Writing Personal Essays About Pop Culture

Incorporating a TV show or celebrity into an essay can be a great way to relate to readers, grab their attention, and touch on human experience.

Details

In this five-week class, we’ll discuss how to integrate cultural criticism and personal story in a way that deepens insights of both and reaches a broader audience. We will explore many different aspects of pop culture, such as horror films, reality TV, music artists, and social media influencers, reading essays by Leslie Jamison, Samantha Irby, Hanif Abdurraqib, Melissa Febos, Giaae Kwon, Kristen Arnett, and more. The class will provide readings, writing prompts, and written feedback on one essay that includes pop culture in some way.

What you will learn

In this class, we will discuss the benefits and challenges of including cultural criticism in our personal essays. We'll talk about how to connect personal and pop culture threads, considering the urgency, meaning, and insights that both elements add to the piece. To do this, we'll read essays about celebrities, film, TV shows, and music, experiment with writing prompts, and generate an essay for feedback up to 10 pages.

Workshop takeaways

- Discuss structures and techniques for blending cultural criticism with personal story - Read pop culture-infused essay examples - Experiment with generative writing prompts - Write one essay that incorporates pop culture in some way - Receive instructor feedback on up to 10 pages - 10-minute one-on-one phone call with the instructor

What you will be reading

Essays by Leslie Jamison, Samantha Irby, Hanif Abdurraqib, Melissa Febos, Giaae Kwon, Kristen Arnett, and more.

Additional info

Please be aware that we are a new and growing platform. Some of our workshops have minimum student requirements, so if enough don't sign up, we won't be able to run it. If this happens to a workshop you purchased, don't worry, you will be fully refunded.