My "sense of being Irish" - how to approach this essay?

I was asked to write a essay on "the sense of being Irish" and am unsure as to how this should be approached. Should i write from my own experiences or from a narrative /short story way. I am quite sure the rest of my class will write from their experiences and I would like to stand out as this essay counts for 40% of my year grade.

PLEASE HELP

Alright. This is my attempt at helping. I's so far from Irish it isn't even funny, but I've written things about being of Indian origin, so this is what I thought of.

This is one of those essays you can't rationalize, I think. Write whatever first comes to your mind, and then work on it stylistically. Don't overthink it, or it may not be as good as it can be.

Writing a short story/narrative piece can be an inspired choice, because it can become intensely personal. What you could do, which I think may work, would be to write about something that's happened to you or someone you know in an unusually form of writing (example: use second person, especially if an event almost every person in Ireland goes through).

Writing about your culture gives ou the opportunity to use some self depracating humor; Poke a little fun at the Irish! Just make your true feelings(hopefully a positive feeling about your culture) shine through at the end.

Hope I helped!

Thanks I will try and incorporate this style to my essay