I believe a personal essay is a type of literary text that can incorporate many other styles of writing. The main purpose of a personal essay is to communicate a memory from one person to another. Since the author is not bound to conveying a message, they can implement a variety of styles in order to communicate their memory/feelings with the greatest accuracy. Examples of this could be shifting from 3rd to 1st person narrative through the story or using excessively long sentences to build imagery in order to set the scene for the reader.
I think the most defining characteristic of personal essays is how they have a very casual structure, as though you’re having a conversation with someone. This makes them very efficient in storytelling because it is essentially like the author is there with you telling you the story in person; I think this is often highlighted by the author’s personal idiosyncrasies being reflected in the text.
