A personal essay should assessed by the following content:
• Order of events
– Does the author have some sort of sequence in which he/she explains what happened. Does the author keep on jumping back and forth and do you get confused? For me it is easier to follow if I read in order whether it be from past to recent or recent to past.
• How well is the account recalled
– A personal essay should be about a certain event. Than it should be explained or made felt as if you understand why they are writing about it. Is there a lesson learned?
– Do they tell about something significant? Or is it pointless.
Technique or Clarity of writing
The ability to write so readers can easily comprehend your intended meaning of words that is written on a page. And weather if they find it relateable.
Writing Structure
Knowing how to present your information accordingly to the convention of a given genre and discipline.
Does your story have a timeline or is all over the place.
The End
I think the end is just as important as the beginning. Does your story conclude? or are you left wondering. you have to make sure your reader is aware of the point trying to give and maybe ring up an possible solution.
Thanks, Sharone, for posting this! It is a great start. Could you add a title to the post so we know which group compiled these guidelines for assessment? Could you also make it clearer what the categories are? Are there then sub-categories? Could you try to make these clearer?
I think the “how well the account is recalled” should be integrated into the Overall Guidelines. I think that credibility is a major factor. It is true, that we do not want to read a account that is badly remembered. If the account is written like it happened fifteen minutes ago, it becomes more enjoyable.
Though all the aforementioned points are of equal importance, I favor the “Order of events” category, and feel that its importance needs to be stressed and should be integrated into the overall guidelines. Incorporating sequence in your essay makes it much more powerful, and easier for readers to follow the course of direction of the writer.
Question: where are percentages that denotes the significance of your contents?
I would like to see Order of Events integrated into the Overall Assessment Guidelines for the Personal Essay. I find this most important beause it brings an esay together, no one can understand an essay that isnt in order and has different topics everwhere.
I believe the order of events is very crucial also. It provides a flow throughout the paper rather than having thoughts and ideas scattered throughout the pages. It organizes the evidence and ideas which help the reader understand the content better at the end.