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Personal Essay Revision Notes, Past Papers & Questions for Leaving Cert English

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Writing a Personal Essay for the Leaving Cert: Tips and Strategies

Updated: Feb 17

Introduction to the Personal Essay

As a Leaving Cert student, you may be required to write a personal essay as part of your exams or coursework. A personal essay is a piece of writing that explores a personal experience, opinion, or belief. It allows you to express your thoughts and feelings about a particular topic and can be a powerful way to convey your personality and values to readers.

Choosing a Topic for Your Personal Essay

One of the key steps in writing a personal essay is choosing a topic that is meaningful and engaging for you. The best personal essay topics are often personal experiences or events that have had a significant impact on your life or beliefs.

They may also be issues or ideas that you are passionate about and want to explore in more depth.

When choosing a topic, it's important to consider your audience and the purpose of your essay. If you're writing a personal essay for a college application, for example, you may want to choose a topic that showcases your unique qualities and experiences and aligns with the values and mission of the college.

It's also a good idea to choose a topic that you feel comfortable and confident writing about. Avoid choosing a topic that is too broad or abstract, or that you don't have enough personal experience with to write about with depth and insight.

Tips for Structuring Your Personal Essay

Once you've chosen a topic, the next step is to organize your thoughts and ideas into a clear and cohesive structure. A typical personal essay will have an introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion.

The introduction should introduce your topic and provide some context for your essay. You might also want to include a thesis statement, which is a sentence that states your main argument or point of view.

The body paragraphs should support your thesis and provide specific examples and details to illustrate your points. Each paragraph should focus on a specific aspect of your topic and have a clear topic sentence that introduces the main idea of the paragraph.

The conclusion should summarize your main points and restate your thesis, and may also include a call to action or a reflection on the significance of your topic.

Tips for Writing a Strong Personal Essay

To write a strong personal essay, there are a few key tips to keep in mind:

Use concrete details and specific examples to illustrate your points: Rather than just stating your beliefs or opinions, use specific examples and details to bring your essay to life and make it more persuasive.

Use a clear and engaging writing style: Avoid using jargon or overly complex language, and aim for a clear and engaging writing style that is easy for readers to follow.

Use transitions to connect your ideas: Use transitional words and phrases to help your essay flow smoothly and logically from one idea to the next.

Edit and proofread your essay carefully: Make sure to revise and proofread your essay carefully to catch any mistakes or awkward phrasing. It can be helpful to read your essay aloud or have someone else read it to catch any errors.

Seek feedback and guidance: Don't be afraid to ask for feedback from a teacher or peer on your essay. They can provide valuable insights and suggestions for improvement.

In conclusion, the personal essay is a valuable opportunity for Leaving Cert students to express their thoughts and feelings about a personal experience.

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Personal Essay: Moments of Insight and Revelation for Leaving Cert English #625Lab

Write a personal essay in which you reflect on moments of insight and revelation you have experienced (2017)..

This is a good attempt at a personal essay showing a lot of promise, but it will need a few tweaks before it can get a H1. The latter half is much more personal – and fits the bill a lot better. Insights and revelations should probably be about yourself, about what you learnt about yourself or you would like to change about yourself as 1) it’s meant to be personal, 2) even for the brightest people, it will be quite hard to generate a bona fide insight about the world. On that latter note, try not to bring politics into your essays because most Leaving Cert students don’t have a good enough grasp of it to make a sturdy argument, but you do risk an unconscious bias from an examiner who has their own views.    You may also like:  Complete Guide to Leaving Cert English  (€). 

Experience. Without it, we can’t develop as humans, and everyone’s experiences are different. During my short existence on planet Earth, I have gained a lot of knowledge and insight through these experiences. (It’s a redundant sentence, I would get rid of it.) As we all well know, life lessons and revelations don’t appear in rainbows, birthday parties and happiness, but through loss, hardship and disappointment. The loss of people, seeing unimaginable suffering and near-death experiences alarm us and awaken our consciousness. From this suffering, we learn, grow and flourish. In the last few years of my life, I have seen, lost and loved more than my fair share, but hey, that’s life. I travelled, I cried, and I mourned. But through these, enlightenments, my horizons have broadened, and I have become a better person.

• Post author: Martina
• Post published: February 25, 2018
• Post category: #625Lab / English / Personal essay

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