Personal Narrative Essay

1 Name:________________ Writing the Personal Narrative: Reflecting to Make Sense of One’s Experience You are to write a narrative essay that provides a detailed personal account of some memorable incident and reflects upon that event in a way that leads your intended audience to understand your argument/position/purpose. Your narrative should introduce and resolve a single conflict. Ideally, the incident should cover only a short period of time (five minutes, a half hour, perhaps one afternoon), not a long period of days, weeks, or months. Start your narration in the middle of the action. You may offer necessary background information as your narration unfolds. I would anticipate your narrative to be 2-3 pages in length following MLA guidelines. Make deliberate choices about diction, syntax, tone, imagery, and detail, as carefully selected style choices can help to strengthen your argument. You may use as models any of the narratives/memoirs read in class. As you write your narrative, please consider the following as discussed during the unit: ● Personal narrative writing can lead to formation of identity. ● Personal narrative writing can lead to recognition of identity. ● Refection on experience challenges our beliefs about who we are. ● Reading about other people’s experience can cause us to reflect on our own identities. ● One writer’s particular narrative can relate to more universal human experience. ● Examining incidents from multiple perspectives can provide more powerful insights than seeing them from a single perspective. ● The formation of identity is fluid yet constant ● All written documents, no matter how objective, have a human element to them that lead to bias. ● Writers use tone, diction, imagery, detail, syntax, and organization to depict an experience that communicates some universal truth about life. 2 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Brainstorm memorable incidents. Identify lessons learned from each. Choose an incident. Cluster/pre-write/ use inductive thinking. Begin to write the timeline of minor events that make up your story. Begin to recall and write down sensory imagery, thoughts, statements you can remember. Begin to compose by identifying your argument, persuasive purpose, and intended audience. 8. Finish the composition. 9. Revise the composition to meet the rubric standards. 10. Allow a trusted friend to read it and make suggestions. 11. Revise again. 12. Edit for spelling and mechanics. As you draft your narrative, please consider the “Top Thirteen” List of Instructions for Writing a LOUSY Narrative Descriptive Essay: 1. Have birds and squirrels show up at just the right moment to teach people an invaluable lesson. 2. Attempt to prove a thesis that everyone already believes or choose an argument that you’ve heard before. 3. Use elevated language, borrowed from a thesaurus, that doesn’t sound like you at all in order to make the essay sound stilted or to make you sound super smart. 4. Provide insufficient background (where? when? who? why?) for the story to make sense so that you know what you’re writing about but your audience has no idea. 5. Tack on epiphanies (realizations) that seem “forced” at the end of the essay. 6. Relying on “stock” transitions between parts of the essay or between paragraphs. 7. Use weird personification. (“My training wheels had watched us for two weeks on end.”) 8. Plagiarize a line from a published work 9. Use a phony tone. (“Oh! How many new blockbuster hits had come out!”) 10. Don’t give it a title, plagiarize the title, or title your essay “Essay.” 11. Use metaphors that don’t work. (“The city that I call my brain was in mass hysteria.”) 12. Use stock or cliché phrases that have been used so often they’ve lost their meaning: a. “The words felt like a knife going through me.” b. “Put one foot in front of the other.” c. “I felt on top of the world.” d. “My brain was spinning.” e. “If you love him, let him go.” 3 f. “Nothing gold can stay.” g. “A heavy weight on my shoulders…” h. “The challenges that crossed our paths…” i. “I decided to broaden my horizons…” 13. Use silly exaggeration that serves no purpose but to ruin your credibility as a writer. When you submit your essay, you must also submit a GRADED rubric in which you justify the grade you believe you deserve regarding your personal narrative. Include specific examples from your work with each assessment criterion. Personal Narrative Rubric Completed by Student Stimulating Ideas ● ● ● ● 4 5 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5 Speaks knowledgably and/or enthusiastically Shows that the writer is truly interested in the subject Contains specific nouns, vivid verbs, and colorful modifiers Grammar/Conventions ● ● ● 3 Includes a clear beginning that pulls readers into the essay Presents ideas in an organized manner Uses original transitions to link sentences and paragraphs Flows smoothly from one idea to the next Engaging Voice ● ● ● 2 Focuses on a specific event or experience Presents an engaging picture of the action and people involved Contains specific details and dialogue Makes readers want to know what happens next Logical Organization ● ● ● ● 1 Sentence structure and variety Spelling, punctuation, capitalization Word choice and usage 4 Stimulating Ideas ● ● ● ● Logical Organization ● ● ● ● 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5 Speaks knowledgably and/or enthusiastically Shows that the writer is truly interested in the subject Contains specific nouns, vivid verbs, and colorful modifiers Grammar/Conventions ● ● ● 2 Includes a clear beginning that pulls readers into the essay Presents ideas in an organized manner Uses original transitions to link sentences and paragraphs Flows smoothly from one idea to the next Engaging Voice ● ● ● 1 Focuses on a specific event or experience Presents an engaging picture of the action and people involved Contains specific details and dialogue Makes readers want to know what happens next Sentence structure and variety Spelling, punctuation, capitalization Word choice and usage