Does anybody know any good novels that I could read that would give me good thoughts & vocab/prepare me to write a good personal essay ? (You know, a kind of nostaligic one that begins with an anecdote)
I have a test in 2 weeks where we will be writing an essay on a topic given on the day, therefore i can really prepare anything specific, but I was thinking reading a good book up until then may put me in good steed :)
Well, some books like Tooth and Nail are really interesting and have vocab. I'm not really sure what books can help with personal essays, but you could look up essays here on this site. Search through the Undergraduate Forum and I bet you'll see many good essays.
I don't think a book is the best thing to read right now. Fiction is very different from an essay.
Google this:
personal essay examples
Read them aloud.
Read Strunk and White's Eleme ts of Style and anything by Diana Hacker.
Write an essay for me, so I can see if you make mistakes! :-)
Books for writing an essay, do not think about it. If you want to improve writing, i recommend reading english news everyday and try to write some opinions about it. Do it everyday so your writing skill will improve.
You are surely going about this the wrong way. A book cannot bestow you with a large vocabulary in the way you are insinuating. However, if format is of any importance, you can study essay structure, including transitions and leading sentences.
