English self

Reflective Narrative Essay: Self-Identity

During this unit, we will be talking about the idea of self-identify and how we as individuals are shaped by many experiences, perspectives, people, and communities. Professors expect students to be able to consider past events and draw some purpose or significance from them. While the primary objective may change from class to class or teacher to teacher, being able to think about your own experiences, whether they be personal, academic, or professional, and consider shifts in perspective, growth, learning, or understanding is critical to real learning.

For this assignment, you are going to write a reflective personal narrative essay with two purposes in mind: 1) to practice reflection and connection writing, and 2) to document your development and conscious awareness of self-identity. In other words, you will be defining some element of your own identity, reflecting on how that identity was developed, and discussing how that current self- awareness affects your actions/behaviors/decision-making. 

There are many areas of self-awareness that we could discuss, maybe too many to count, and certainly too many to list. However, a few of the most common identities you might consider are social identities, character identities, cultural identities, religious identities, family identities, academic or professional identities, moral or ethical identities, etc. 

Consider the model essays included in this week’s unit materials (we will discuss several of these in class). Each of them clearly illustrates the identity conflict of the author and uses several personal experiences to describe how the author developed a clearer sense of self-awareness and acceptance. The authors describe how their attitudes of themselves and others have changed over time. 

Your essay should be 4-6 pages and formatted to MLA standards. It will be written from a first person point-of-view and have an appropriate title. While outside research will not be required within the essay itself, you are always welcome to include it so long as it is properly cited (see me with questions). Please include a correctly formatted Works Cited page if needed. 

I will look specifically at narrative development and structure, voice, word choice, description (concrete), purpose, and sentence structure. In other words, this essay should demonstrate skills you’ve learned throughout the term, along with narrative and storytelling skills.