‘The Personal Essay INA WAY, ALLESSAYS ARE PERSONAL ESSAYS. They represent what you tink, what you feel, about a given topic. They represent your effort (the word essay comes from the French essayer, which ‘means 017) to communicate those thoughts and feelings to others. In the purely personal essay, however, thee is no effort to objectty those thoughts, there is no concealment that this is your ‘pinion; no standing behind any mask of objectivity is permitted, no embarrassment is allowed ‘Taken from Capital Community College Foundation ‘apgrammar.cecscommaetedugramniricompositon perso hm, ‘An essay isthe writen expression ofits author's opinion, Its always a blend of imagination, ‘knowledge, and feeling, but the writer's methods may vary in bow helshe expresses this opinion. An essay should never be a mere record of fact, nora pure work of the imagination. ‘The writer may pat bishher opinion forward seriously, scientifically and formally, or more humourously, imaginatively and informally. The writer may use description, narration, examples, comparisons, analogies, ot analyle In this course, you wll be writing both a formal literary essay and an informal personal essay, ‘The Personal Essay is written mainly for enjoyment, although this does not preclude its being informative or persuasive. Itis generally an informal statement with more relaxed expression of opinion, observation, humour, or pleasure than the persuasive essay. You still needa song structure ‘in your personal essay, but it is definitely nota five-paragraph arvumentaive essay with an introductory paragraph containing your thesis and three sub-topics as you have been writing in English lass up to this pot A thesis isthe author’s opinion plus the author's reason for holding this opinion. A Personal esay ‘may employ an explicit or an implicit thesis. The explicit thesis is an obvious and direct statement of ‘pinion. The implicit thesis is hidden or “implied’. As you read the essay, a definite opinion is clear, but its not communicated in any one sentence. The opinion and the supporting reasons forthe opinion are discovered gradually as you read the essay ‘The personal essay should express the author's opinion in a entertaining way, and it may be more entertaining to imply your thesis. If you use an explicit thesis, you may choose to place ta the ead of the essay where it may sum up the thoughts you have disclosed throughout the essay. Before you begin writing your personal essay: You must have an opinion ‘Therefore, you must select a subject to have an opinion about ‘Try to decide on your audience. As yourself, for whom am | writing this piece (yout intended audience does not have to be your teacher, though Iwill be evaluating it) Decide on your tone. What attitude will you adopt toward you subject? Establish the Mood of your essay. Wha isthe emotional atmosphere to whieh your audience will respond? ‘What level of language will you use: More or less formal? If you adopt a format level, don’t use contractions, colloquilsms, first or second person —be impersonal, authoritative yet espectil of your readers. Ifyou chose a more informal level, use first or second person. Don't be stfly and lt your voice shine through,