Autobiographical writing assignments are essays or research papers which explain or evaluate a particular subject with reference to the writer’s experiences. If you have been asked to write an autobiographical essay, there are certain things which can help you handle the project well.

First and foremost, check your guidelines to see how much liberty you have with the technical aspects of the project. Figure out what the objective of your professor was, in assigning an autobiographical essay to you instead of a normal one. Usually the aim of such a project is to enhance the students’ power to evaluate a situation by using his or her experiences as a source. Even though it sounds very easy, it is not exactly so.

If you have been given the option of choosing a topic for yourself, you need to spend some time to think about it and choose a good topic which you can turn into an interesting essay. Since the task is to look into your own life, it can get difficult to concentrate on a particular theme. But focus is absolutely necessary for this type of assignment, especially when you are choosing the topic.

Narrating random incidents from your life is not difficult but finding an experience which others would find interesting and worth listening to, is the tough part. It is quite natural to feel that each of your life’s experiences is more impressive and interesting than the rest. But since you cannot give your entire life history in an autobiographical essay, you have to close in on one single experience which is interesting and enlightening at the same time.

To make sure that your essay has served some kind of a purpose, ask yourself:

• Why would you tell a group of students or teachers about this particular incident?
• What is there, in the story, that might be of interest to anyone other than yourself?

You may check the conclusion of your essay to figure out what point it has managed to convey or what fact it has established. If your conclusion sounds empty and you fail to find anything relevant to fill it with, then you might as well reconsider the topic you have chosen and rewrite the essay.

Remember that an interesting essay is not what sounds interesting to you but that which appeals to the reader or the audience. To make your essay interesting, you have to apply your narration skills while preparing the draft. And for that, you may follow these simple tips:

• Do not give away too much in the introduction.
• Conclude the story before the conclusion.
• Do not discuss the essence of your essay, the way you discuss the moral of a story.
• Convey the moral indirectly, in an interesting way, in the conclusion.

While handling an academic writing assignment, pay due attention to your written language, because the presentation of a topic is very important.

A good autobiographical essay should have an introduction which will make the reader eager to read on, body paragraphs which are enlightening and a conclusion which can leave a lasting impression on the reader.

Shakespeare’s plays are delightful to read and extremely interesting to interpret. For English literature students, it is one of the most important parts of their literature education. But ‘The Merchant of Venice’ is one story which is taught at the very early stages of education. Writing an essay on The Merchant of Venice will be easy once you understand the story well enough.

The main characters you have to worry about while writing the essay on The Merchant of Venice are:

• Antonio – a respectable Venetian gentleman
• Bassanio – Antonio’s closest friend
• Portia – Bassanio’s lover who gets married to him within the story
• Shylock – An evil Jew who is a money-lender

The play begins with Antonio brooding over how to help Antonio raise the funds necessary for his marriage to his lover Portia, who is a wealthy heiress. Antonio has no money to spare at the moment as his ships carrying his business profits are not yet back. Finally he asks Bassanio to take a loan using his good will as guarantee.

Shylock is an evil and ill-natured man and hates Antonio for his virtues and popularity. He has an old grudge towards Antonio. When Bassanio approaches him asking for the loan, he agrees after making them sign a bond saying he can cut off a pound of flesh from Antonio’s body, if he fails to pay the debt back within three months. Antonio agrees as his ships are due long before three months.

Bassanio wins Portia’s hand in marriage but soon learns that Antonio’s ships have gone missing which has left him unable to pay Shylock’s debt. He also learns that Shylock was about to cut off a pound of flesh from Antonio’s body, according to the bond. He leaves everything behind and rushes to Antonio’s aid. He offers Shylock thrice the sum due to him in return for the cancellation of the bond.

But Shylock, whose intention is only to get rid of Antonio refuses any kind of compensations. Portia who had followed Bassanio, presents herself in the court as a lawyer and states that Shylock should be permitted to take a pound of flesh from Antonio as per bond as long as he doesn’t spill even a drop of blood as the bond doesn’t refer to that.

Realizing the trap he is in, Shylock changes his mind to take the offered sum of thrice the amount but Portia argues that nothing is due to him but a pound of flesh and the punishment for trying to murder a gentleman. Shylock’s assets get divided between the state and Antonio and he is made to convert into a Christian.

The aspects of the essay you write changes with the level of your education. But knowing the story is important for any level of essay writing. You should also understand the characters and the role they have played in the story to be able to write a very interesting essay on the topic. Once you have figured out so much, writing an essay on The Merchant of Venice should be a very enjoyable writing assignment.