The best information I found on the personal essay genre was in the introduction of the book “The Art of the Personal Essay: An Anthology from the Classical Era to the Present” by Phillip Lopate. This excerpt was extremely detailed and broke up the genre into specific parts. There are a few quotes that were most interesting to me, one of them being “the conscience of the personal essay arises from the author's examination of his or her prejudices” (Lopate xxxi). I found this particularly relevant because it not only forces one to question one’s ‘ego’ when writing about the self, but also because the topic of colorism is inseparable from prejudices. I too have an implicit bias like everyone else. My own experiences and prejudices will undoubtedly show up in some way in my essay and need to be questioned. I appreciate how Lopate seemed to be defining the personal essay as an open and honest reflection on oneself.

​

Another quote that I found helpful was: “the trick is to realize that one is not important, except insofar as one’s example can serve to elucidate a more widespread human trait and make readers feel a little less lonely and freakish” (Lopate). The personal essay is both personal and universal at once, making it an effective tool in relating to the reader. One of the things that I wrote about in my ‘Why I Write’ essay was the idea of writing so that none of us will feel alone and I think the genre of the personal essay is an effective outlet for this purpose. When I read Joan Didion’s After Life, I was able to relate to her descriptions of the grieving process even without experiencing it myself, and she was able to separate her story from others, while still remaining relatable and human.

​

One site that was also very helpful in understanding the personal essay was Grammarly I learned that personal essays can take on practically any form the writer wishes, allowing it to be an extremely flexible genre. It is also conversational in nature and includes a strong hook that can convince readers that one’s story is important. It really inspired me to think about how I want to present the message I want to send to my readers; rather than just sharing my experiences- I want to make people think.

​

Another personal essay that I read last semester that seems closest to what I want to do with my own experiment is called “On Fighting” by Gawande. In this piece, Gawande, who is a doctor, weaves together a bunch of connected personal stories on when he decided to let his patients go or keep fighting. I appreciated the way he created a patchwork of stories to create a beautiful quilt that conveyed a powerful message about being a caretaker and healer.

​

Since I am personally familiar with colorism because I have experienced it myself throughout my life, I didn’t do very extensive research on this topic. For my other experiments, research is probably much more necessary. For this reason, I am only discussing one of the articles I found on colorism. The most summative article I found was called “The Persistent Problem of Colorism: Skin Tone, Status, and Inequality” by Margaret Hunter. It gave a general overview of colorism in many different contexts and gave me some background knowledge surrounding the conversation that is being had about colorism. From schools, to the economic market, to perception of beauty, darker skinned people are at a disadvantage in many different societies due to a history of colonialism and slavery. My experiment fits in perfectly, as it gives a real-world example of the research and statistics summarized in the article. It will also give a unique spin on sociological concepts because it will focus exclusively on the individual (myself) instead of the collective.