How can I avoid being “too specific”?
Rarely are students too specific in their choice of paper topics and use of language. However, students sometimes base all of their evidence strictly on the personal experiences of themselves and a few others. Personal experience can be a very powerful kind of evidence because it appeals to the emotions, sympathies and imaginations of your readers. For some assignments, using only personal evidence may be appropriate. However, in most cases, you need to back up personal experience with other types of evidence to show that what is true for a few individuals is representative of something more generally true.