Choice 1: Develop an essay in which you analyze how you were influenced or changed significantly by a poem, story, film, play or novel. Perhaps the source of the change was an idea, or storyline. More likely, it might have been a particular character. The source of the change might have been something earlier in your life or maybe it was recent. It is not necessary to use the material from our textbook, but you might feel free to do so. Tip: Don’t get lost in the story–make most of the content YOUR STORY. Choice 2: Create a personal narrative based on a photograph or several photographs from your own family album or history. You are invited, but not required, to integrate text and image in your essay. NOTE: As the nature of all of these topics invite some degree of personal disclosure, please determine for yourself what you are comfortable having your peers read. Everyone’s essays throughout this course should be open to class reading in general. The narrative “I” will be the appropriate voice for this essay. Your narrative needs to have a definite main idea or thesis and should not simply retell story Do not be afraid to experiment—this is probably the most creative of the assignments allowed in this course outline. Use strong verbs, descriptive detail. A good technique to change your style is to rewrite sentences by changing the subject.
