Using Personal Essay Topics in Research PapersPosted by Inna Steel on October 2nd, 2019 Personal essay topics can help you tremendously, all through the course of your academic career. In particular, they can be very beneficial when you move on to writing research papers. For those of you who have experienced personal essay writing, this may be hard to believe. However, think of some of the in depth, invasive, and even controversial topics you have been given. It is safe to say that, if you used those topics as a guideline to develop a stronger, more sound thesis, it would be perfect for both more serious essays and research papers. Just as the term suggests, when you write personal essays, you are writing about something you have experienced or you are giving your opinion on an issue. Personal essay topics are generally seen in middle school and high school but they are a great tool for college courses as well, especially the English and Literature classes you have during your first and second years. In all of those institutions, they are a favorite tool for teachers to use in order to get to know you. They will get to know about you as a person as well as a student, in addition to learning about your writing skills.
Before we go on, a little discussion about possible personal essay topics is definitely beneficial. You can generally spot a personal topic from a mile away, especially if they include any of the following terms: • “Tell about.” Example – Tell about a frightening experience you had when you were a child. How did you feel? What specifically was frightening? • “Describe.” Example – “Describe a meaningful event in your life. Was it positive or was it negative? Why do you think it affected you so much?” • “Relate.” Example – Relate an occasion in which you were very uncomfortable. What made you uncomfortable? How did you cope with it? How can such things help you in research paper writing? It is quite simple really. Think about it – in research papers, you have to tell about something. You have to describe something. You have to relate something to someone else. Personal essays are, again, a tool. In addition to teaching you about all the technical aspects of writing, they also equip you to craft good research paper topics yourself. You will learn about what kinds of questions to ask and to answer. Basically, personal essay topics can teach you how to write interesting research papers. Mind you, you will not learn how to do so overnight. In fact, you will probably have to write a lot of personal essays and go through a lot of topics. Still and all, they do lay down the right foundations. You have to start somewhere, after all, and both your high school teachers and the college professors you have early on are trying to help you. They are attempting to groom you for the more intensive, more tedious, more involved research paper writing and academic writing you will be seeing quite soon. Like it? Share it! |
