Connecting the Personal
Composition Assignment #2: Profile Paper
Preliminary Readings/Models: “Soup” & “I’m Not Leaving ‘Til I Eat This Thing”
Profile Paper – modified from St. Martin’s Guide to Writing, 3rd ed.
Paper #3: Write a fully developed profile of a person, place or activity based on at least one
observation and at least one interview. Observe your subject closely, and then present what you
have learned in a way that both informs and engages readers. Treat this essay as if you are
writing for a magazine or newspaper. Final product should be 1200-1500 words, typed and
double-spaced. Your profile should be full of relevant detail and should take audience and
purpose into consideration. It is your job to make your subject interesting to the reader. Visual
Component: Assignment must integrate one image, which can be a digitized photograph, art,
graphic, etc. It should be integrated into the document digitally (not glued on the page) and it
should contribute to your readers’ understanding of your piece.
Steps: Plan ahead and pay attention to deadlines.
--Choose your subject: make a list of several subjects to consider for your essay [no roomates,
immediate family members, etc. – if you decide to profile a fellow student, o.k. it with me
first.]
--Check on accessibility: take steps to ensure that your subject will be accessible to you
--If you profile a professor, you cannot observe during the class you take with him/her.
--If you profile a sports event, you cannot be a participant. You cannot observe a team
member during your own practice. [see the point? You cannot pay attention in class while
you are observing, etc.]
--Test your choice: discuss your choice with group and/or class members. Assess their interest
in the person, place or activity and invite their advice about whether it sounds promising. Does it
seem likely to lead to a profile they would care to read?
--Explore your preconceptions: Explore your initial thoughts and feelings about your subject in
writing before you begin observing or interviewing (journal entry #5 due _____). Take about
fifteen minutes to write about your thoughts, using the following questions as a guide:
What do I already know about this subject?
How would I define or describe it?
What are its chief qualities or parts?
Do I associate anyone or anything with it?
What is its purpose or function?
How does it compare with other, similar subjects?
What is my attitude toward this subject?
Why do I consider this subject intriguing? What about it interests me?
Do I like it? Respect it? Understand it?
What do I expect to discover as I observe the subject?
What would surprise me about it?
Might I find anything amusing in it?
How do my preconceptions of the subject compare with other people’s?
What might be unique about my preconceptions?
What attitudes about this subject do I share with other people?
--Plan Your Project: set up a tentative schedule for your observational and interview visits.
Include date, time needed, purpose, preparation. (due ____)
--Pose Some Preliminary Questions: Write questions to prepare for your first visit. Think: who,
what, when, where, why, how. (due ____)
--Find a tentative interpretation: Write for about 15 minutes in order to find a tentative
interpretation of your subject. This is done best right after your observation/interview. (Treat
as a journal #6 entry due via email immediately following your interview/observation).
These questions may be helpful:
What visual or other sensory impression is most memorable?
What does this single impression tell me about the place?
What is the mood of the place? How do people seem to feel there?
What is most memorable about the people I observed and talked to?
What is most striking about the activity I observed? What is most likely to surprise or interest
my readers?
What was the most important thing I learned? Why is it important?
If I could find out the answer to one more question, what would the question be? Why is this
question so crucial? [then, go find the answer!]
What about this subject says something larger about our lives and times?
What generalization or judgment do these personal reactions lead me to?
At the end of this journal entry, in a sentence or two state what now seems to you to be a
promising interpretation of your subject. What do you want readers to see as they read your
profile? What do you want them to remember later about your subject? [this becomes your
thesis statement]
Planning & Drafting:
--Read over your material, you should have a good idea at this point of what you want to say
about your subject, as well as tons of information to illustrate your point. There will also
probably be extra information that you can discard as not relevant.
--Consider your readers and their knowledge base. Remember to define terms that may be
unfamiliar to them and to describe things in great detail to paint a picture in their minds.
--Come up with an interesting lead. What will draw the reader in?
--Organization: chronological? Topical? Spatial? – as in “Soup”?
--Come up with an interesting ending that will stick in the mind of the reader.
--Develop a sketch outline of your 3-4 main points and supporting details.
Time Table:
__________:
Journal Entry #5 exploring your preconceptions
Schedule for your observational and interview visits
__________:
__________:
__________:
__________:
Preliminary Questions
last possible date for Journal #6 (a tentative interpretation)
First draft due [for Writing Workshop]
Second draft due [for individual conference]
Final draft due in portfolio
Tips:
--create time table and stick to it – this will give you practice for future, real life, career projects.
--show up to your observation/interview with a pen and paper! Don’t be unprofessional.
--have questions prepared, with blank spaces under questions for jotting down notes/answers
--it is more important to pay attention to the speaker than to your notes. If you listen carefully,
you can jot down key words that will remind you of what the speaker said later, after the
interview. Give the proper respect to your interviewee. This could turn into an internship in the
future!
--Remember to say “Thank you.”
--if you do a good job on all of the prep work and leg work, the writing will come easily -- I
promise!
--come see me/email me at any time for help!