A personality essay is an essay that is written about your own personality or the personality of someone you know. It could be someone you know personally or a celebrity, politician or historical figure. You will be required to analyze the individual's personality as well as demonstrate knowledge of the theory of how personalities are formed. Demonstrating this type of knowledge will require some research. You will also need to use your own ideas to draw conclusions about how the person’s personality was formed from factors such as their experience, influences, education, and background.
Read through your instructor’s directions for the personality essay carefully. In order to write a good personality essay, you will need to follow the directions of your assignment. For example, your instructor may have certain elements that you must include in the paper, or you may be provided with a list of possible people to write about.
Make a list of possible people who could be the subject of your personality essay. You may have to write about yourself, or you may be able to choose someone you know or admire. Your list should contain people you feel would be most interesting to write about. Think about the people on your list and make your choice based on your own personal preferences and your assignment.
Research your topic. This will involve gathering information on the person you’re writing about and on the psychological theories behind how personalities are formed. Journal articles and psychology books can help you research personalities in general. If possible, interview the person you’re writing about. If it’s someone famous or a historical figure, you will need to utilize website articles, academic journals and reference books for your research. If the essay is about you, interview your friends and family members about your personality.
Write the outline for your essay. Your introduction should explain who you are writing about and why you chose to focus on that person. The introduction should also outline the main points of your essay. Each body paragraph should contain a topic sentence and discuss details about that topic. For example, one paragraph might be about how your childhood shaped your present personality. Use specific examples from your childhood to back up this point. Your conclusion summarizes your essay and might explain what you learned by completing the assignment.
Edit and revise your personality essay. Add more details to your paragraphs, including information you found during your research. Double check your introduction to be sure it accurately describes what your essay is about. Proofread the personality essay to make sure there are no misspelled words, typos or awkward sentence structures. Revising and proofreading will ensure you’ve written a good essay.
Related Articles
Writer Bio
J. Johnson has been completing freelance writing work since September 2009. Her work includes writing website content and small client projects. Johnson holds a degree in English from North Carolina State University.