Write about a challenge or an achievement that changed your life and shaped you to who you are today.
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20180125004939self_analysis_essay.pdf
English 103 Winter 2018 K. Yegoryan
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SELF-‐ANALYSIS NARRATIVE Essay 1
So far, we have been learning how to analyze texts and visuals by decoding the embedded meaning with the use of critical theories. Thus, we were the critical reader decoding the meaning that the writers/ producers of visuals had encoded. In this essay, in the Self-‐Analytical Narrative, YOU will be the encoding writer; you will be embedding theories, using symbolic meaning, direct/indirect
characterization, etc. in your story. The Essay is due on Thursday, Jan. 25.
Prompt of the essay: choose ONE option/topic Option 1:
Write about a challenge or an achievement that changed your life and shaped you to who you are today. (For example: Overcoming fear and the feeling of doubt for one's abilities is very important. Throughout our life path we face many obstacles and challenges that may affect our self-confidence. However, with any challenge there is a triumph; hence, think of a time when you felt "alienated" or "powerless", "ignored," but had the strength and/or creativity to triumph the challenge and regain your confidence. )
Option 2: Write about someone you admire(d) or dislike(d), or simply about somehow who had an important impact on your life.
Option 3: Write about a memorable event, an incident that had
happened with you or you were a witness of it.
Tell what it was and how it changed your life. -------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
• I will also bring in a sample essay to class, and we will do an activity, which is a self-narrative passage!
Remember your story should define who you are! Your style of writing, the diction,
characterization of your characters and/or of yourself, the chosen setting, theme, dialogues,
conflicts, cultural impact, etc.- all should show/narrate about YOU!
The Self-Analysis Narrative essay can be the retelling of an episode, an incident with embedded deeper meaning for the reader to deconstruct and decode!
The essay should be 2.5 – 3.5 pages: typed / double spaced, following MLA format
Your story should:
I. Demonstrate your understanding of critical theories by embedding such themes as
As an inspiration watch the personal story episode/ted speech using the link below: Sue Austin: “Deep sea diving in a wheelchair” https://www.ted.com/talks/sue_austin_deep_sea_diving_in_a_wheelchair
As an inspiration watch the personal story episode/ted speech using the link below: Maysoon Zayid: I got 99 problems; palsy is just one. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=buRLc2eWGPQ
English 103 Winter 2018 K. Yegoryan
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(any of the themes/theories we learned or as many as you want): Here are some themes to choose from:
• Irony: how a person, situation, or circumstance is not as expected or would actually seem • Semiotics: use of connotative and/or symbolic meaning
• Ideologies; Power and control; ISA/RSA (Marx’s and Althusser’s theories) (status, gender, race superiority/inferiority, language advantage/disadvantage, (lack of) literacy, physical (dis)ability) Capitalism: Commodification and American Dream Ideology
Power/ Control via ideologies and repression (power gained or asserted because of certain beliefs/ traditions, class/gender belonging, or because of repression/violence, or because of knowledge, education, job position/ certain skill)
For example, let’s say Anna narrates a segment from her personal story of her unhealthy marriage and abusive relationship where her uneducated husband was using physical and emotional violence to assert his power as a dominant man and make his wife more submissive because she had education and a better job. His lack of education and her better position were “threats” of his status and power… Or let’s say Anna’s life changed after the dance competition where she demonstrated better dancing skills than her best friend. She started to experience bullying and emotional pressure from her best friend (or partner). Or, on a more positive note, let’s say Anna gained more power and recognition at her work after her supervisor learned about her knowledge/ unique skill in…
• The new self/ the birth of a new self or a change (Lacan’s theory) Self-‐identification through the other (other character, other name, a memory, an objet) Longing for self-‐wholeness (through a love partner, artistic endeavors, etc.) For example, Anna could feel her real self only in the little dark attic, which was her art-studio. The moment she would lighten the candle above the worn-out canvas and pick up the oily, dusty brush, the attic would become her creative realm where she could feel complete, calm, and powerful… Ego/ Alter ego (duality in us)
• The stages of the psychic apparatus/ mind (id, ego, and superego) (Freud’s theory) Changing one’s life and/or surprising a desire, love, passion because of certain morals/ cultural beliefs Uncanny/ displacement/ change Castration (loss)/ substitution Loss and Gain Memory /dream (also “American Dream Ideology” of anyone can be successful) Fear and Desire as obsession
• Interpellation (Althusser’s theory) * we will discuss next week/ see on Theories PowerPoint Interpellation (use/ definition 1) reproduction/rebirth/ the new: Transgression from OLD to the NEW (usually with a helper, a medium)
Interpellation (use 2) (Self/Other: seeing oneself in the other, a medium through which people understand or see their own “self” and their place within a given society)
• Gender Roles and Expectations in Patriarchal society and/or from Feminist perspectives * we will discuss next week/ see Gender paradigm handout under PowerPoint section of our weebly web.
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English 103 Winter 2018 K. Yegoryan
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Your narrative should also: * we will discuss next week II. Use the 6 elements of Fiction: 1. a definable character or characters
2. point of view
3. setting
4. conflict (external or internal)
5. style
6. theme
III. Have the 5 qualities of the narrative genre: 1. A clear context/ plot that one can re-tell that story
2. A well-chosen, thoughtfully emphasized details and description that describe/depict the climax
moment (the most important moment of your story that brought a change or marked an importance).
3. Organization: Logical chronological organization that clearly show the Exposition (past), the
Climax (the incident), Resolution (the change) or Flashback, when the story starts from the Climax (
the most important part, the part or the incident) and then goes before and after of what happened.
4. Consistent point of view: it should be written either from 1st or 3rd person point of view
5. A meaningful point/purpose, a message/suggestion that you are communicating, or a lesson
that you are teaching to your reader through your narrative/ story: The essay should explicitly or
implicitly, yet clearly communicate the message/ lesson that you (the writer) want(s) the reader to
learn.
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