PERSONAL ESSAY

English

Ms. Thompson

Great Expectations and To Kill a Mockingbird both follow the Bildungsroman tradition. Both are novels of education and development; Pip and Scout both go through many changes and grow as people. For this essay, you will reflect on your own growth as a person or on the growth of someone you know.

You have two choices:

1. Examine how you have changed in the past year or two. You can focus on one or two aspects of your life (emotional, academic, spiritual, social, etc.) or focus on a few key experiences that have helped shape the person you are today. Your audience needs to have a clear sense of both who you were in the past and who you are now.

2. Write about the same topic as #1, but choose a person other than yourself.

Your essay should be as specific and detailed as possible. While it doesn’t have to be as tightly structured as an analytical essay, it should be at least 400 words long and have an introduction and a conclusion. Make sure each paragraph is centered around one main idea. Your audience for this essay is your teachers and your classmates.

Step 1: Brainstorm. Make a list of at least ten events, people, activities, or ideas that could be a part of your essay.

Step 2: Organize your thoughts. Using a detailed web, outline, or some other organizer, decide how you want to structure your essay. Write your introductory paragraph. With your introduction, try to think of a way to catch your readers’ attention with the first sentence.

Step 3: Write a complete rough draft of your essay. It must be at least 400 words (more than a typewritten page). Be as specific as possible! Be sure to double space and give your essay a title.

Step 4: Share your essay with your classmates and receive their feedback.

Step 5: Revise your rough draft to produce a double-spaced final draft.

Step 6: Prepare your essay to hand in. Staple the rubric (on the reverse of this sheet) on top, followed by the final draft, the rough draft, and the prewriting.

Name ________________________________________________________

Title _________________________________________________________

Date ________________________________

Period ____

All essays must be turned in with this rubric on top or lose 5 points. Essays turned in late will lose 5 points for every day late, up to a maximum penalty of 30 points.

____ Interesting and thoughtful content (30 points)

--The author shows evidence of having carefully considered the topic.

--The author provides vivid and interesting details.

--The author uses appropriate language for the audience and the subject matter.

____ Organization (30 points)

--The author uses a catchy introduction to grab the reader’s interest.

--Each paragraph is centered around one main idea.

--The essay as a whole flows logically.

--The author concludes the essay effectively.

____ Double-spacing and Proofreading for correct spelling, grammar, and

punctuation (20 points)

____ Evidence of effective revision (20 points)

--The author has included a rough draft and Steps 1 and 2, which are complete.

--The author has revised the previous work to produce a final draft.

____ Total (100 points)

____ Grade