Sometimes you will get a college assignment that allows or invites you to bring in personal perspective or personal story or personal example into the paper. When students do this, they often really do a great job telling the story, but then are at a loss on how to bring in academic support for their story. BUT, it is actually pretty easy (or at least it is doable, lol) to do this. Here are the steps:
1. Write up your personal story/anecdote/example
2. Now, ask yourself, "What concept is found in my story?" (sometimes there might be more than one concept, but pick one.)
3. Do a 3-4-5 that explores, explains the concept. DO NOT mention your story at this point. (No Names in 3-4-5's)
4. Now that you have your concept, look into your prompts, texts, readings to find support for the concept.
5. You are ready to build a Paragraph. You have a concept that you did a 3-4-5 for, you have 2 kinds of support for the concept --your personal story, and your quote support from the readings.
6. Write your paragraph!
