1. THIS I BELIEVE LESSON 1
SENIORS

2. SWBAT differentiate between a personal essay, a personal narrative and a memoir
HAND IN DRAFT
DO NOW
PERSONAL ESSAY
Focused on a belief or insight about life that is important to the writer
PERSONAL NARRATIVE
Focused on an important event
PERSONAL MEMOIR
Focused on an important relationship between the writer
and a person, place, or object

3. How to understand the difference…
Personal essay often combines elements of both the narrative and the memoir since an insight about life or a personal belief is usually based upon both experiences and relationships that have taught the writer what individual values are most important

4. ACTIVITY We are going to divide up in three big groups of three,
GROUP 1: My Pal Robert
GROUP 2: My First Lifeline
GROUP 3: Accomplishing Big Things in Little Pieces

5. DECIDE ON HOW TO CATEGORIZE
How would you categorize your text?
What features can you point out?
Can we add any additional characteristics?

6. NEXT STEP PERSONAL TRANSACTIVE
Communicates the significance of a central idea or insight that has a deep personal meaning to the writer
Purpose is more reflective, although the tone may
sound persuasive
Conveys information to a reader who knows less than the writer; may attempt to persuade a reader
to take a particular action or believe a certain way

7. PERSONAL
TRANSACTIVE
Development of the piece is based upon the writer’s
personal experiences or anecdotes
Development of the piece is based upon
research from credible sources
Written in first person; more conversational or
entertaining in style
Written in third person; more issue-driven and
formal or academic in style
Appears in an essay or op-ed format
Appears in a real-world form such as a letter, an
editorial, or a feature article

8. PERSONAL
TRANSACTIVE
More subjective in tone
More objective in tone
Rarely requires documentation (sources, footnotes,
etc.)
Often requires documentation
More informal in tone, language, and subject matter
More formal in tone, language, and topic
selection

9. HOMEWORK
Find either a Transactive piece of writing or a personal essay.
Print it out.
Bring it in.