A presentation for my writing project which consists of a series of personal, narrative essays detailing my unique religious experience: being raised and confirmed Protestant, then being told to convert to Catholicism by my family, and being confirmed in that church. The results of the heterogamous, religious parenthood are similar to what a variety of studies show: the secularization of the child. The essays are observational, reflective, and are structured chronologically and sacramentally; i.e., they are ordered thus: Baptism, Reconciliation (Conversion), Reconciliation (Confession), Confirmation (CCD), Confirmation (Confirmation Retreat), Confirmation (Ceremony), and there is an afterword on Matrimony.
2. About My Project
• Narrative personal essays
• Spirituality/self-discovery
• Reflective
• Not meant to be offensive
3. Project Development
• Structure of Essays- Chronological vs.
Sacramental- a compromise
• Voice and Perspective- myself then vs. now
• Research Placement- what do I do with this
stuff I looked up?
4. Project Issues/Problems
• Memory- very good
at blocking
• Timeline- how many
essays and where?
• Offensive- Where is
that line based on
observation?
5. Project Progress
• Currently have 16 pages
written
• Essays up to first Mass
• Still missing essays on
CCD, Confirmation
Retreat, Confirmation,
and the afterword on
Matrimony
• How long will this be? I
don’t know.
6. Reading an Excerpt
An excerpt from the essay on Confession
Titled “Forgive Me Father, for I Have
Sinned”
