Personal Response Essay

Paper 1: Personal Response Essay

Date Due:

Assignment: Write an essay in response to Zora Neal Hurston's "How It Feels to Be Colored Me," using the style and sequence of ideas to explain how it feels to be you. The essay should reflect aspects of your identity, just as Hurston does hers, so the style should be somewhat informal, detailed, and energetic. Use the framework below to develop your essay.

Framework for Personal Essay

"How It Feels To Be Me"

	1^st Paragraph: I am . . . .
	2^nd Paragraph: I remember the day that I . . . . (realized, discovered, understood, wondered . . . . . )
	3^rd Paragraph: The front porch . . . . (Describe the world from your perspective . . . your "front porch." Place the reader in your world. Help the reader understand how it feels to be you considered where you are.)
	4^th Paragraph: But changes came . . . . (Changes and adjustments you have had to make as a person discovering who you are.)
	5^th Paragraph: I do not always feel . . . . OR At certain times, I [do not feel a part of] . . . . I am me. (Describe times you have felt alienated or separated from the general identity you share with others like yourself.)
	6^th Paragraph: But in the main I feel like a . . . . (Add a simile and elaborate on it. This can be your conclusion unless you feel you need to conclude in a different way.)

Length: a minimum of 20 sentences, at least two full pages, ideally long enough to tell the story in an interesting and vivid way.

Format: Typed neatly in ink. See Form for Written Assignments for details. You are required to use MLA format.

AIM Statement:

Audience--classmates and teacher

Intention--to informally explore characteristics of your identity, from the time you first understood who you are and how your life reflects your dominant characteristics.

Mode--expository

Grading: the paper will be evaluated on the following skills.

Organization: Clear opening with introduction of primary characteristic(s); Clear sequence of ideas following the sequence of the Hurston essay; ending paragraph focuses on a simile

Completeness: six paragraphs of sufficient length, with vivid detail and interesting examples

Correctness: Proofread carefully for mistakes in grammar, punctuation, sentence structure, and spelling

Procedure: (dates to be announced in class)

   In class: Read and examine Hurston's essay

   Homework: Brainstorm details for paragraphs

   In class: develop outline, using framework given

   Write rough draft for homework

   In class: Rough draft due; start revising for homework using MLA format

   Finish revision and edit; prepare final copy

   Proofread and turn in

	Audience--classmates and teacher
	Intention--to informally explore characteristics of your identity, from the time you first understood who you are and how your life reflects your dominant characteristics.
	Mode--expository

	Organization: Clear opening with introduction of primary characteristic(s); Clear sequence of ideas following the sequence of the Hurston essay; ending paragraph focuses on a simile
	Completeness: six paragraphs of sufficient length, with vivid detail and interesting examples
	Correctness: Proofread carefully for mistakes in grammar, punctuation, sentence structure, and spelling

	In class: Read and examine Hurston's essay
	Homework: Brainstorm details for paragraphs
	In class: develop outline, using framework given
	Write rough draft for homework
	In class: Rough draft due; start revising for homework using MLA format
	Finish revision and edit; prepare final copy
	Proofread and turn in