Personal Essay “This I Believe”: Analyzing Structure

Directions: Use the Chart below to discern the structure of the various personal essays that we read in class, you read on your own, and to think about how you wish to plan for your own.

Title/Author/Topic
Indicate approximate word count and number of paragraphs / Belief Statement (Claim) Please Write Out and indicate which paragraph(s) it was located in / Type of Evidence used to support the belief (claim)-Use DRAPES / What writing skill/ strategy do I like in this essay that I want to transfer to my own draft? / Counter-Argument
  1. 2nd hour
“Inner Strength from Desperate Times”
By: Jake Hovenden
Topic: Inner Strength
About 250-300 words
5 Paragraphs /
  • “I believe in inner strength.”
(2nd Paragraph, 3rd Sentence)
  • “I believe that inner strength emerges when times are desperate”
(5th Paragraph, 1st Sentence)
  • “I believe people sometimes refuse to give up, and they help others no matter the personal cost”
(5th Paragraph, 2nd Sentence) /
  1. Personal Experience
(“For three years, mystepmother…and never gave up.”)
  • Example
(“It was my step-mother…”) /
  • Reimagine/Restate/Expanding on I believe statements.
  • Transition fluently using context.
/ “I really had not appreciated what my stepmother had done before, but looking back I realize how much she did for my dad.” (Paragraph 4, Sentence 1)
  1. 3rd hour
“Finding the Flexibility to Survive”
By: Brighton Earley
Topic: Flexibility
About 350-400 Words
7 Paragraphs / 1. “I’ve learned to believe in flexibility”
(4th Paragraph, 1st sentence)
2.“I believe that being flexible keeps me going-keeps me from being ashamed of the way my family is different from other families”
(Paragraph 7, 2nd sentence)
3.“My belief in flexibility helps me get through the difficult times because I know that no matter what happens, my mother and I will always figure out a way to survive”
(Paragraph 7, last sentence) / 1.Personal Experience
(Paragraphs 1,2&3, 5&6)
2.Reflections
(Paragraphs 4&7) / Effective Transitions
The essay is built around the “I believe statement”
Very close and personal (names of places and streets)
Balanced personal experience with reflections to avoid writing a personal narrative
Stay concise and true to your belief / “Grocery shopping at Chevron has its drawbacks.” (Paragraph #5, sentences 1-5) and references continue throughout the next two paragraphs.
  1. 4th hour
“Tomorrow Will be a Better Day”
By: Josh Rittenberg
Topic: Optimism
Paragraphs: 7
Words: About 450 /
  • “I believe tomorrow will be better than today.” (Paragraph 3, Sentence 7)
  • “I believe my generation will see better things.” (Paragraph 5, Sentence 1)
  • “…and so do I.” (Paragraph 6, Sentence 5, referring to his belief as inherited)
  • “…tomorrow will be a better day. This, I Believe.”(Paragraph 7, Sentences 2-3)
/ Dialogue (Paragraphs 2 & 6)
Paragraph 2 Dialogue is a counterargument. Paragraph 6 Dialogue supports the “This, I Believe” statement.
Examples (Paragraphs 4 & 5)
Personal Experience (Paragraphs 1, 3, / Humor (allusion to Red Sox winning the World Series).
Setting the counterargument early and spending the rest of the essay defending the belief.
Invited others’ experiences (family relatives).
Zooming in (using dashes to elaborate with examples)-parentheticals. / “Instead, he was upset about the world his generation is turning over to mine, a world he fears has a dark and difficult future-if it has a future at all…”
(Paragraph 1, sentence 4 and continues to reference a quote that reiterates the counterargument).
  1. 6th hour
Title: “We are Each Other’s Business”
Author: Eboo Patel
Topic: Pluralism
Words: 350-400
9 paragraphs / “ I believe in pluralism.” (Paragraph 1, sentence 2)
“I believe in America is humanity’s best opportunity to make God’s wish that we come to know one another a reality.”
(Paragraph 1, sentence 4) /
  • Reflection
(Paragraph 6)
  • Personal experience (Paragraph 4)
  • Dialogue (Paragraph 8)
  • Example (Paragraph)
/ Be as candid as possible and as less preachy as you can.
Concentrate on the belief so that every example/quote/personal experience revolves around supporting it.
Balances personal with universal.
Stay personal (I, religious identity, locality of high school, picture in her office, the friends she hangs out with…).
The belief can be someone else’s nifty knowledge (poem, famous text,…) / “We live in a world where the forces that seek to divide us are strong.”
(Paragraph 3, sentence 1)
“They stand shoulder to shoulder facing the same direction, comfortable with the presence of one another and yet apart”
(Paragraph 2, sentence 3)
5.
6.
7.
8.