Informing Through Personal Essay

Personal essays aren’t just about our own experiences or exploring universal truths; they can also be a way to inform an audience about a specialized topic. Are you an expert on climate change? Do you have a rare medical condition? Want to spread the word about something that’s important to you, but you’d rather not write an academic essay or an op-ed? In this seminar you will learn how to harness the personal essay as a teaching tool. Using published essays as our guides, we’ll examine how you can put a personal spin on heavy topics to make those issues interesting and accessible to a wide audience. Come to class with a subject you'd like to write about, and a list of pertinent information you'd like to share, and we'll begin working on the essays in class.