the personal essay a form of discovery

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The Norton book of personal essays

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Joseph Epstein

National humanities medal.

"The personal essay is, in my experience, a form of discovery," Joseph Epstein writes. "What one discovers in writing such essays is where one stands on complex issues, problems, questions, subjects. In writing the essay, one tests one's feelings, instincts, and thoughts in the crucible of composition."

A distinguished essayist, Epstein served as editor of The American Scholar from 1975 to 1997, contributing essays under the name Aristides. In his introduction to The Norton Book of Personal Essays , which he edited, Epstein calls the personal essay "the freest form in all of literature. A form that is itself intrinsically formless, the personal essay is able to take off on any tack it wishes, building its own structure as it moves along, rebuilding and remaking itself--and its author--each time out." Epstein himself has taken on subjects that range from the joys of owning a cat to the art of napping to thoughts on aging and the changing times. His essays are known for being personal and familiar, and scholarly yet accessible.

In a recent essay on W.H. Auden, published in The Hudson Review , Epstein writes, "Ought a poet, within his poems, to deal so directly with such opinions, ideas, issues? Everyone will remember the famous reply to Degas, who was trying to write poems, when asked Mallarmé where he got his ideas. 'But Degas,' Mallarmé wisely replied, 'poetry is not written with ideas but with words.' This deceptively simple remark, like so many of Mallarmé's remarks, has great weight and subtlety, speaking about the dangerousness of ideas to poetry. One may end up with ideas but one should never start out with them."

Epstein has published several collections of essays, and has been a regular contributor to Commentary , The New Yorker , Harper's , The New Republic , New York Review of Books and The National Standard . His essays have been included in the annual editions of The Best American Essays. He has also written two collections of short stories--the most recent is Fabulous Small Jews --and several full-length, nonfiction books, including the bestseller Snobbery: The American Version .

Epstein says he became interested in writing at the University of Chicago, where he attended college. "It was an astonishingly serious place," he says. "You could read anything in a serious way." He tried in his early twenties to write stories but "drifted into essays."

Later in life he went back to try his hand at fiction in the form of the short story. "In my forties I also found I could write publishable stories," he says. "I'm not saying good, but publishable. I've now written thirty-five short stories. If I could write another twenty during the rest of my life, I'd be happy."

Epstein taught writing and literature at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, from 1974 to 2002. It was there that he gained respect for young writers of today. "I taught the fundamentals of prose style at the undergraduate level and found some astonishingly good writers," he says. "I never told them you must drop everything and do this. I had a great regard for their talent. There are many contemporary authors I admire, including David Foster Wallace and Jonathan Foer."

Other works by Epstein include: Divorced in America (1974), Ambition (1980), Goldin Boys (1992), The Norton Book of Personal Essays (editor, 1997), Life Sentences: Literary Essays (1997), Portraits: A Gallery of Intellectuals (1997), and Narcissus Leaves the Pool: Familiar Essays (1999). Goldin Boys was named a New York Times notable book of the year.

Joseph Epstein has high hopes for the written word and for future writers in America. "To paraphrase Mark Twain," he says, "reports of the decline of written culture have been greatly exaggerated."

About the National Humanities Medal

The National Humanities Medal, inaugurated in 1997, honors individuals or groups whose work has deepened the nation's understanding of the humanities and broadened our citizens' engagement with history, literature, languages, philosophy, and other humanities subjects. Up to 12 medals can be awarded each year.

• Literature & Fiction
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The Norton Book of Personal Essays First Edition

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Some fifty of the finest personal essays selected by the man often hailed as the "premier essayist of our time."

• ISBN-10 0393036545
• ISBN-13 978-0393036541
• Edition First Edition
• Publisher W. W. Norton & Company
• Publication date March 17, 1997
• Language English
• Dimensions 6.1 x 1.6 x 9.3 inches
• Print length 480 pages
• See all details

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• Publisher ‏ : ‎ W. W. Norton & Company; First Edition (March 17, 1997)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 480 pages
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0393036545
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0393036541
• Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.59 pounds
• Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.1 x 1.6 x 9.3 inches
• #988 in Literature
• #2,516 in Essays (Books)
• #4,980 in Social Sciences (Books)

About the author

Joseph epstein.

JOSEPH EPSTEIN is the author of the best-selling Snobbery and of Friendship, as well as the short story collections The Goldin Boys and Fabulous Small Jews, among other books, and was formerly editor of the American Scholar. His work has appeared in The New Yorker, Harper's Magazine, the Atlantic Monthly, and other magazines.

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Picturing the Personal Essay: A Visual Guide

A design professor from Denmark once drew for me a picture of the creative process, which had been the subject of his doctoral dissertation. “Here,” he said. “This is what it looks like”:

Nothing is wasted though, said the design professor, because every bend in the process is helping you to arrive at your necessary structure. By trying a different angle or creating a composite of past approaches, you get closer and closer to what you intend. You begin to delineate the organic form that will match your content.

The remarkable thing about personal essays, which openly mimic this exploratory process, is that they can be so quirky in their “shape.” No diagram matches the exact form that evolves, and that is because the best essayists resist predictable approaches. They refuse to limit themselves to generic forms, which, like mannequins, can be tricked out in personal clothing. Nevertheless, recognizing a few basic underlying structures may help an essay writer invent a more personal, more unique form. Here, then, are several main options.

Narrative with a lift

Take, for example, Jo Ann Beard’s essay “The Fourth State of Matter.” The narrator, abandoned by her husband, is caring for a dying dog and going to work at a university office to which an angry graduate student has brought a gun. The sequence of scenes matches roughly the unfolding of real events, but there is suspense to pull us along, represented by questions we want answered. In fact, within Beard’s narrative, two sets of questions, correlating to parallel subplots, create a kind of double tension. When the setting is Beard’s house, we wonder, “Will she find a way to let go of the dying dog, not to mention her failing marriage?” And when she’s at work, we find ourselves asking, “What about the guy with the gun? How will he impact her one ‘safe place’?”

One interesting side note: trauma, which is a common source for personal essays, can easily cause an author to get stuck on the sort of plateau Kittredge described. Jo Ann Beard, while clearly wrestling with the immobilizing impact of her own trauma, found a way to keep the reader moving both forward and upward, until the rising tension reached its inevitable climax: the graduate student firing his gun. I have seen less-experienced writers who, by contrast, seem almost to jog in place emotionally, clutching at a kind of post-traumatic scar tissue.

The whorl of reflection

Let’s set aside narrative, though, since it is not the only mode for a personal essay. In fact, most essays are more topical or reflective, which means they don’t move through time in a linear fashion as short stories do.

One of the benefits of such a circling approach is that it seems more organic, just like the mind’s creative process. It also allows for a wider variety of perspectives—illuminating the subject from multiple angles. A classic example would be “Under the Influence,” Scott Russell Sanders’s essay about his alcoholic father. Instead of luring us up the chronological slope of plot, Sanders spirals around his father’s drinking, leading us to a wide range of realizations about alcoholism: how it gets portrayed in films, how it compares to demon-possession in the Bible, how it results in violence in other families, how it raises the author’s need for control, and even how it influences the next generation through his workaholic over-compensation. We don’t read an essay like this out of plot-driven suspense so much as for the pleasure of being surprised, again and again, by new perspective and new insight.

The formal limits of focus

My own theory is that most personal essayists, because of a natural ability to extrapolate, do not struggle to find subjects to write about. Writer’s block is not their problem since their minds overflow with remembered experiences and related ideas. While a fiction writer may need to invent from scratch, adding and adding, the essayist usually needs to do the opposite, deleting and deleting. As a result, nonfiction creativity is best demonstrated by what has been left out. The essay is a figure locked in a too-large-lump of personal experience, and the good essayist chisels away all unnecessary material.

Virginia Woolf’s “Street Haunting” is an odd but useful model. She limits that essay to a single evening walk in London, ostensibly taken to buy a pencil. I suspect Woolf gave herself permission to combine incidents from several walks in London, but no matter. The essay feels “brought together” by the imposed limits of time and place.

As it happens, “Street Haunting” is also an interesting prototype for a kind of essay quite popular today: the segmented essay. Although the work is unified by the frame of a single evening stroll, it can also be seen as a combination of many individual framed moments. If we remove the purpose of the journey—to find a pencil—the essay falls neatly into a set of discrete scenes with related reveries: a daydreaming lady witnessed through a window, a dwarfish woman trying on shoes, an imagined gathering of royalty on the other side of a palace wall, and eventually the arguing of a married couple in the shop where Woolf finally gets her pencil.

Dipping into the well

Our attention to thematic unity brings up one more important dynamic in most personal essays. Not only do we have a horizontal movement through time, but there is also a vertical descent into meaning. As a result, essayists will often pause the forward motion to dip into a thematic well.

In fact, Berry uses several of these loops of reflective commentary, and though they seem to be digressions, temporarily pulling the reader away from the forward flow of the plot, they develop an essential second layer to the essay.

Braided and layered structures

Want an example? Look at Judith Kitchen’s three-page essay “Culloden,” which manages to leap back and forth quite rapidly, from a rain-pelted moor in 18th-century Scotland to 19th-century farms in America to the blasted ruins of Hiroshima on August 6, 1945, the author’s birthday. The sentences themselves suggest the impressionistic effect that Kitchen is after, being compressed to fragments, rid of the excess verbiage we expect in formal discourse: “Late afternoon. The sky hunkers down, presses, like a lover, against the land. Small sounds. A far sheep, faint barking. . . .” And as the images accumulate, layer upon layer, we begin to feel the author’s fundamental mood, a painful awareness of her own inescapable mortality. We begin to encounter the piece on a visceral level that is more intuitive than rational. Like a poem, in prose.

Coming Full Circle

First of all, endings are related to beginnings. That’s why many essays seem to circle back to where they began. Annie Dillard, in her widely anthologized piece “Living Like Weasels,” opens with a dried-out weasel skull that is attached, like a pendant, to the throat of a living eagle—macabre proof that the weasel was carried aloft to die and be torn apart. Then, at the end of the essay, Dillard alludes to the skull again, stating, “I think it would be well, and proper, and obedient, and pure, to grasp your one necessity and not let it go, to dangle from it limp wherever it takes you.”

See how deftly Dillard accomplishes this effect simply by positing one last imagined or theoretical possibility—a way of life she hopes to master, that we ourselves might master: “Seize it and let it seize you up aloft even, till your eyes burn out and drop; let your musky flesh fall off in shreds, and let your very bones unhinge and scatter, loosened over fields, over fields and woods, lightly, thoughtless, from any height at all, from as high as eagles.” Yes, the essay has come full circle, echoing the opening image of the weasel’s skull, but it also points away, beyond itself, to something yet to be realized. The ending both closes and opens at the same time.

All diagrams rendered by Claire Bascom. An earlier version of this essay appeared in Volume I, issue 1 of The Essay Review .

This essay is fabulously This essay is fabulously useful! I’ll be showing it to my creative writing students semester after semester, I’m sure. I appreciate the piece’s clarity and use of perfect examples.

I love the succinct diagrams and cited writing examples. Very instructive and useful as A.P. comments above. I also loved that I had read the Woolf journey to buy a pencil–one of my favorite essays because it is such a familiar experience–that of observing people.

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What Is a Personal Essay (Personal Statement)?

Glossary of Grammatical and Rhetorical Terms

• An Introduction to Punctuation
• Ph.D., Rhetoric and English, University of Georgia
• M.A., Modern English and American Literature, University of Leicester
• B.A., English, State University of New York

A personal essay is a short work of autobiographical nonfiction characterized by a sense of intimacy and a conversational manner. Also called a personal statement . 

A type of creative nonfiction , the personal essay is "all over the map," according to Annie Dillard. "There's nothing you can't do with it. No subject matter is forbidden, no structure is prescribed. You get to make up your own form every time." ("To Fashion a Text," 1998) .

Examples of Personal Essays

• An Apology for Idlers , by Robert Louis Stevenson
• On Laziness , by Christopher Morley
• Coney Island at Night, by James Huneker
• New Year's Eve , by Charles Lamb
• How It Feels to Be Colored Me , by Zora Neale Hurston
• My Wood, by E.M. Forster
• Two Ways of Seeing a River , by Mark Twain
• What I Think and Feel at 25, by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Observations

• The personal essay is one of the most common types of writing assignment--and not only in freshman composition courses. Many employers, as well as graduate and professional schools, will ask you to submit a personal essay (sometimes called a personal statement ) before even considering you for an interview. Being able to compose a coherent version of yourself in words is clearly an important skill.
• What qualities does a personal essay reveal about you? Here are just a few:
• Communication Skills How effective are your communication skills? Do you write clearly, concisely, and correctly? Note that many employers put communication skills at the top of the list of essential qualifications.
• Critical Thinking Skills How fresh and imaginative are you in your thinking? Is your writing cluttered with cliches , or is it obvious that you have original ideas to contribute?
• Maturity What specific lessons have you learned from experience, and are you ready to apply those lessons to the job or the academic program you're considering? Keep in mind that it's not enough to be able to recount a personal experience; you should be prepared to interpret it as well.
• Self and Subject in Personal Essays "[W]here the familiar essay is characterized by its everyday subject matter, the personal essay is defined more by the personality of its writer, which takes precedence over the subject. On the other hand, the personal essayist does not place himself firmly in center stage, as does the autobiographical essayist; the autobiographical element of the personal essay is far less calculated..."
• The Essayist's Persona "Personal essayists from Montaigne on have been fascinated with the changeableness and plasticity of the materials of human personality. Starting with self-description, they have realized they can never render all at once the entire complexity of a personality. So they have elected to follow an additive strategy, offering incomplete shards, one mask or persona after another: the eager, skeptical, amiable, tender, curmudgeonly, antic, somber. If 'we must remove the mask,' it is only to substitute another mask..."
• The "Antigenre": An Alternative to Academic Prose "[T]he more personal essay offers an escape from the confines of academic prose . By using this antigenre form that in contemporary essays embodies multiple kinds of writing, many essayists in search of democracy find a freedom for expressing in their writings spontaneity, self-reflexivity, accessibility, and a rhetoric of sincerity."
• Teaching the Personal Essay "Given the opportunity to speak their own authority as writers, given a turn in the conversation, students can claim their stories as primary source material and transform their experiences into evidence ..."
• Essay Forms "Despite the anthologists' custom of presenting essays as 'models of organization ,' it is the loose structure or apparent shapelessness of the essay that is often stressed in standard definitions. . . . Samuel Johnson famously defined the essay as 'an irregular, indigested piece, not a regular and orderly performance.' And certainly, a number of essayists (Hazlitt and Emerson, for instance, after the fashion of Montaigne) are readily identifiable by the wayward or fragmentary nature of their explorations. Yet each of these writers observes certain distinctive organizing (or disorganizing) principles of his own, thus charting the ramble and shaping the form. As Jeanette Harris observes in Expressive Discourse , 'Even in the case of a personal essay , which may appear informal and loosely structured, the writer has crafted with care this very appearance of informality' (122).

Theresa Werner, "Personal Essay."  Encyclopedia of the Essay , ed. by Tracy Chevalier. Fitzroy Dearborn, 1997

E.B. White , Foreword to  Essays of E.B. White . Harper and Row, 1977

Cristina Kirklighter,  Traversing the Democratic Borders of the Essay . SUNY Press, 2002

Nancy Sommers, "Between the Drafts."  College Composition and Communication , February 1992

Richard F. Nordquist, "Voices of the Modern Essay." Dissertation University of Georgia, 1991

• The Essay: History and Definition
• What is a Familiar Essay in Composition?
• What Does "Persona" Mean?
• Definition and Examples of Formal Essays
• What Are the Different Types and Characteristics of Essays?
• exploratory essay
• What Is Colloquial Style or Language?
• Periodical Essay Definition and Examples
• Definition and Examples of Humorous Essays
• Compose a Narrative Essay or Personal Statement
• Free Modifiers: Definition, Usage, and Examples
• How to Write a Successful Personal Statement for Graduate School
• Definition Examples of Collage Essays
• Talking Together: An Introduction to Conversation Analysis
• personal statement (essay)
• 6 Steps to Writing the Perfect Personal Essay

Why Personal Essays?

Author Scott Russell Sanders spoke to BYU students at the Nan O. Grass lecture about the need for writing and the merits of personal essays.

PROVO, Utah (Nov. 3, 2017)—“The one overarching thing I want to say . . . is that writing of all forms –poetry, fiction, essays, science articles . . .  is a form of disciplined thinking,” began Scott Russell Sanders at the Annual Nan O. Grass lecture at BYU. He continued, “It’s more valuable now, it’s more necessary now, I would argue, than ever before because no previous generation has lived in a society which so thoroughly interferes with sustained thinking.”

Sanders said that sustained thinking was valuable as a means to figure out how to relate to others and think about what we want our society to look like. He advocated writing as “sustained tension” on a subject. It could be a concrete subject, such as a memory or an experience, or something more abstract, such as a question or an emotion.

For Sanders, writing to make sense of an experience led him to stumble accidentally upon the personal essay, the genre he focused on during his lecture. He told the story of taking his 11-month-old, Jesse, with him on a short hiking trip. As they climbed the trail, he described passing through a layer of low-lying clouds and looking down on them from the top of the mountain they had climbed. All they could see were mountaintops breaking through the cloud layer. Sanders described the scene as “very beautiful, but very spooky.”

But suddenly, he said, he became overwhelmed with terror. “It was completely irrational,” he remembered. “I had no idea what the terror was about.” He quickly put Jesse into his pack and ran down the mountain to the car. The next day, he still couldn’t explain the strange experience that had happened to him on the mountain, so he decided to write about it hoping to gain some clarity.

As he wrote, Sanders realized that he was terrified of Jesse’s mortality. He said, “It was the fact that he will one day die that terrified me. It was the discovery . . . that you and your partner . . . have not only passed life into this person, you’ve passed death into this person.” He had suddenly become aware of, “that image of these neurons connecting together in his brain . . . he was like those clouds – as ephemeral, in a cosmic sense, as those clouds.”

If asked what he was writing at the time he wrote that first personal essay, Sanders said he would have described it as a letter to strangers.  The designation of the audience as strangers, Sanders stressed, is very important when writing a personal essay. “You have to remember your audience doesn’t know what you know. [They] only [know] what you tell [them].”

The importance of personal essays for Sanders is that they enable a person to work through an experience or emotion and come to terms with it during the process of writing. “What makes an essay personal,” Sanders explained. “Is that there is something at stake for the person telling you the story.”

There is always something in a personal essay that seeks to be understood by the essay’s author. After that one experience with Jesse he didn’t understand, Sanders kept writing personal essays, because, “I only really understood [the experience], and created a container for that experience by writing about it.”

—Olivia Madsen (BA French language, ’17)

Olivia covers events for the English Department for the College of Humanities. She is pursuing a degree in French language with a minor in writing and rhetoric.

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Clarifying creative nonfiction through the personal essay

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Indeed, what is an essay? According to our contemporary arbiter of meaning (Wikipedia), essays are “ generally scholarly pieces of writing giving the author’s own argument, but the definition is vague, overlapping with those of an article, a pamphlet and a short story.” Essays overlap with short stories—really? Not so much. Generally scholarly—really? I would argue the opposite: the best essays are decidedly unscholarly, yet manifestly intelligent and beautifully written. Does an essay give an author’s argument? Well, two thoughts: often, the best essays simply ask good questions without providing clear answers; and second: many essays provide multiple, conflicting answers, and thus arguments, to these questions. At least the wiki-folk got one part correct: “the definition is vague.”

Great essays, and their composers, are like great athletic performances: I don’t have a clue how an athlete pulls it off, but then again I know excellence and beauty when I see it. Some students assure me that “beauty is in the eye of the beholder,” but I like to assure them right back that beholders need some training. I assume that all prolific readers can make a list of their favorite essayists, even if they are unable to “define” precisely what it is about the writerly performances that they find most compelling. George Orwell, for instance: how easily he disrupts our expectations, as in “Politics and the English Language,” where he shows us how bad political argument often consists precisely of the concealment of true purpose. Or Annie Dillard: how gracefully she broaches issues of Providence and theodicy, as she does in her volume Pilgrim at Tinker Creek, by sketching briefly a frog being sucked dry by a giant water bug. Or Mark Twain: his account of lynching is still devastating, especially as an argument against foreign missions in favor of more focus on “saving” America (and in particular his home state of Missouri) in an essay that remained unpublished during his lifetime called “The United States of Lyncherdom.” Or Henry Thoreau: how I aspire to reconnect to my own “wildness,” after reading his brilliant account of “Walking”; it literally redefines the act, and can make a reader want to get up right now and start walking due west. Or Susan Sontag’s brief, hypnotic performance in “Against Interpretation”: an important 1960s document which I love to assign to my upper-level students because it is provocatively composed, seriously flawed, and thus deeply unsettling for the uninitiated. (Oddly, I still assign it, even though I have major disagreements with her conclusions.)

I could probably go through each of these creative compositions, outline the arguments, and analyze the style and content (if there even is “content,” as Sontag might intervene here). Somehow, though, like when I watch an Olympian delivering the bravura performance of a lifetime or a master delivering a fine piece of music, I often prefer simply to watch and listen. One mark of a good essayist is that you can read the sentences out loud; to yourself. And every great essay sounds pretty good out loud.

All of this is by way of introduction to what I consider to be an outstanding new volume of essays representing many years of publication by the long-time editor of The American Scholar , Joseph Epstein. At the heart of this wonderful collection is an all-important meditation on the nature and purpose of what he calls the “personal essay.” We might begin by considering some of the wisdom gained over decades of sifting through hundreds of submissions to one of America’s great venues for the art form called the essay. In fact, an important element of my review here is to suggest that, not only does Epstein give us a quirky and highly enjoyable account of the personal essay, but he also illustrates the form elsewhere in the volume, at a very high level of achievement.

Above all, Epstein’s writing shares something crucial with the similar achievements by the likes of Orwell, Dillard, Twain, Thoreau, and Sontag. The personal essay reveals much treasure about the person writing; it rings with autobiographical music. He writes,

Whatever the ostensible subject of a personal essay, at bottom the true subject is the author of the essay. In all serious writing, no matter how strenuous the attempt to attain objectivity, the author leaves his or her fingerprints. But in the personal essay, all claims to objectivity are dropped at the outset, all masks removed, and the essayist proceeds with shameless subjectivity. This direct presentation of the self, when it comes off, gives the personal essay both its charm and its intimacy. (383)

Here we have its essence, according to Epstein: a great personal essay, he argues, is secretly about its author. Thus do we come away as we might from a riveting conversation with a friend at a coffee shop or pub. And thus I feel when reading just about any of these warm essays that I am encountering their author. As Walt Whitman once wrote of Leaves of Grass : “this is no book, / who touches this, touches a man.”

But there is so much more insight in Epstein’s essay about the personal essay. Consider some of these suggestive passages: “ I have called the personal essay ‘a happy accident,’ and invoked the word happy because it is free, the freest form in all of literature. A form that is itself intrinsically formless, the personal essay is able to take off on any tack it wishes, building its own structure as it moves along, rebuilding and remaking itself—and its author—each time out” (377). Here Epstein concedes the impossibility of constraint for this form. As for the voice he is aiming to create: “The personal essay has this single quality of difference from fiction: it is bounded—some might say grounded—by reality. There are no unreliable narrators in personal essays; in a personal essay an unreliable narrator is just another name for a bad writer. We believe—we have to believe—what the writer tells us, though we are of course at liberty not to be persuaded by the way he tells it. We believe, too, in the facts in his essay as facts that have an existence in reality...” (380). Thus do we read, and feel, a certain authenticity and truthfulness: we trust the author’s vision. And we enjoy going along for the ride, with a good writer: “The personal essay is, in my experience, a form of discovery. What one discovers in writing such essays is where one stands on complex issues, problems, questions, subjects. In writing the essay, one tests one’s feelings, instincts, and thoughts in the crucible of composition” (381). This curiosity cannot be overstated.  Indeed, my most well-worn advice for student writers is just that: “get curious about something.” Epstein: “‘My idea of a writer,’ Susan Sontag has written, is ‘someone who is interested in everything,’ and it is true that the field of subjects available to the essayist is as wide as life itself” (383).

This volume showcases Epstein’s wide and deep curiosity. The book’s title, A Literary Education , reveals his two major themes: the “literary,” and the nature of an “education.” Generally, this book will appeal most to readers who are immersed in literary culture and in the higher education industry. Epstein has much experience with both, having taught at Northwestern University for many years. He knows English departments inside and out, for better or worse (mostly worse, about which more below, so fasten your seatbelts). When reading through these sections, I often discovered Epstein putting into words some of my own thoughts and considerations, ones that I had not yet even managed to express in language—an exhilarating experience, and in my experience one of the hallmarks of the great essayists. Our thoughts can return to us, as Emerson once put it, in “alienated majesty.” Or as Epstein writes: “Two of the chief ways an essayist can prove interesting are, first, by telling readers things they already know in their hearts but have never been able to formulate for themselves; and, second, by telling them things they do not know and perhaps have never even imagined” (385). While it is true that much of this book consists of many things I did not know already, I would say that much of the delight I discovered here was in those forceful and deeply-felt expressions of things I “already knew in my heart.”

This latter phenomenon, I am happy to say, is easily illustrated with numerous poignant and often hilarious examples. His fine, at times wicked humor is often in the context of very serious and challenging topics. For instance, in a witty yet wise essay on what he calls “The Kindergarchy,” Epstein analyzes the strong tendencies toward entitlement among today’s college students. He wisecracks that he often would like to write on their paper assignments, “D-, Too much love in the home” (132). But is it fully a wisecrack? Underneath the laughter, Epstein disparages the churlish complaints of some students against his harsh criticisms of their work. He also resents the highly therapeutic elements of child rearing these days: “I knew where they came by their sense of their own deep significance and that this sense was utterly false to any conceivable reality. Despite what their parents had been telling them from the very outset of their lives, they were not significant. Significance has to be earned, and it is earned only through achievement” (132). The reader may be shocked by such unqualified assertions, but they are pure Epstein, and they will ring both true and false for a lot of teachers in today’s university, including this one. Can there be “too much love in the home”? Are students deceived about their own inherent “significance”? Yes and no: but the great value of an essay like this is that it can begin to generate a useful and potentially searching reevaluation of how we think about our teaching, our students, and even our own child-rearing habits.

Another example comes in the form of an amazingly frank analysis of my institutional home for the past two decades: the humanities, especially that space reserved for some professors who like to imagine that they are perhaps the most humane of all, the English Department. Epstein signals his amusement—and his horror—in the title of one of the best chapters: “The Academic Zoo: Theory—in Practice.” One absolutely spot-on anecdote is his description of that rite of passage that many of us know so well: the lecture by the Famous Theorist that turns out to be both incomprehensible and enervating. I will not name the world-renowned speaker who is his particular focus; nor will I mention the similarly famous “expert” who provided me, in graduate school, with the eerily identical set of observations and responses. But something sinister inside makes me want to name them both. Here I will simply allow Epstein to sketch the scene:

I was astonished by the rapt reception his almost passionately boring, nearly frame-by-frame analysis of a delightfully lightweight little movie received on the part of graduate students and teachers in the standing-room-only audience. Professor ____ ran past the normal lecturer’s hour, which is probably longer than Ben Hecht and Charles Lederer spent on composing the screenplay for the movie but which to me felt longer than a bad fiscal quarter. I was the only one to leave the room at hour’s end. The rest of the crowd remained, slack-jawed and agog, no doubt making innumerable intellectual discoveries that were clearly not available to me. This was the first but it would not be the last time that people putatively interested in the same things I was interested in would discover treasure where I found none buried. (309)

Please note the care and craft of this fine passage. For one thing, it is a funny exaggeration: to think that a theorist might wax on about a “text” for even longer than it took some harried writers to compose it. But perhaps most importantly, he ends his testimony of this episode with a proverb, one that, at least for me, rings perfectly true. Epstein announces a set of feelings that I have myself often felt, but have never quite been able to put my finger on, and he does so with both wonder and aplomb. Unapologetically, he confesses his inferiority to other professors (or is his apology ironic?), who all seem willing and able to locate truth and beauty in something that he considers insipid, “almost passionately boring.” Personally, I have felt the pang of inferiority in just this situation; I have wondered if I might just be the dullest listener in the room. Epstein’s humor, devilish and appropriate, helps me locate my truest feelings: maybe I am one of the only listeners able to discern—or willing to admit openly—that the professor’s lecture is alienating, obtuse, condescending, off-putting, or all of the above.

Which brings me to one large theme that pops up over and over in this collection: the powerful sense that there is something tragically gone amiss in the study of literature (or in the humanities, or in the art world, or in the writing of poetry, or in creative writing programs, or in scholarly accounts of “the canon,” or in the way we interact with our students, or in many other areas). Epstein is certainly not only a firebrand in his writings; he is also very much a reactionary. This general sensibility, and even to some extent nostalgic desire for the past, is set up by the book’s title, which comes from the first, and longest, essay in the collection: “A Literary Education: On Being Well-Versed in Literature.” There, we recognize that he yearns for those clearer and purer days of yesteryear, when students mostly read thick books and such highbrow journals as The Partisan Review, much of it above and beyond their regular assignments.

But sometimes he even critiques those yesteryears, as in his devastating, yet oddly warm, unveiling of the late, great Walter Cronkite—with warts and all. Again, Epstein notices things about Cronkite that are easily overlooked, or lain away on the ash heap of history, in favor of the myth. Similarly he chastens our cultural memory of the 1950s, asking how it is we so quickly rely on clichés to describe an entire ten‑year span of time. His meditation on the 1950s arises within an intriguing book review of David Halberstam, whose achievements are dismissed as the work of a mere reader of newspapers. In effect, Epstein often pits his own experiences against the shared and now inherited wisdom of a generation. And among the bête noirs of the book is certainly another abstraction: “the 60s,” which for Epstein remains a period of terrifying, long-term consequences. This conceit is most on display when he analyzes his own early review of Paul Goodman, an exercise that is deeply moving in a poignant sort of way. Epstein’s “Retrospect” on Goodman consists of an account of how a liberatory icon of his generation has by now become a sort of self-fulfilling prophecy of all the bad things to come, even though there remains something magical about Goodman. These and other essays about the past reveal an observer deeply torn, so it is incorrect to suggest that he comes off as a dew-eyed Romantic venerating all things past. Generally, however, one leaves the volume feeling nostalgic for the old days, when young students read voraciously and respected the knowledge gained by their elders over long decades of work and experience.

I must end by admitting, that, in many cases, I am unwilling to go as far into the territory of the acute reactionary as Epstein wishes to take me. We all have our limits, and the PC Police will certainly want to pull him over for questioning, on several accounts. But I sympathize. I love the title, “Academic Zoo,” referring to university humanities departments and their pet theories, but then again I guess that makes me one of the animals imprisoned there. Nevertheless, I certainly recognize many of the diseases being diagnosed by Dr. Epstein.

Certainly, for me, there is something deeply personal about my engagement with these essays. Epstein succeeds at displaying excellence in the very form he set out to define, the personal essay: “at bottom the true subject is the author of the essay.” I learned some great ways to think about many subjects, but I came away from the book feeling as if I had spent time with an astute, but always whimsical, observer of contemporary culture, especially of the university. I am also encouraged to reach even higher, in my own attempts to write a decent essay. In this way, Epstein has done for me precisely what I would hope to do for my best students: he challenges me to be ruthless about my prose and to accomplish even greater things than I think I am capable of accomplishing. Plus, he has made me rethink what it is we are really doing, as teachers in the humanities. Those are venerable accomplishments.

Other readers might be less willing to grant him such latitude. As Flannery O’Connor famously put it, sometimes for the hard of hearing, you must shout, and for the almost-blind, you draw large and startling figures. Epstein is truly a master of such startling figures. Amazingly enough, as we confront many of our culture’s most shattering horrors, he allows us to laugh at them too, even while rethinking them. It seems to me, a veteran of the guild for some decades now, that a little self-deprecating humor in the service of outcomes assessment might be a rather good thing just about now, in these confusing and darkening days of American higher education.

Harold K. Bush is Professor of English at Saint Louis University. His book, Continuing Bonds with the Dead: Parental Grief and Nineteenth-Century American Authors , will be published in spring 2016 by the University of Alabama Press.

The Art of Crafting Personal Essays: A Comprehensive Guide

Hello there, reader! Have you ever found yourself captivated by someone\’s personal story? Maybe a memoir, a blog post, or even a heartfelt social media post? Personal essays have a unique power to connect with readers on a deeply emotional level. They offer insights into the human experience, allowing us to reflect, empathize, and contemplate our own lives. If you\’ve ever considered sharing your own personal experiences, thoughts, and ideas through writing, then this comprehensive guide on the art of crafting personal essays is just for you. In this article, we will explore the key elements, techniques, and strategies to help you master the art of personal essay writing. So, let\’s embark on this exciting writing journey together, and unlock the potential of your own storytelling abilities!

The Ultimate Guide to Writing Personal Essays

Understanding Personal Essays

When it comes to personal essays, it\’s important to understand the genre and its unique characteristics and purpose. A personal essay is a type of literary work that revolves around the writer\’s personal experiences, observations, and reflections. It provides an opportunity for the writer to share their thoughts, feelings, and insights with the readers, making it a highly personal and introspective form of writing.

Unlike other types of essays, personal essays are more focused on the writer\’s subjective experiences rather than presenting objective facts and arguments. They often employ a narrative style, allowing the writer to tell a captivating story while conveying their personal perspective.

The main purpose of personal essays is to connect with the readers on an emotional level. They aim to evoke empathy, create a sense of shared experiences, and spark introspection in the audience. Personal essays can be deeply insightful, thought-provoking, and intimate, leaving a lasting impact on the readers.

Finding Inspiration

Now that you have a deeper understanding of personal essays, let\’s delve into the process of finding inspiration for your own writing. Inspiration can come from various sources, and it\’s important to explore different avenues to unlock your creativity.

Life experiences are a rich source of inspiration for personal essays. Reflect on significant events, milestones, or challenges in your life that have had a profound impact on you. These experiences can offer valuable insights and emotions that you can effectively convey in your writing.

Observations of the world around you can also serve as inspiration. Pay attention to the details of everyday life, people you encounter, or places you visit. Take note of the fascinating moments, the peculiarities, or the universal truths that emerge from your observations. These can provide unique perspectives and themes for your personal essays.

Emotions play a crucial role in personal essays. The feelings you experience, whether it be joy, sadness, anger, or nostalgia, can become powerful material for your writing. Embrace your emotions and be introspective. Reflect on the reasons behind your feelings and explore how they shape your thoughts and actions.

Selecting a Topic

Once you have gathered inspiration, it\’s time to choose a compelling and meaningful topic for your personal essay. Selecting the right topic is crucial as it sets the foundation for your entire writing piece.

When choosing a topic, consider your audience and what you want to achieve with your essay. Think about the message you want to convey or the emotional response you want to evoke in your readers. Look for topics that align with your goals and allow you to fully explore and express your thoughts and experiences.

It\’s important to choose a topic that is personal to you. Select something that you have a genuine interest in or a deep connection with. A topic that resonates with you will make it easier for you to write authentically and engage your readers.

Remember to be mindful of the scope and depth of your chosen topic. Avoid broad and generic subjects that have been extensively covered. Instead, narrow down your focus and choose a specific aspect or angle that is both compelling and unique.

In conclusion, writing personal essays is a powerful way to share your experiences, thoughts, and emotions with others. By understanding the genre, finding inspiration from various sources, and selecting a meaningful topic, you\’ll be well-equipped to craft compelling and impactful personal essays. So, embrace your personal voice and embark on this introspective journey of self-expression through writing.

Structuring Your Personal Essay

When it comes to writing a personal essay, it is crucial to pay attention to its structure. A well-structured essay not only makes it easier for the reader to follow your thoughts but also helps you to present your ideas more effectively. In this section, we will explore the key components of structuring your personal essay.

Introduction

The introduction of your personal essay is your chance to grab the reader\’s attention and set the tone for the rest of the piece. It is essential to make a strong and captivating opening that will make the reader want to delve deeper into your story.

One effective way to begin your introduction is by using a hook. A hook can be an intriguing question, a powerful quote, or a vivid description that immediately engages the reader. By starting with a hook, you create curiosity and draw the reader into your essay.

Additionally, your introduction should provide some background information about the topic you are going to discuss. It sets the context for your essay and helps the reader understand the significance of your personal experience. Remember to keep it concise and to the point.

Body Paragraphs

The body paragraphs of your personal essay are where you delve into the main points and supporting arguments that form the core of your story. These paragraphs should be organized in a logical and coherent manner to ensure that your ideas flow smoothly.

One effective way to structure your body paragraphs is by using the chronological approach. This means presenting your ideas in the order they occurred, allowing the reader to follow the progression of events. Alternatively, you can also choose to organize your paragraphs thematically, grouping similar ideas together.

When writing your body paragraphs, it is essential to provide supporting evidence and examples to back up your arguments. This can include personal anecdotes, relevant facts, or quotes that add depth and credibility to your essay. By incorporating these elements, you make your essay more relatable and compelling to the reader.

Moreover, ensure that each paragraph focuses on a single idea or point. This helps to maintain coherence and prevents your essay from becoming confusing or disjointed. Remember to use transition words and phrases to smoothly guide the reader from one paragraph to the next.

The conclusion of your personal essay is your opportunity to leave a lasting impression on the reader. It should bring together the main points discussed in the body paragraphs and provide a sense of closure to your essay.

To craft a strong conclusion, you can start by summarizing the key ideas you have presented throughout your essay. This helps to reinforce your main message and remind the reader of the significance of your personal experience.

Additionally, you can leave the reader with a thought-provoking question or a call to action, encouraging them to reflect on your story or take action based on the insights you have shared. This leaves a lasting impact on the reader\’s mind and adds depth to your personal essay.

In conclusion, structuring your personal essay is essential to effectively convey your thoughts and engage the reader. By paying attention to the introduction, body paragraphs, and conclusion, you can create a well-organized and impactful essay that leaves a lasting impression.

Writing Techniques for Personal Essays

Show, Don\’t Tell

In the realm of personal essays, the age-old adage \”show, don\’t tell\” holds significant weight. It is crucial to avoid summarizing or explaining emotions and experiences directly, instead opting to depict them vividly through descriptive language and sensory details.

By employing this technique, writers can transport readers into the heart of their narrative, allowing them to experience the events and emotions firsthand. For instance, rather than stating, \”I was terrified,\” show the fear by describing the rapid thumping of your heart, the beads of sweat forming on your forehead, and the trembling in your hands. This immersive approach enables readers to connect more deeply with your story, making it all the more captivating.

Voice and Tone

Discovering a unique voice and tone is vital in personal essays as it sets them apart from other forms of writing. Your voice is an extension of your personality and perspective, making it essential to embrace your own voice rather than mimicking someone else\’s.

Consider the tone that aligns with your story. Is it humorous, reflective, or somber? Identifying the appropriate tone will ensure that your essay resonates with readers and maintains its authenticity. Varying your tone throughout your essay can also add texture and depth to your writing. Emphasize the moments that require a contemplative tone and inject wit and humor where appropriate to keep the readers engaged.

Revision and Editing

After pouring your heart into a personal essay, the revision and editing process is essential to polish your work and make it shine. Start by reviewing your essay for coherence, ensuring that there is a logical flow from one paragraph to the next.

Next, focus on clarity. Is your message effectively conveyed? Are your thoughts organized, or do they need restructuring? Revise sentences or paragraphs that may confuse or require further clarification.

Lastly, scrutinize your essay for grammar and spelling errors. Pay attention to punctuation, verb tense consistency, and any other grammatical mistakes that can distract the reader. Consider seeking feedback from friends, family, or even professional editors to ensure your essay is error-free.

Remember, revision is an opportunity to refine your work and make it stronger, ultimately elevating your personal essay to its fullest potential.

Tips for Writing a Compelling Personal Essay

When it comes to writing personal essays, there are a few key tips that can help you create a compelling and engaging piece. In this section, we will delve into the importance of being vulnerable, avoiding clichés, and seeking feedback.

Be Vulnerable

One of the most powerful aspects of a personal essay is the opportunity to be vulnerable and share personal experiences. By opening up and honestly expressing your thoughts and emotions, you create a stronger connection with your readers. This authenticity allows them to relate to your experiences on a deeper level, making your essay more impactful.

When writing a personal essay, it\’s important to remember that vulnerability does not mean sharing every single detail of your life. Rather, it means choosing moments that have had a significant impact on you and exploring them in a way that allows others to understand and empathize with your journey.

Avoid the temptation to shy away from the difficult or uncomfortable aspects of your experiences. These challenges are often what make your story unique and relatable. By embracing vulnerability, you give your readers the opportunity to connect with you on a personal and emotional level.

Avoid Clichés

While it may be tempting to rely on clichés when writing a personal essay, it\’s important to remember that these overused phrases can dilute the originality and impact of your work. Instead of using clichés, try to express your ideas and emotions in a more creative and unique way.

For example, instead of saying \”time heals all wounds,\” you could explore the idea of resilience and personal growth in the face of adversity. By choosing fresh and unexpected language, you can engage your readers and keep them interested in your story.

Remember that personal essays are an opportunity to showcase your individual voice and perspective. By avoiding clichés, you can create a more authentic and compelling narrative that stands out from the rest.

Seek Feedback

Seeking feedback is a crucial step in the personal essay writing process. By sharing your work with trusted individuals or writing groups, you can gain valuable perspectives and improve your essay.

When seeking feedback, it\’s important to choose individuals who will provide honest and constructive criticism. Look for people who have a good understanding of writing and can offer insights into your work. Their fresh perspective can help you identify areas of improvement and make necessary changes.

Additionally, writing groups or workshops can provide a supportive environment where you can collaborate with other writers. Engaging in discussions and receiving feedback from your peers can give you new ideas and inspiration for your personal essay.

Remember to approach feedback with an open mind and be willing to make revisions. Constructive criticism can help you refine your essay and make it as compelling as possible.

In conclusion, writing a compelling personal essay requires vulnerability, creativity, and a willingness to seek feedback. By embracing these tips, you can create a personal essay that resonates with your readers and leaves a lasting impact.

Related posts:

• Exploring Boundaries: 15 Dynamic Writing Exercises for Creative Nonfiction
• Mastering the Art of Authentic Dialogue: Top 15 Tips for Realistic Writing
• Top 15 Creative Writing Blogs to Fuel Your Imagination
• The Art of Preserving Memories: The Ultimate Guide to Memoir Writing

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4.2.1: Memoir or Personal Narrative- Learning Lessons from the Personal

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Figure \(4.1\) Personal narratives and memoirs give the narrator’s perspective on a life experience. Here, a Florida family is having a makeshift meal together at a shelter set up during Hurricane Charley in 2004 for people who had to evacuate their homes. How do you imagine the parents and children are feeling and getting along during this time? What might the children, now adults, say about their memories of the hurricane? Family relationships and living through natural disasters are frequent subjects of personal writing. (credit: “Photograph by Mark Wolfe” by Mark Wolfe/Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain)

Chapter Outline

• 4.2.1.1: Exploring the Past to Understand the Present
• 4.2.1.2: Trailblazer
• 4.2.1.3: Glance at Genre- Conflict, Detail, and Revelation

Introduction

Since pen was first put to paper, authors have been recording their personal experiences in order to perpetuate them, share meaningful lessons learned, or simply entertain an audience. Indeed, even as far back as Roman ruler Julius Caesar (100–44 BCE), who wrote accounts of his epic battles, authors have written to preserve history, seek acclaim for accomplishments, and pass down wisdom. Writing about your own life can feel alternately satisfying, terrifying, and exhilarating. It allows you to share meaningful personal experiences, to reflect on them, and to connect on a new level with your audience. Personal writing can reveal more than just events you’ve experienced—it tells your audience who you are as you relate personal experiences to convey humor, compassion, fears, and beliefs.

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A personal narrative is a form of nonfiction writing in which the author recounts an event or incident from their life. A memoir is a type of nonfiction writing in which the author tells a first-person version of a time period or an event in their life. Because the two genres, or forms of writing, share more similarities than differences, they are covered here together. Personal writing, whether a narrative or a memoir, is an opportunity to share your lived experiences with readers. A personal narrative tells a story and often includes memories and anecdotes (short, amusing, or interesting stories about something that happened in real life) to relate events and ideas. Like all good writing, personal narratives have an overarching theme (message you want to impart to your readers) and a purpose beyond the story itself. Although personal narratives usually follow the traditional narrative arc of exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution, personal writing has several unique features. Unlike some forms of academic writing, personal writing welcomes the use of first-person point of view (narrator participates in events), and narratives and memoirs often have a narrow focus.

The key to effective personal writing is to know your audience and purpose. You may write to relay an event, to teach a lesson, or to explore an idea. You may write to help provide relief from stages of deep emotion (a process called catharsis ), to evoke an emotional response, or simply to entertain readers. Above all, a personal narrative or memoir tells about an individual's experience or a series of events in a way that emotionally engages readers. The more clearly and vividly you share your experience, the more likely readers will be moved.

This chapter presents an excerpt from American writer Mark Twain’s Life on the Mississippi (1883), a memoir about his years as a steamboat pilot on the Mississippi River. Studying this text and Twain’s use of the components of personal narrative will help you understand how authors create meaningful accounts of personal events. Later in the chapter, you too will create a personal narrative about an important event in your life.4

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Sat / act prep online guides and tips, what is a personal statement everything you need to know about the college essay.

College Admissions , College Essays

In addition to standardized test scores and transcripts, a personal statement or essay is a required part of many college applications. The personal statement can be one of the most stressful parts of the application process because it's the most open ended.

In this guide, I'll answer the question, "What is a personal statement?" I'll talk through common college essay topics and what makes for an effective personal statement.

College Essay Glossary

Even the terminology can be confusing if you aren't familiar with it, so let's start by defining some terms:

Personal statement —an essay you write to show a college admissions committee who you are and why you deserve to be admitted to their school. It's worth noting that, unlike "college essay," this term is used for application essays for graduate school as well.

College essay —basically the same as a personal statement (I'll be using the terms interchangeably).

Essay prompt —a question or statement that your college essay is meant to respond to.

Supplemental essay —an extra school or program-specific essay beyond the basic personal statement.

Many colleges ask for only one essay. However, some schools do ask you to respond to multiple prompts or to provide supplemental essays in addition to a primary personal statement.

Either way, don't let it stress you out! This guide will cover everything you need to know about the different types of college essays and get you started thinking about how to write a great one:

• Why colleges ask for an essay
• What kinds of essay questions you'll see
• What sets great essays apart
• Tips for writing your own essay

Why Do Colleges Ask For an Essay?

There are a couple of reasons that colleges ask applicants to submit an essay, but the basic idea is that it gives them more information about you, especially who you are beyond grades and test scores.

#1: Insight Into Your Personality

The most important role of the essay is to give admissions committees a sense of your personality and what kind of addition you'd be to their school's community . Are you inquisitive? Ambitious? Caring? These kinds of qualities will have a profound impact on your college experience, but they're hard to determine based on a high school transcript.

Basically, the essay contextualizes your application and shows what kind of person you are outside of your grades and test scores . Imagine two students, Jane and Tim: they both have 3.5 GPAs and 1200s on the SAT. Jane lives in Colorado and is the captain of her track team; Tim lives in Vermont and regularly contributes to the school paper. They both want to be doctors, and they both volunteer at the local hospital.

As similar as Jane and Tim seem on paper, in reality, they're actually quite different, and their unique perspectives come through in their essays. Jane writes about how looking into her family history for a school project made her realize how the discovery of modern medical treatments like antibiotics and vaccines had changed the world and drove her to pursue a career as a medical researcher. Tim, meanwhile, recounts a story about how a kind doctor helped him overcome his fear of needles, an interaction that reminded him of the value of empathy and inspired him to become a family practitioner. These two students may seem outwardly similar but their motivations and personalities are very different.

Without an essay, your application is essentially a series of numbers: a GPA, SAT scores, the number of hours spent preparing for quiz bowl competitions. The personal statement is your chance to stand out as an individual.

#2: Evidence of Writing Skills

A secondary purpose of the essay is to serve as a writing sample and help colleges see that you have the skills needed to succeed in college classes. The personal statement is your best chance to show off your writing , so take the time to craft a piece you're really proud of.

That said, don't panic if you aren't a strong writer. Admissions officers aren't expecting you to write like Joan Didion; they just want to see that you can express your ideas clearly.

No matter what, your essay should absolutely not include any errors or typos .

#3: Explanation of Extenuating Circumstances

For some students, the essay is also a chance to explain factors affecting their high school record. Did your grades drop sophomore year because you were dealing with a family emergency? Did you miss out on extracurriculars junior year because of an extended medical absence? Colleges want to know if you struggled with a serious issue that affected your high school record , so make sure to indicate any relevant circumstances on your application.

Keep in mind that in some cases there will be a separate section for you to address these types of issues, as well as any black marks on your record like expulsions or criminal charges.

#4: Your Reasons for Applying to the School

Many colleges ask you to write an essay or paragraph about why you're applying to their school specifically . In asking these questions, admissions officers are trying to determine if you're genuinely excited about the school and whether you're likely to attend if accepted .

I'll talk more about this type of essay below.

What Kind of Questions Do Colleges Ask?

Thankfully, applications don't simply say, "Please include an essay about yourself"; they include a question or prompt that you're asked to respond to . These prompts are generally pretty open-ended and can be approached in a lot of different ways .

Nonetheless, most questions fall into a few main categories. Let's go through each common type of prompt, with examples from the Common Application, the University of California application, and a few individual schools.

Prompt Type 1: Your Personal History

This sort of question asks you to write about a formative experience, important event, or key relationship from your life . Admissions officers want to understand what is important to you and how your background has shaped you as a person.

These questions are both common and tricky. The most common pit students fall into is trying to tell their entire life stories. It's better to focus in on a very specific point in time and explain why it was meaningful to you.

Common App 1

Some students have a background, identity, interest, or talent that is so meaningful they believe their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, then please share your story.

Common App 5

Discuss an accomplishment, event, or realization that sparked a period of personal growth and a new understanding of yourself or others.

University of California 2

Every person has a creative side, and it can be expressed in many ways: problem solving, original and innovative thinking, and artistically, to name a few. Describe how you express your creative side.

University of California 6

Think about an academic subject that inspires you. Describe how you have furthered this interest inside and/or outside of the classroom.

Prompt Type 2: Facing a Problem

A lot of prompts deal with how you solve problems, how you cope with failure, and how you respond to conflict. College can be difficult, both personally and academically, and admissions committees want to see that you're equipped to face those challenges .

The key to these types of questions is to identify a real problem, failure, or conflict ( not a success in disguise) and show how you adapted and grew from addressing the issue.

Common App 2

The lessons we take from obstacles we encounter can be fundamental to later success. Recount a time when you faced a challenge, setback, or failure. How did it affect you, and what did you learn from the experience?

Harvard University 7

The Harvard College Honor Code declares that we “hold honesty as the foundation of our community.” As you consider entering this community that is committed to honesty, please reflect on a time when you or someone you observed had to make a choice about whether to act with integrity and honesty.

Prompt Type 3: Diversity

Most colleges are pretty diverse, with students from a wide range of backgrounds. Essay questions about diversity are designed to help admissions committees understand how you interact with people who are different from you .

In addressing these prompts, you want to show that you're capable of engaging with new ideas and relating to people who may have different beliefs than you.

Common App 3

Reflect on a time when you questioned or challenged a belief or idea. What prompted your thinking? What was the outcome?

Johns Hopkins University

Tell us about an aspect of your identity (e.g., race, gender, sexuality, religion, community) or a life experience that has shaped you as an individual and how that influenced what you’d like to pursue in college at Hopkins.  This can be a future goal or experience that is either [sic] academic, extracurricular, or social.

Duke University Optional 1

We believe a wide range of personal perspectives, beliefs, and lived experiences are essential to making Duke a vibrant and meaningful living and learning community. Feel free to share with us anything in this context that might help us better understand you and what you might bring to our community. 

Prompt Type 4: Your Future Goals

This type of prompt asks about what you want to do in the future: sometimes simply what you'd like to study, sometimes longer-term career goals. Colleges want to understand what you're interested in and how you plan to work towards your goals.

You'll mostly see these prompts if you're applying for a specialized program (like pre-med or engineering) or applying as a transfer student. Some schools also ask for supplementary essays along these lines. 

University of Southern California (Architecture)

Princeton Supplement 1

Prompt Type 5: Why This School

The most common style of supplemental essay is the "why us?" essay, although a few schools with their own application use this type of question as their main prompt. In these essays, you're meant to address the specific reasons you want to go to the school you're applying to .

Whatever you do, don't ever recycle these essays for more than one school.

Chapman University

There are thousands of universities and colleges. Why are you interested in attending Chapman?

Columbia University

Why are you interested in attending Columbia University? We encourage you to consider the aspect(s) that you find unique and compelling about Columbia.

Rice University

Based upon your exploration of Rice University, what elements of the Rice experience appeal to you?

Princeton University

Princeton has a longstanding commitment to understanding our responsibility to society through service and civic engagement. How does your own story intersect with these ideals?

Prompt Type 6: Creative Prompts

More selective schools often have supplemental essays with stranger or more unique questions. University of Chicago is notorious for its weird prompts, but it's not the only school that will ask you to think outside the box in addressing its questions.

University of Chicago

“Vlog,” “Labradoodle,” and “Fauxmage.” Language is filled with portmanteaus. Create a new portmanteau and explain why those two things are a “patch” (perfect match).

University of Vermont

Established in Burlington, VT, Ben & Jerry’s is synonymous with both ice cream and social change. The “Save Our Swirled” flavor raises awareness of climate change, and “I Dough, I Dough” celebrates marriage equality. If you worked alongside Ben & Jerry, what charitable flavor would you develop and why?

What Makes a Strong Personal Statement?

OK , so you're clear on what a college essay is, but you're still not sure how to write a good one . To help you get started, I'm going to explain the main things admissions officers look for in students' essays: an engaging perspective, genuine moments, and lively writing .

I've touched on these ideas already, but here, I'll go into more depth about how the best essays stand out from the pack.

Showing Who You Are

A lot of students panic about finding a unique topic, and certainly writing about something unusual like a successful dating app you developed with your friends or your time working as a mall Santa can't hurt you. But what's really important isn't so much what you write about as how you write about it . You need to use your subject to show something deeper about yourself.

Look at the prompts above: you'll notice that they almost all ask you what you learned or how the experience affected you. Whatever topic you pick, you must be able to specifically address how or why it matters to you .

Say a student, Will, was writing about the mall Santa in response to Common App prompt number 2 (the one about failure): Will was a terrible mall Santa. He was way too skinny to be convincing and the kids would always step on his feet. He could easily write 600 very entertaining words describing this experience, but they wouldn't necessarily add up to an effective college essay.

To do that, he'll need to talk about his motivations and his feelings: why he took such a job in the first place and what he did (and didn't) get out of it. Maybe Will took the job because he needed to make some money to go on a school trip and it was the only one he could find. Despite his lack of enthusiasm for screaming children, he kept doing it because he knew if he persevered through the whole holiday season he would have enough money for his trip. Would you rather read "I failed at being a mall Santa" or "Failing as a mall Santa taught me how to persevere no matter what"? Admissions officers definitely prefer the latter.

Ultimately, the best topics are ones that allow you to explain something surprising about yourself .

Since the main point of the essay is to give schools a sense of who you are, you have to open up enough to let them see your personality . Writing a good college essay means being honest about your feelings and experiences even when they aren't entirely positive.

In this context, honesty doesn't mean going on at length about the time you broke into the local pool at night and nearly got arrested, but it does mean acknowledging when something was difficult or upsetting for you. Think about the mall Santa example above. The essay won't work unless the writer genuinely acknowledges that he was a bad Santa and explains why.

Eloquent Writing

As I mentioned above, colleges want to know that you are a strong enough writer to survive in college classes . Can you express your ideas clearly and concisely? Can you employ specific details appropriately and avoid clichés and generalizations? These kinds of skills will serve you well in college (and in life!).

Nonetheless, admissions officers recognize that different students have different strengths. They aren't looking for a poetic magnum opus from someone who wants to be a math major. (Honestly, they aren't expecting a masterwork from anyone , but the basic point stands.) Focus on making sure that your thoughts and personality come through, and don't worry about using fancy vocabulary or complex rhetorical devices.

Above all, make sure that you have zero grammar or spelling errors . Typos indicate carelessness, which will hurt your cause with admissions officers.

Top Five Essay-Writing Tips

Now that you have a sense of what colleges are looking for, let's talk about how you can put this new knowledge into practice as you approach your own essay. Below, I've collected my five best tips from years as a college essay counselor.

#1: Start Early!

No matter how much you want to avoid writing your essay, don't leave it until the last minute . One of the most important parts of the essay writing process is editing, and editing takes a lot of time. You want to be able to put your draft in a drawer for a week and come back to it with fresh eyes. You don't want to be stuck with an essay you don't really like because you have to submit your application tomorrow.

You need plenty of time to experiment and rewrite, so I would recommend starting your essays at least two months before the application deadline . For most students, that means starting around Halloween, but if you're applying early, you'll need to get going closer to Labor Day.

Of course, it's even better to get a head start and begin your planning earlier. Many students like to work on their essays over the summer, when they have more free time, but you should keep in mind that each year's application isn't usually released until August or September. Essay questions often stay the same from year to year, however. If you are looking to get a jump on writing, you can try to confirm with the school (or the Common App) whether the essay questions will be the same as the previous year's.

#2: Pick a Topic You're Genuinely Excited About

One of the biggest mistakes students make is trying to write what they think the committee wants to hear. The truth is that there's no "right answer" when it comes to college essays . T he best topics aren't limited to specific categories like volunteer experiences or winning a tournament. Instead, they're topics that actually matter to the writer .

"OK," you're thinking, "but what does she mean by 'a topic that matters to you'? Because to be perfectly honest, right now, what really matters to me is that fall TV starts up this week, and I have a feeling I shouldn't write about that."

You're not wrong (although some great essays have been written about television ). A great topic isn't just something that you're excited about or that you talk to your friends about; it's something that has had a real, describable effect on your perspective .

This doesn't mean that you should overemphasize how something absolutely changed your life , especially if it really didn't. Instead, try to be as specific and honest as you can about how the experience affected you, what it taught you, or what you got out of it.

Let's go back to the TV idea. Sure, writing an essay about how excited you are for the new season of Stranger Things  probably isn't the quickest way to get yourself into college, but you could write a solid essay (in response to the first type of prompt) about how SpongeBob SquarePants was an integral part of your childhood. However, it's not enough to just explain how much you loved SpongeBob—you must also explain why and how watching the show every day after school affected your life. For example, maybe it was a ritual you shared with your brother, which showed you how even seemingly silly pieces of pop culture can bring people together. Dig beneath the surface to show who you are and how you see the world.

When you write about something you don't really care about, your writing will come out clichéd and uninteresting, and you'll likely struggle to motivate yourself. When you instead write about something that is genuinely important to you, you can make even the most ordinary experiences—learning to swim, eating a meal, or watching TV—engaging .

#3: Focus on Specifics

But how do you write an interesting essay? Focus.

Don't try to tell your entire life story or even the story of an entire weekend; 500–650 words may seem like a lot, but you'll reach that limit quickly if you try to pack every single thing that has happened to you into your essay. If, however, you just touch on a wide range of topics, you'll end up with an essay that reads more like a résumé.

Instead, narrow in on one specific event or idea, and talk about it in more depth . The narrower your topic, the better. For example, writing about your role as Mercutio in your school's production of Romeo and Juliet is too general, but writing about opening night, when everything went wrong, could be a great topic.

Whatever your topic, use details to help draw the reader in and express your unique perspective. But keep in mind that you don't have to include every detail of what you did or thought; stick to the important and illustrative ones.

#4: Use Your Own Voice

College essays aren't academic assignments; you don't need to be super formal. Instead, try to be yourself. The best writing sounds like a more eloquent version of the way you talk .

Focus on using clear, simple language that effectively explains a point or evokes a feeling. To do so, avoid the urge to use fancy-sounding synonyms when you don't really know what they mean. Contractions are fine; slang, generally, is not. Don't hesitate to write in the first person.

A final note: you don't need to be relentlessly positive. It's OK to acknowledge that sometimes things don't go how you want—just show how you grew from that.

#5: Be Ruthless

Many students want to call it a day after writing a first draft, but editing is a key part of writing a truly great essay. To be clear, editing doesn't mean just making a few minor wording tweaks and cleaning up typos; it means reading your essay carefully and objectively and thinking about how you could improve it .

Ask yourself questions as you read: is the progression of the essay clear? Do you make a lot of vague, sweeping statements that could be replaced with more interesting specifics? Do your sentences flow together nicely? Do you show something about yourself beyond the surface level?

You will have to delete and rewrite (potentially large) parts of your essay, and no matter how attached you feel to something you wrote, you might have to let it go . If you've ever heard the phrase "kill your darlings," know that it is 100% applicable to college essay writing.

At some point, you might even need to rewrite the whole essay. Even though it's annoying, starting over is sometimes the best way to get an essay that you're really proud of.

What's Next?

Make sure to check out our other posts on college essays , including our step-by-step guide to how to write your college essay , our analysis of the Common App Prompts , and our collection of example essays .

If you're in need of guidance on other parts of the application process , take a look at our guides to choosing the right college for you , writing about extracurriculars , deciding to double major , and requesting teacher recommendations .

Last but not least, if you're planning on taking the SAT one last time , check out our ultimate guide to studying for the SAT and make sure you're as prepared as possible.

Alex is an experienced tutor and writer. Over the past five years, she has worked with almost a hundred students and written about pop culture for a wide range of publications. She graduated with honors from University of Chicago, receiving a BA in English and Anthropology, and then went on to earn an MA at NYU in Cultural Reporting and Criticism. In high school, she was a National Merit Scholar, took 12 AP tests and scored 99 percentile scores on the SAT and ACT.

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Personal Essay

• November 15, 2018
• By Admin: mrbauld
• Comments: Comments off

The Personal Essay

Here find samples of and about the personal essay especially for use in 441/541 English. We live in a world awash with essays. They are to be seen in newspapers, magazines, journals, anthologies, and heard on radio and television. The essays range from the polemical to the sublime, from the refined to the vulgar, and represent every shade of opinion. Some letters-to-the -editor make better essays than many professional efforts. The links section of this website provides some venues for quality essays. Some names that quickly come to mind as accomplished essayists include: Harry Bruce, Mark Steyn & Robert Fulford (National Post), Annie Dillard, Barry Lopez, Camille Paglia (Salon), Cynthia Ozick, George Orwell, Lewis Lapham (editor of Harper’s), and Rex Murphy and Margaret Wente (Globe & Mail). There are many voices worth listening to (and no doubt, many more not)- find your own and try to read  half a dozen every week , in one form or another. The best site on the web for my money is Arts&Letters; Daily which offers a digest of the best essays on the rest of the web. Reading its three new entries each day is an efficient way to keep in touch with the world of ideas. Read this for a year and you will have catapulted into the world of ideas. Having opinions is easy, but actually knowing something, and not just latching onto the first political cliche you hear, is rare.

Reading great essays is probably the best way to learn how to write them, but there are innumerable online writing sites willing to help and give advice. The best of these (and linking to most of the others) can be found at a fine resource called The Five Paragraph Essay. Take the time to explore and you’ll be ready to give a course on the subject.

• Simon Blackburn, Cambridge philosopher, here points out the dangers of relativism in moral thinking
• An interview with Simon Blackburn where he reveals a distrust for “global warming” alarmists
• Read Chapter One of Annie Dillard’s book length essay  For the Time Being  which Paul William Roberts called one of the most important books of the last half century
• “Self-Reliance”: The 19th century master, Ralph Waldo Emerson, reminds us of a forgotten virtue The following essays are by “Aristides”, or Joseph Epstein, brilliant former editor of  The American Scholar  and first out of the blocks to defend Philip Larkin against the charges of his lessers:
• Heroes and Role Models
• Joseph Epstein on “The Personal Essay: A Form of Discovery”
• Joseph Epstein (Aristides) is interviewed.
• Ian Hunter’s “definition essay” on tolerance
• Sehdev Kumar considers the limits of science and the reach of poetry
• Barry Lopez Interview which includes remarks on the essay “Who Are These Animals We Kill”
• A Conversation with Barry Lopez
• Barry Lopez and Rick Bass on Hunting
• Barry Lopez discusses the genre of Nature Writing
• An interview with Barry Lopez which considers “what is it makes a worthy life?”

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