In about 3 pages (roughly 750 words), convey your relationship to literature and the English language.

Helpful Readings:

* Personal Essays: How to Write Them
* Show, Don't (Just) Tell
* Crisis vs. Conflict
* Step-by-step Instructions for Formatting MLA Papers

Objectives:
* Submit stapled pages, 12pt double spaced Times New Roman, following MLA style (title block, header, pagination, etc.).
* Demonstrate your committment to English studies by writing grammatically correct, stylistically pleasing, well-organized prose.
* Focus on a single theme and develop it with specific, illuminating examples.

Intended audience: Undeclared SHU freshmen.

Tips
* Be creative, but not overly flowery. If you write a narrative essay, don't confuse crisis and conflict.
* Be informative, but not overly dry. If you write an informative essay, your conclusion should not merely summarize what the reader has just read.
* Avoid phrases like "I think" or "It seems to me." Your whole essay represents your viewpiont, so there is no need for such labels.
* Avoid phrases like "clearly" or "obviously." If what you're saying really is clear, you don't need to label it as such. If what you're saying really isn't clear, adding a label won't help.
* Trim needless words. Instead of "hot and moist," write "sultry." Instead of "The scene I beheld was hard to believe. I stared at the mountains, marveling at how high they were. The longer I tried to comprehend them, the taller they seemed to get, and the more insignificant I felt", try "The mountains loomed impossibly. With each blink, I shrank."

Sample prompts:

• Why are you an English major?
  
• What work of literature has changed your life?
  
• Who is your literary hero -- an author or a fictional character?
  
• What part of literary study fascinates, annoys, or scares you?