Ms. Pohan
Stuyvesant High School
E7EB
msapohan@gmail.com
…I am myself the matter of my book.1
(With thanks to Mr. Grossman)
To idealize: all writing is a campaign against cliche. Not just cliches of the pen, but cliches of
the mind and heart. When I dispraise, I am usually quoting cliches. When I praise, I am usually
quoting the opposed qualities of freshness, energy, and reverberation of voice.
- Martin Amis, The War Against Cliches
Your first Early Brit Lit writing assignment is to compose a personal essay. While I hope you
end up with a piece of writing that you’ll be eager to submit to college prospects, try not to think
of this (or anything else you might write) as a college essay. College essays are invariably
tedious. This must not be. Below are some suggestions for getting started:
1. Rather than writing about something that you think is expected of you, pick a topic that
you feel passionate about, something that’s been on your mind or a question that you’re
trying to resolve for yourself. If it doesn’t matter to you, it won’t matter to your reader.
2. Don’t be a solipsist. Although this is a personal essay, don’t write about yourself in a
vacuum (i.e. I am Steve, I live in New York, I am a person). Instead, paint a picture of
yourself in relation to the rest of the world. Make sure that your essay contains language
and ideas that reflect your interests and reveal specialized knowledge.
3. You will almost certainly want to refer to some of the details of your life. Rather than
simply citing autobiographical data, do your best to embed as much as possible in the
essay’s narrative. Your writing should evoke you, not just tell about you.
Again, these are suggestions: there are no rules. The personal essay is, after all, a self-portrait,
and those of you who possess even a passing familiarity with Van Gogh and Dali will understand
that the more idiosyncratic your portrait is, the better. To idealize: your voice should be so
distinctive that, even unsigned, your essay should be clearly recognizable as your own.
The rest is up to you.
Draft due Thursday, September 11 (2 copies)
Draft due Friday, September 12th (2 copies)
Final draft due Monday, September 15th (1 copy with drafts/comments attached)
 Typed, double-spaced (except for the heading), Times New Roman, 12 pt., 1-inch margins
 Heading – in the upper left-hand corner, top to botto: Name, E7EB Period ____, Ms. Pohan,
due date, name of assignment
1
Michel de Montaigne