Makes several points relating to personal essays: (1) personal essays can be defined as having "presence"; (2) the personal essay is both historically and currently a relative rarity; (3) "personal" does not necessarily mean a display of innermost self; (4) voguish denials of the human subject militate against the personal essay; and (5) personal…

Focuses on how textual analysis might be renovated at a level as basic as freshman writing. Considers the possibility of combining textual analysis with personal narrative and reporting. Considers how recent literary criticism utilizes personal narrative strategies. Outlines six ways authorial presence is detectable in critical works. (HB)

Focuses on how various literacy narratives portray passages between language worlds. Considers how such passages are relevant to a writing pedagogy. Stresses the relationship between such literacy passages is useful in basic writing contexts. Analyzes two essays written by one student who portrays such a literacy passage. (HB)