| During the time that you are working on your college | | | | 3. The Op Ed page of your local newspaper, or a |
| application essay, reading personal essays by other | | | | nearby big city one |
| writers can be extremely helpful. Seeing how a | | | | This page, usually found side by side with the |
| variety of successful writers have handled this form | | | | newspaper's editorials, features syndicated |
| will make you more familiar and comfortable with the | | | | columnists, local citizens, even well known national |
| personal essay, give you a better idea of what | | | | personalities, all with a point to make. The subject |
| constitutes a good one, and ultimately, instill in you a | | | | matter is often political but try to detach yourself |
| higher standard for your own work. | | | | from that and concentrate on how these writers |
| Some resources for the personal essay are listed | | | | construct their essays for greatest impact. |
| below. Few of them are as short as 500 words but | | | | 4. "Fresh Yarn" |
| the basic principles still apply. | | | | This website offers a wide range of personal essays |
| (Please Note: I am supplying these names and | | | | - humorous, dramatic, everything in between - |
| resources strictly for the benefit of students who | | | | written by contemporary, often well known writers. |
| want to learn more about the personal essay. I am | | | | An occasional curse word can creep into some of |
| not personally advocating any of these writers, their | | | | them but the essence of the essays is always |
| beliefs, or the way they write about them.) | | | | thoughtful and in good taste and the quality of the |
| 1. The works of acknowledged masters of the | | | | writing is exceptionally high. |
| personal essay. Some of these include: | | | | 5. Blogs |
| Henry David Thoreau, H.L. Menken, E.B. White, James | | | | The internet is bursting with blogs, many of them |
| Baldwin, Susan Sontag | | | | extremely well written. Since I do not feel that it's |
| Essays by these writers are available in collections | | | | appropriate for me to recommend one blog over |
| from the library or occasionally online. | | | | another, I will just encourage you to check out some |
| 2. Contemporary masters of the personal essay. | | | | of the larger ones that feature a number of different |
| Some of these include: | | | | writers and comb them for personal essays that |
| David Sedaris - His approach is usually humorous but | | | | capture your attention right from the beginning, |
| the essays are beautifully constructed and often | | | | develop a cogent point, and end with a flourish. |
| quite moving. His work can be found collected in | | | | By steeping yourself in the form of the personal |
| books and in various magazines. | | | | essay, you will get a better idea of what makes one |
| Joel Stein - His columns in Time Magazine are | | | | essay take off and soar while another remains |
| excellent examples of the personal essay. | | | | stubbornly earthbound. Ideally, you can then apply |
| John McFee - Many collections of his work are | | | | those concepts to your own work. A picture may be |
| available. | | | | worth a thousand words, but sometimes a thousand |
| Annie Dillard - Lyrical and very poetic. | | | | words can give you a pretty clear picture. |