Essay 1: Personal Event Essay Task Your first essay will be a reflection about an event that has left a meaningful impression on you or made an impact on how you view yourself or your life. The main event must be an anecdote that is no longer than 24 hours; you will have to include build-up so that the event makes sense, but the essay should be focused on a small moment that reveals a particular significance. A personal event essay will follow the following basic narrative structure: Build-up--events leading up to the main event that are important to understanding the significance Main event--the climax or main moment where the change happens Significance--explanation of how the main event affected your life, especially in the long-term. Make sure to show the reader how your life afterwards is different than your life revealed in the build-up. (See sample essays that we will discuss in class for more information). The event does not have to be the most important or life-changing experience in your life. In fact, avoid the usual topics (the birth of a child, death of a loved one, your wedding or engagement, senior prom, spring break, etc.). Think back through your experience and pick a memory that is vivid and unique, and ask yourself why you remember that event in particular opposed to all the other experiences in your life. Perhaps, the event is significant because it made your appreciate someone or allowed you to see some small truth about yourself or the world-a strength, weakness, hope, etc. Your goals are to: write your experiences as vividly as possible using naming, detailing, and specific narrative action, explain the significance of the event in your life, use at least five lines of dialogue, and apply MLA Manuscript format. Audience Address the essay to people like your classmates who do not know your background but who are intelligent and interested and who will be able to learn something about your growth as individual. Remember that I and some of your classmates may read your essay, so choose a topic you are willing to share with others. Technical Requirements Design your document in MLA format (see pgs. 479-481 in LB Brief).
Create a 3-5 pages double-spaced in 12-point Times New Roman font. As you prepare to write about your significant event, please pay careful attention to the invention strategies, narrating techniques, and sample essays presented in the Reading and Discussion Board Assignments. Objectives: Demonstrate your ability to create a coherent, cohesive college-level narrative Demonstrate your ability to analyze your subject Demonstrate your ability to use direct dialogue in an essay Demonstrate your understanding of description strategies Understand and apply organization strategies for a narrative essay Understand and apply Standard American English and a college-level writing style.