picture of the chronological sequence of events.
Reading a Memoir
Preparing to Read the Text
Background
Even during the early years of American colonization, Filipinos had already wanted to be
independent. Many efforts were made by Filipino leaders to appeal to America for independence.
Many Americans also had wanted to give independence to the Philippines. The country had
already been on its way to independence when war erupted. AfterWorldWar II, which devastated
the Philippines, Filipinos were given the choice to either stay under the sovereignty of America
while rebuilding the country or becoming independent outright. Filipinos decided to choose
immediate independence. That is why the Philippines was granted independece on July 4, 1946 –
a date intended to coincide with American independence. The date had been celebrated as
Independence Day until 1964 when it was changed to June 12.
Lead up questions
● What are the usual activities and ceremonies during an Independence Day celebrations?
● In what ways do people nowadays celebrate Independence Day?
● What other things do people nowadays do during Indeependence Day?
Responding to the Text
Comprehension questions
● How was the physical condition of Manila after the war?
● What were the signs that Manila was filled with moral degradation after the war?
● What was the symbol of America granting independence to the Philippines?
● How did the author illustrate the sudden stopping of the rain as the Philippine flag reached the top?
● What was the dominant emotion during the event?

Critical thinking questions

● what do you think were needed to be done after the war?
● If you were alive during and after the war, would you also opt for immediate independence for the
Philippines? Why or why not?
● Why do you think Carlos P. Romulo and other Filipinos were very excited to be independent from
America?
● Do you agree with the author that the Philippines was truly free? Why or why not?