If you were asked to describe an essay in one word, what would that one word be?

Okay, well, in one word, an essay is an idea.

No idea; no essay.

But more than that, the best essays have original and insightful ideas.

Okay, so the first thing we need to begin an essay is an insightful idea that we wish to share with the reader.

But original and insightful ideas do not just pop up every day.  Where does one find original and insightful ideas?

Let’s start here: an idea is an insight gained from either a) our personal experiences, or b) in scholarship, from synthesizing the ideas of others to create a new idea.

In this class we start with a personal essay in which your own personal experiences are a  source for your ideas.

Life teaches us lessons. We learn from our life experiences. This is how we grow as human beings.  So before you start on your essays, reflect on your life experiences by employing one or more of the brainstorming strategies described in this course. Your brainstorming and prewriting assignments are important assignments because remember: no idea; no essay. Brainstorming can help you discover an idea for your essay. So, ask yourself: What lessons have I learned? What insights have I gained that I can write about and share with my reader? Your reader can learn from you.

Why do we write?

We write to improve our world; it’s that simple.  We write personal essays to address the most problematic and fundamental question of all: What does it mean to be a human being? By sharing the insights and lessons we have learned from our life experiences we can add to our community’s collective wisdom.

We respect the writings of experts. And, guess what; you are an expert! You are the best expert of all on one subject—your own life experiences. So when we write personal essays, we research our own life experiences and describe those experiences with rich and compelling language to convince our reader that our idea is valid.

In this class, your own life experiences will be the springboard for the development of academic writing skills.

For your Narrative essay: do more than simply relate a series of events. Let the events make a point about the central idea you are trying to teach us.

For your Descriptive Example/Illustration essay you will explain a concept by showing the audience, rather than telling them.   Describe your examples in explicit details so that your reader actually experiences for themselves the central idea you wish to teach them.

For the Reading Response essay, you will provide a response to an argumentative essay.  You will discuss how the critical reading strategies helped you arrive at understanding of the authorial thesis.

For the Letter to the Editor (Cause/Effect essay): you will construct an argumentative response to a current issue in the news.  In this essaydescribe a problematic situation in full detail so that the audience can fully experience it.   Then, you will describe the historical and cultural circumstances that led to each of the different aspects of the situation.

Okay, one last comment. Often students say to me: “I am so young; I do not have any meaningful insights in to life.” Okay, well, you may not be able to solve the pressing issues of the day, but think of it this way. What if a younger brother or sister came to you and in an anxious voice said; “I’ve got to do X.  I’ve never had to do X. You’ve had some experience with X.  Can you give me some advice?” You may have some wisdom and insights from your own life experience with X to share with that person. Don’t worry about solving the BIG issues in this class. You can serve the world as well by simply addressing, and bringing to life in words, the problems and life situations that you know best, no matter how mundane. Please notice that with rare exception the essays you will read in this class do not cite outside sources. They are all written from the author’s actual life experiences. So think of your audience as someone who can learn from your life experiences and write to them and for them.