! Many things have contributed to who we are, and we will continue to experience many more influences and changes.

This !
Question Breakdown: PART 1: Explanation

Prompt for Reflective Essay #2: Personal Narrative: The Many Components of You

essay is an opportunity to reflect on those elements that we feel have had the greatest impact on who we are and who we will be in the future. Using Richard Rodriguezs memoir as an inspiration, reflect on the spheres of you these may include public vs. private personas, family, language, education, beliefs/morals, race, professional goals, or others. You are also welcome to draw on any other reading from this semester.

Introduce yourself and the characteristics or influences that you feel are most important in your life. This should not be just a list, but rather a personal reflection on who you understand yourself to be.

! !

Explain the different aspects or values of you. Why are these the important ones?

PART 2: Exploration! Explore each of these areas/values more in depth. Discuss how they contributed to your personality, why they are valuable. Rodriguez focuses on these issues: family, language, education, belief/morals, race, and profession, and he separates them into distinct chapters. Be conscious about how you choose to organize your sections. How have these traits brought you to where you are today?

PART 3: Analysis What is the value in these traits? How will they take you through life? Have you spent time reflecting on these influences? What did you conclude? Do you think that you will change drastically over the next decade or two? Or have you reached a point where you dont think you will change much more? Have any of these influences led to difficult decisions or consequences? Anything you are very proud of or wish you had done differently?

PART 4: Synthesis Finally, bring the explanation, exploration, and synthesis elements together again. Wrap them up by talking about the whole that these separate influences and characteristics comprise (you!). How do you/will you interact with society and your community at college and beyond because of who you are? What are ways that you might want to change or grow? What are aspects you want to maintain? Explain how you might apply your conclusions to your life. This might mean actions you take, a change in attitude, or plans to explore the matter further.

Your paper should be about 5 pages, typed and double-spaced. With a title thats not just Essay #2 and your name and class info clearly printed on the front.

! !