This document provides instructions for Assignment 3, which asks students to write a personal essay about an object that is important to their identity. The essay should include a description of the object, the history of how the student came to own it, and what the object means to the student. While there is no specific length, the exploration of the object and its meaning should be substantive and in-depth enough for the reader to understand the significance and history of the object. The essay should focus on a single important object, convey its meaning through clear description and the student's story, and be well-organized and written in polished English.

1. ENGL 208 Personal & Exploratory Writing
Assignment 3:
A Personal Object Essay
Description of Assignment
In this assignment, you will write a personal essay about an object that is important to
your identity in some way.
In your essay, you should include the following things, not necessarily in this order:
• A description of the object. The reader should be able to picture this object
clearly, so be sure to include sensory details.
• Your history with the object: what’s the story behind how you came to own this
object?
• What the object means to you – to understand this, you might write about how
you use it, what memories you have about it, what place it literally and
figuratively occupies in your life. Note that this is really the heart of your essay –
the object serves as both inspiration and placeholder to tell a certain story
about your identity.
While there is no specific length or word count for this essay, it should be a
substantive, not a shallow, exploration, and it should be in-depth enough so that the
reader comes to understand and appreciate the meaning and history of this
particular object.
Your fantastic essay will…
1. Be focused on a significant object, and describe it in enough detail that a
reader gets a clear image of it.
2. Clearly convey the significance of the object, and show how it contributes to
your story.
3. Be logically and deliberately organized.
4. Be written in polished, edited English (any mechanical choices that don’t
follow standard written English should be intentional, not accidental.)