Blog #7

I could relate to multiple reasons the author gave for writing personal essays, but the one that resonated with me the greatest was, "To give myself a voice. I am heard when I write; I vote in the human community, registering my opinions, what I stand for, what I fear, what I stand against, what I celebrate". When I get the chance to write about essay topics involving something I have passion in and stand for I greatly enjoy it. Writing about something you stand for and care about also makes the process of writing a personal essay much easier. Same thing goes for when I decide to write about something I'm against. I get very passionate about the topic and it shows in my writing. I've never really written an essay about anything I fear but I think I'd enjoy that if I ever had to. In the past I've decide to write many essays celebrating different aspects of my life and the people in it. Writing celebratory essays brings me a lot of pleasure and joy because I like to reminisce and remember the good times of my life. One of the main obvious reasons I write personal essays that the author did not list is to get good grades and succeed in school. To be honest I don't think I'd ever write personal essays if they were not assigned in school for a grade. The author gave some great advice when he said, ''The beginning of the essay should contain-or strongly imply- a central tension (contradiction, irony, surprise, or problem)" In all my years of being taught to write I have never heard much about utilizing this technique in personal essays. I understand why it would be so useful though because it is intended to draw the reader in and get them thinking/interested.  In my next personal essay I'm definitely going to try and implement a "central tension" in my introduction.