Writing Personal

Narratives

What is a personal narrative?

• A personal narrative is a story about yourself and an event that happened in your past, but has a purpose and teaches a lesson.

• Narrative=Story

• The most creative essay and allows you more freedom than other academic essays.

• Can tell about:– A good time– A bad time– An important time– A memorable event– A first time– A last time

• Is an interesting story about the writer.

• Is written in the first person (using the pronouns I, me, and my.

• Has a beginning, a middle, and an end.

• Presents events in a clear order.• Uses details to help readers see

people, places, and events.• Shows how the writer feels about the

experience and why it is meaningful to him or her.

Personal Narrative Characteristics

What Narrative Writing Is and Is NotAn effective narrative composition . . .

An effective narrative composition is NOT . . .

Tells a personal or imaginative story

A list of events and/or facts

May include the writer’s imagination and personal experiences that are related to the story

An abundance of facts or personal anecdotes that are unrelated to the topic

Contains narrative elements such as characters, plot, point of view, setting, conflict, and/or significant events

A list of reasons, opinions, or unrelated episodes

Contains narrative strategies such as, flashback, foreshadowing, dialogue, tension and/or suspense

Formulaic, repetitive writing

Is multi-paragraph A single paragraph

Presents a story that has a well-developed beginning, middle, and end

A paper that lacks a clear beginning, middle, and end

What Narrative Writing Is and Is Not

An effective narrative composition . . .

An effective narrative composition is NOT . . .

Uses a lively writing voice to engage the reader

Flat, uninteresting writing

Uses vivid sensory details and concrete language

A story that contains imprecise language

Uses a variety of sentences A story with little sentence variety

Contains correct sentences, usage, grammar, and spelling that make the writer's ideas understandable

Incorrect sentences, usage, grammar, and spelling that prevent the reader from understanding the writer's ideas

Components of a story

• Setting=Where the action in a story happens.

• Theme=Basic idea or point of the story• Mood=Feeling or atmosphere the author

creates for the story.• Characters =The people in the story• Plot=What happens in the story

5 W+H Questions Method5 W+H Questions Method

• Answering the 5 W and H questions provides the basic info needed to begin a story.– WHO will be in the narrative?– WHERE will the narrative take place?– WHY will the characters do what they

do?– WHAT is the narrative about?– WHEN will the events happen?– HOW will the conflict be resolved?

Introduction-Narrative

• Describe the background of the story (characters, setting, atmosphere)

• Prepare the reader on what to expect in the story.

• Folse (2004) believes that in introductions, you should have a “hook” that will grab the reader’s attention, as well as a thesis that organizes the essay.

How to write a good “hook”

•Like a fish getting hooked by a fisherman, you need to “hook” your readers and make them want to read your essay.•If it’s a good hook, people would want to read your essay.•If it is not a good hook, then no one wants to read your essay.

Some suggestions…

• Ask a question. (How many of you spend hours downloading music to your iPod?)

• Use an interesting observation (Because of the economy, President Obama is having problems sleeping well these days.)

• Create a unique scenario. (Traveling at more than 300 km per hour, he traveled to another dimension.)

• Use a famous quote (“To be or not to be; that is the question.”)

• Use a statistic (If world temperatures continue to rise, Singapore will be under water by 2050.)

Hooks-Connecting Information

• After the hook, the writer usually writes three to five sentences that connect it to the topic.

Example from Keith Folse

Her daily routine was not glamorous. She did everything from sweeping the floors to cooking the meals. If someone had asked her, “Are there any household chores that you practically hate?”, she probably would have answered, “None.”

Thesis

• States the main idea of the essay (thesis statements).

• In narrative essays, they introduce the action that begins in the first paragraph of the essay.

Examples

1) Now, as I watched the bus driver set my luggage on the airport, I realized that my frustration has only just begun.

2) I wanted my mother to watch me race down the steep hill, so I called out her name and then nudged my bike forward.

3) Because his pride wouldn’t allow him to apologize, Ken now had to fight the bully, and he was pretty sure that he wouldn’t win.

Body

• Contains most of the plot-the supporting information.

• Can be organized in many different ways. • One way is chronological, or time, order

(where you give more information about the story as it proceeds in time).

Ways to Organize Narrative Writing

Purpose: What story is the writer telling?

-Beginning-Middle-End

Flashback: -End (most dramatic event)-Beginning-Middle

-Beginning-Situation or Conflict-Climax-Resolution of the conflict

Transitional Sentences

Have two purposes

1. Signal the end of action in one paragraph

2. Link the next paragraph.

Gives your reader an ability to follow happens and predicts what will happen next.

Concluding Paragraph

Can have two functions:

1. The moral of the story, or what the character(s) learned from the experience.

2. Make a prediction about what will happen next based on what happened.

Examples

Moral: The little boy had finally learned that telling the truth was the most important thing to do.

Prediction/Revelation: I can only hope that one day I will be able to do the same for another traveler who is suffering through a terrible journey.

Sensory ImagerySensory Imagery

• Using the five senses when writing a narrative helps the reader picture and feel what is going on.

• Describe what you see, hear, taste, touch, and smell to make your reader become involved in the story.