Your Specific Tasks: Write a 4-5 page double spaced essay that describes, analyzes, and reflects on a personal experience with art. You need to . . .
Craft an interesting introduction. This does not mean you have to take the standard essay approach. One way is to jump right into the storytelling:
“I remember it like it was yesterday. There I sat in the living room, thinking ____. After a really long day I was tired and a bit frustrated because _.”
Use dialogue where it is appropriate.
Capitalize on opportunities to provide detailed information.
Capitalize on opportunities to use the Available Means of Persuasion (Pathos, Logos, Ethos), to heighten the rhetorical value of the essay and enhance the reader’s ability to connect with the essay.
Use the first person I effectively.
If possible, play with a metaphor to create cohesiveness throughout the essay.
Use an MLA endnote reference list at the bottom of the essay to provide bibliographic information for the artifacts. (See: The Owl at Purdue website for how to format an endnote).
Since you are reflecting, be careful to write in past-tense where it is appropriate rather than present or future tense.
Avoid writing the essay as if it is a college essay you are turning into ME. I am not your audience. Who would care about your experience? Write to them. You are telling your story and, in doing so, articulating how they are reflected through the art you have chosen.
Examples of “college essay” writing rather than narrative writing would be: “The three pieces of art I have chosen to write about are…” or “In this essay I will discuss…”
Give your essay an appropriate and interesting title.
Experiment with the organization of your story. Sometimes it’s better to start at the end of the story to create suspense and interest, then go back and walk the reader through the details that lead up to the story’s climax.
Choose a limited and specific set of experiences (3) that can be developed and analyzed thoughtfully in only four to five pages. Do not write an autobiography of your life!
Try to centralize your connections with a “theme” that runs through the artifacts.
Use fluid transitions that weave the selected experiences together.
Describe the experiences vividly so that readers can understand what happened and will care about what you have to say about it. In reflecting on the particular experiences, show your readers how they informed/impacted/changed/sustained/transformed/inspired/motivated you. Remember to use descriptions of all five senses!
Analyze the experiences and consider what they might imply about the value of art in terms of its social or political value (Demonstrate this in the storytelling or save it for the conclusion).
Convey the importance of these experiences and ideas that you took away from them by reflecting and focusing primarily on what these experiences have taught you about yourself and about art.