The Alchemist: Personal Journey
Instructions for Personal Journey Essay
The Alchemist: Personal Journey – This is a 6-paragraph paper wherein students are to begin exploring a personal journey comparing the obstacles faced by the main character throughout the novel and one’s personal struggles. This is not a thesis paper but a creative journey story, with a beginning and end in a similar manner as the novel—your end could be arriving at Esperanza College. Although this is not a thesis paper, you are still expected to cite the novel in all your comparisons.
You are going to use the 4 obstacles from the introduction to the book. These are:
-First, we are told from childhood onward that everything we want to do is impossible.
-The second obstacle: love. We know what we want to do, but are afraid of hurting those around us by abandoning everything in order to pursue our dream.
-The third obstacle: fear of the defeats we will meet on that path.
-Then comes the fourth obstacle: the fear of realizing the dream for which we fought all our lives.
These are the basis for your essay. You must mention these word for word and cite them using MLA in-text citations somewhere in the essay. This means you can mention them in the introduction word-for-word or in the body paragraphs word-for-word. You can do it in both places but you don’t have to. You can reword them in one of those places if you wish.
It is about you and your journey. You must also include 3 additional quotes from the book and cite them.
The essay will consist of 6 paragraphs. The introduction paragraph will introduce the reader to the novel, to Santiago, and to you. Assume the reader does not know anything about the book, the main character, or you. Write an interesting hook, give the background information, and them write a great thesis. The thesis is the main idea, or the main argument. Your thesis will discuss how you have faced obstacles on your journey to Esperanza College. Each body paragraph will address one obstacle. Mention the obstacle, how it affected Santiago, and how it has affected you. Give a substantial explanation, not just one or two sentences. You might find that you have not faced all of the obstacles. If this is the case, explain why you did not face it. What was different? Finally, the conclusion will sum up what you have already written. What can you and the reader take away from this powerful novel? Do you have an opinion, suggestion, or prediction to close your essay? Add a Works Cited page to include the MLA citation of the novel.
