Nca-sussman.weebly.com



Unit 4 Portfolio: Personal Narrative Writing/ College Application EssayMost colleges require students to submit an essay for their admission application to college. If you don’t plan to attend college or you are not applying to a college that requires an essay, don’t worry! These essay prompts are wonderful for exploring your life experiences up to this point and how you can present your unique traits and qualities in any situation, beyond just a college application. Select one of the essay prompts to write about. Your essay should be a minimum of 5 paragraphs but I recommend that you make it a little longer in order to stand out from the crowd of applicants!The 2019-2020 Common Application Essay PromptsThese are the real application prompts, and they can be found on this website: . Some students have a background, identity, interest, or talent that is so meaningful they believe their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, then please share your story.2. The lessons we take from obstacles we encounter can be fundamental to later success. Recount a time when you faced a challenge, setback, or failure. How did it affect you, and what did you learn from the experience?3. Reflect on a time when you questioned or challenged a belief or idea. What prompted your thinking? What was the outcome?4. Describe a problem you've solved or a problem you'd like to solve. It can be an intellectual challenge, a research query, an ethical dilemma - anything that is of personal importance, no matter the scale. Explain its significance to you and what steps you took or could be taken to identify a solution.5. Discuss an accomplishment, event, or realization that sparked a period of personal growth and a new understanding of yourself or others.6. Describe a topic, idea, or concept you find so engaging that it makes you lose all track of time. Why does it captivate you? What or who do you turn to when you want to learn more?7. Share an essay on any topic of your choice. It can be one you've already written, one that responds to a different prompt, or one of your own design. (Ms. Sussman: If you use an essay you’ve written, please plan to revise it in some way to make it your gold standard essay!)Tips for Writing a Stellar College Application Essay:(collected from research on various websites)Start early and write several drafts.Answer the question being asked. Take the time to understand the question being asked.Write about something that’s important to you. Keep your focus narrow and personal.Don’t just recount--- reflect! Describe what you learned from the experience and how it changed you.Find a creative angle to highlight yourself or how you would be a good student for that school.Do not feel pressure to share every detail of challenging experiences, but also do not feel that you need to have a happy ending or solution.Tell a good story! Engage the reader in your story! Share the events with a beginning, middle, and end.Don’t be afraid to use humor if that comes naturally or connects to your story. However, don’t throw in corny jokes that don’t relate to get a laugh.Be honest. Don’t write what you think the admissions officers want to hear.Use strong language, but write like you speak. Don’t throw in “big” words to impress unless you are comfortable with those words. Use your own voice to tell your story. Show, Don’t Tell. Use vivid language to help the reader picture the scene or capture the emotion of the moment.Use strong verbs and sophisticated sentence structure.Read it aloud.Ask a teacher or parent for feedback.Writer’s Checklist:Does this story capture you as a person?? Do you leave a lasting impression?Does your story have a message?? Is there a strong idea that the readers can take from this story about you?Does your story hook the reader and keep the reader engaged?Does your writing show, not tell? Did you use vivid, rich sensory images?Did you answer the question and stay on topic?Did you check your grammar and spelling? Did you achieve sentence fluency (varied sentence lengths and varied sentence structure)?Holistic Grading based on the above Tips and Checklist items. Submit your word document to the dropbox when completed. ................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download