Georgia Military College The Purchase An Special Event Paper
Compose an essay in MLA format of a thousand or more words of affective mnemonic narrative. Using the techniques of concrete description you mastered in essay one, depict a single moment of great emotional importance in your life. Focus not on what you felt, but on the precipitating event itself. Focus, in other words, not on the abstract concepts of sadness, joy, love, grief, etc., but only on the actual physical details of that singled-out event which brought your emotion into being. Ideally you will not directly reference the event itself, but only the physical reality in which it occurs. Depict a single moment, not what leads up to or follows it. Pure description is still your goal, only this time you choose the beginning, middle, and end; in other words you choose the form. Consider carefully, before you write, the point of view and the verb tense you wish to use. Remember that third person has the advantage of creating the illusion of emotional distance on the part of the narrator, and that first person allows you to manipulate the status and reliability of the “truth” of the story being told. Keep references to the self (the pronominal “I”) to a bare minimum. Do not use the passive voice. Proofread carefully, aloud. Strive for clarity with brightness, economy with precision, richness without wordiness. Appeal to the senses.
