October 02, 2015

How to Write an Essay about Yourself – Getting Personal

How to Write an Essay about Yourself – Getting Personal
Write an essay about yourself? Wasn’t that something done in elementary and middle school? Actually, yes, it was, but writing an essay about yourself may be resurrected once you hit college, in a couple of courses.

The Autobiographical Essay in English Comp

Any essay that you write about yourself is considered a narrative, even if the topic should be only a little “slice” of your life. When you were in elementary school, you probably wrote essays about your favorite toy, your favorite best vacation, etc. In college, however, you may be asked to write an essay about yourself in relation to a far more “adult” topic. In an English class, for example, you may be tasked with writing an essay on one of the following topics:

  1. How are your values different now than they were in middle school?
  2. What values do you have that your parents’ generation does not?
  3. What experiences led you to choose your major field of study?
  4. If you could be anyone else in the world who would it be and why?
  5. If, 10 years from now, you considered yourself a success, what would your life be like?

The Personal Essay in Sociology

Because sociology is the study of society and groups within that society, you might want to be prepared for an essay on a topic like these:

  1. How would you describe your family and your place in it?
  2. How has your socio-economic status impacted your values?
  3. What type of family unit will you pursue as an adult?
  4. What will be your ideal workplace?

The Personal Essay in Political Science

Normally, you would not think of writing an essay about yourself in a political science class, but these are becoming far more common. Here are some potential topics:

  1. Do you affiliate with a particular Party? Why or why not?
  2. How do you decide for whom you will vote?

Structuring the Essay About Yourself

If you think you don’t know how to write an essay about yourself, think again. The structure for this type of essay is just as it is for all essays.

  1. You have the topic
  2. You need to develop a thesis statement. Obviously, you will be the subject of that statement, but it must relate to the topic. For example, “Growing up in poverty has had a major impact on the person I am today, in three important ways.”
  3. Your 3 body paragraphs will each address one of the “important ways.”
  4. Conclusions in these types of essays often look toward the future, and you may do that or restate your thesis in a different say.

You see? You do know how to write an essay about yourself. And it is usually more easily written because, after all, who know you better than you?

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