As we (hopefully) near the end of this pandemic, it seems a good time to reflect back on these past 16 months. For your third essay, I would like you to choose a manageable aspect of your experience during this pandemic and then shape this into a reflective narrative essay. Along the way, look for opportunities to tie your experience to the experience of others, including larger social aspects that will put your story in the context ofand connect your story toother people.
The social/cultural (socio-cultural) elements will require at least some research (sources may be drawn from newspapers, magazines, books, popular culture, and so on, including from the assigned readings related to this assignment). However, do not mistake this for a research paper. There should be no in-text parenthetical citationsinstead, use footnotes.
You are not writing a diary or an essay that attempts to comprehensively cover what the pandemic has been like for you over these past many months. Rather, tell a narrative about a relevant aspect or episode from your experience during the pandemic.
Models: See assigned readings in the Resources folder (within the Files section on Canvas). While not about the pandemic, Barrett Swansons Notes from a Last Man effectively merges personal narrative and socio-cultural analysis while offering research-based details along the way (https://www.barrettswanson.com/writing [click on Best American Essays icontop row, far right]). I also encourage you to browse the essays discussed (with excerpts and relevant links) in the Vox article 12 Moving Essays about Life during Coronavirus https://www.vox.com/culture/2020/4/5/21208629/essays-life-during-coronavirus-arundhati-roy-david-byrne.
As always, strive for vivid, specific, precise vocabulary and thoughtful, reader-centered organization.
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