Essay #1 Sequence: Reflections on Identity
Suggested length: 5 typed pg., 12 pt. Times New Roman, double-spaced. For both the first version and revision, please submit the essay with a cover letter reflecting on the strengths and weaknesses of the piece. When you submit your revision, please include the marked-up first version with instructor and student comments, Ex.1 (if applicable) and a new cover letter commenting on the changes you have made in revision.
Assignment:
This assignment asks you to reflect on a central aspect of your identity (or that of someone else). Individuals define their identities in varying ways--in terms of individual personality traits, core values, personal goals and commitments. In addition, people often define themselves through membership in families and communities in which individuals connect through shared nationalities, ethnicities, religions, political beliefs and interests.
Through exploring a central aspect of your identity (or the identity of another person), write an essay that narrates and reflects on your (or your subject’s) experience(s) to connect with issues that speak to a wider audience. In essays, it is often most effective to ground your discussion of individual identity in such specific experience(s) as:
*a critical event(s) or turning point(s) in life
*a specific symbolic moment(s) within a close family or personal relationship
*a family or personal ritual or “rite of passage”
*a meaningful artifact (photo, sentimental object, family heirloom or keepsake)
* a special or “sacred” place or meaningful journey.
Reflect carefully on the voice that you adopt as a writer. Don’t assume that first-person narration is your only option; you can write about yourself in the third person, if you wish. Be vivid and descriptive in your prose; use the tools of fiction –character, setting and dialogue. Shape your narrative to convey clearly a perspective or central idea.
The challenge of this assignment is to shape and frame the raw material of experience and memory for a reading public. Using the lens of experience, you have a rich opportunity as a writer to communicate with readers about a wide variety of topics that evoke a shared sense of humanity.
For the revised version, you should consult at least two outside sources and include a “Works Consulted” page at the end of the essay. Use at least one source as an epigraph quotation. The other can be used as background information, or cited in a traditional or journalistic form. (We will review epigraphs and citation forms in class.)
Due: One week before first version. Suggested length: 1-1 1/2 typed pages, double-spaced.
This short assignment, which has two parts, should help you to begin essay #1 or prepare for another piece that you will write during the term.
PART ONE:
In one to one-and-a half pages, describe an experience in childhood, adolescence, or adulthood that has played a significant role in shaping your (or another person’s) identity. (See p.1 for ideas of types of experiences.)
Be vivid, detailed and descriptive in your prose; use dialogue when appropriate. Try to recapture the power of lived experience in the language that you use. For most writers, this means slowing down your narration so that the reader can vicariously experience the emotion of the piece.
PART TWO/POSTSCRIPT (a paragraph): How might this piece engage a wider public readership or a specific smaller audience (e.g., the MIT community)? How might you shape this piece so that it speaks effectively to your chosen readership? What larger human issues does your experience raise? How can you connect this experience with a central idea or perspective?
Note: In this type of essay, it is often best to allow ideas and perspectives (what we might call “thesis” or “argument” in expository writing) to emerge from the experience, rather than fitting an experience to meet the demands of a preconceived idea.