Self Reflection Final Essay Basic Structure

Problem, Struggle, Epiphany, Resolution: These stages are generic and, within a larger memoir...

Structure of the Personal Narrative Essay

How should you structure your personal narrative essay. Adair Lara, who has written countless personal essays and taught creative writing, and who is the author of the bestselling text, ”Naked, Drunk, and Writing”, suggests that the structure of a personal narrative essay or memoir essay include the following:


Problem, Struggle, Epiphany, Resolution: These stages are generic and, within a larger memoir

Problem Your goal is to describe an educational problem (including a life problem that gets in the way of education) in vivid details. 

• What is a significant writing/educational/personal problem that has impacted your learning?

• What is one educational assignment/project that illustrates your problem?

Struggle This problem creates conflict, which can be external (the outside world) and internal (within your mind or psyche) obstacles or setbacks

• How did the problem create conflict with the educational assignment? What were the SPECIFIC struggles (including your worries and actions) with the assignment?

Epiphany Your problem and struggle results in an epiphany or flood of new understanding. The epiphany transforms your story from merely an anecdote to a personal narrative that has significant meaning to you, and shared meaning with others.

• What do you realize about the problem and about yourself: about what you want, about what you have, about what abilities and skills you have, about goals, about your personality...........that will allow you to work through the problem?

• What knowledge of “the writing process” or as a scholar have you learned since that moment that you COULD NOW APPLY to your working through that specific problem? (Here is your sense of reflection, this second half of essay)

Resolution: Like a New Year’s resolution, you are not done. You are not perfect. You will likely relapse. What is your process for overcoming relapses?

• What steps are you taking as a scholar to make sure that problem does not come back to haunt you in the future?

• What are some things you’ve since learned about through your education that you are taking to solving similar problems?