Personal Essay Topic Proposals

Personal Narrative Topic Proposals

Your paper proposal needs to include 3 possible personal narrative paper topics. Choose 3 different themes that you might want to write on. You may choose themes that we discussed in class or one that you found in Persepolis that you would like to write about. These themes must connect to something in your own life. For example, the theme of feeling like an outsider might lead you to write about how you felt on your first day in a new school or camp. You need to briefly describe this personal story and how it relates to Marji’s own experience feeling like an outsider when she moved to Austria.

Each possible topic proposal must include:

• a tentative title
• one paragraph synopsis of your personal story and to what part of Marji’s story you will connect with your experience
• one visual symbol that relates to your story’s “so, what?”
• 3 possible textual references you may use in your personal essay

The purpose of this pre-writing assignment is to force you to select and explore multiple topics, and to make sure that you will be able to find textual examples and themes from which to prepare your essay.

Sample Format:

Tentative Title

Paragraph talking about my story idea. I will briefly describe the theme that I want to write about and how it connects to my own life. Then I will talk about the situation in my life that I would write about and how it relates to something Marji went through in the book. I might also include how Marji’s story differs from my own reaction or solution to an internal or external conflict. I might also include something about how I wish I had reacted like Marji with her confidence and bravery.

My Visual Symbol: Just describe it here, no need to draw it now.

3 Textual Examples:

1. pg. 1-2: A brief description of what I want to reference.
2. pg. 178-180: A brief description of what I want to reference.
3. pg. 222: A brief description of what I want to reference.