Essay

Consider

CONSIDER telling a story that shows the reader something about you through your writing. Writing an essay can be intimidating. “What do I write about?”, “What do they want to hear?”, “How can I tell them all about me in one essay?”, are questions that come to mind. Storytelling comes naturally and is more real than writing directly about your qualities, abilities and accomplishments. The person reading your essay probably reads hundreds of essays in a short time; stories are easier to read and have more of an impact on the reader than a standard, all-inclusive essay where you tell about yourself and your accomplishments. WRITE the lead. This is the most important part of your essay; it is the place to “grab” the reader’s attention, to make them want to read more. Writing the lead implies that you have an idea of where you will be going with the essay. You will need to start with an incident, anecdote, event, or perhaps a person, quote or scene. This will be the vehicle which will carry the reader to discover the qualities about yourself you may have identified in the previous steps. The lead need not reveal anything about you right away.

Examples

Lead Examples:

1. The frigid Pasco wind burned my face, chilled

my bones. I wanted to be back in my living room, curling up in a quilt next to the big brick fireplace with a steamy mug of hot chocolate.

2. She is four feet six inches tall. Her wrinkled

body stands wrapped in a hand-knit sweater, like a figure from classic painting. On her feet are heavy, black leather shoes with thick soles, like the ones on my white-haired grandfather in the old yellowing photographs.

3. During my first week of high school I thought

I had a sign on my back that said “new kid, look at me!” At least it seemed that way from the glances that came my way. I knew no one, and at the moment had no desire to open my mouth and introduce myself. WRITE the essay. Sometimes the lead will naturally begin the flow of the essay...