Your assignment is to Write a Personal Essay on two members from your Family Tree. You should have completed your Family Branch Worksheets for this. If not, you may do so now.

Using your worksheets for reference write a personal essay about your family members. You may write about each one separately or combine them into one essay. For example, if you are writing about your Mother and Father, then you may want to write about them together. If you're writing about a member on each side of your family, then you may want to introduce them separately.

1. Compile your answers from the first two sections, FAMILY TREE INFORMATION and PHYSICAL FEATURES, into your first set of paragraphs. This is your Introduction.
2. Using your responses from the next three sections, EDUCATIONAL & OCCUPATIONAL EXPERIENCES and HOBBIES/INTERESTS, form your next set of paragraphs. This is your Body.
3. The final section, LASTING IMPRESSION, will comprise your Conclusion.

Some hints to keep in mind while writing...

• Keep your audience in mind. Imagine you are writing to a specific person, say, your best friend or a co-worker. Picture that person in your mind's eye as you introduce these family members. This will keep your writing personal.
• Use your natural "voice". This is a personal essay...don't try to be an "author". Write conversationally. This will help your audience relate better to you.
• Give examples of similarities & differences. Relate to your reader by showing how you relate to these family members. Not only do you share the same bloodline, but you also have other things in common yet remain unique.
• Enjoy sharing these relations. The purpose of this exercise is to record some relationships. You're not being graded. You're just introducing some family members and your audience wants to meet them. So, enjoy telling about them.

After completing this assignment, you will have acheived Objective #2 on our Family Tree Syllabus. If you have not completed the other two objectives yet, go back to the syllabus and see what you have left to do. CONGRATULATIONS on finishing this chapter in your Family Tree section of your memoir.

Consider what your next chapter will be...

How To Write ::  Suggested Chapters ::  Creative Writing Prompts ::  Journal Writing Prompts ::  Writing Exercises ::  Memoir Writing Tips ::  Ghostwriting ::  Get Published  :: Keep a Journal  :: Write a Letter  :: Make a Picture Scrapbook  :: Submit Your Story  :: Create an MBM Album  :: Publish a Book  :: First Visit to "The Old City"  :: Down Memory Lane  :: America  :: A Star is Born  :: Unconscious Truth  :: I was Touched by an Angel  :: The Middle Child  :: Dad  :: The Music Man  :: Two Dreams  :: 911  :: Once a Man, Twice a Child  :: Mission Space  :: The Night Before Christmas  :: Snow Hill Sniper  :: I Laid My Head in My Mother's Lap  :: Electroboy  :: The Glass Castle