In the introduction to the unit, you learned about the elements of a personal essay. Now,
you will write that essay. The experience you write about does not have to be
monumental. It just has to be significant to you. Your essay should be a true story, or
narrative, focusing on a place. Within that story, you will need to determine what
happened at this place, who were the important people there, what was said, and what
you learned.
Instructions:
• Create a personal essay about a specific place that is the most memorable for
you and where you had a positive experience. (Please be aware that if you share
information that is distressing, then your instructor is mandated to share that
information with our counseling center.)
• Consider the following questions when starting your essay:
o What is a specific place that is particularly memorable to you?
o What happened at this place that makes it so important to you?
A personal essay is a combination of the description of the action or plot, details about
the people/location of the essay, and reflection on what happened:
• Begin by describing the place. Try using each of the five senses to show the
reader what the place is like.
• Consider the best conversations you had at the place and include that dialogue
in your message.
• Finally, be sure to offer your thoughts on the experience and what you learned
from it.
Requirements:
• Please submit a Microsoft Word document or PDF.
ENG110 – College Writing
Unit 1 Assignment: Personal Essay
• The assignment should be two to three pages in length and should include the
following:
o An APA-style title page (see Unit 1 documents for a sample)
o 1–2 pages for the full essay content
o Double-space the assignment and use 1-inch margins.
o You should use an APA-recommended font; 12 Times New Roman font is
suggested (see Unit 1 documents under the Title page for a list of other
acceptable fonts).
• You need an introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion for this essay.
o The introduction should set up what specifically the reader needs to know
before you get into the main action of the essay. You can also include a
thesis, or a controlling idea statement, that lets the reader know your
purpose for writing the essay.
o Your body paragraphs should focus on one specific part of the experience
each. Please do not try to include too much information in each
paragraph.
o Finally, the conclusion will wrap up the essay and show how the action in
the essay was resolved.
• Your writing should be free of punctuation, spelling, and grammar errors and
should contain appropriate word choice for an academic setting with a clear
sentence structure.
• Utilize the senses (sight, sound, taste, touch, smell) to help you tell the story.
