English 9A Narrative Essay Module

ENGLISH 9A NARRATIVE ESSAY MODULE

Personal Narrative Essay

Write a personal narrative essay that tells a true story about a very brief event in your life (you will be using The Writing Process which is below to accomplish this essay). You must be the central character. A personal narrative re-creates a specific experience or event in your life. The narrative can focus on a funny situation, a frightening experience, or a life-changing encounter. Whatever the focus, a narrative uses sensory details (sight, sound, smell taste and touch), specific action, and revealing dialogue to bring the experience to life. Be sure to include enough specific details to make the incident come alive for your readers. Even if you can’t recall everything, fill in the gaps with details that seem to fit. (The pros do it all the time.) Use the notes from your brainstorming to think of ideas. You should have an exposition (beginning), rising action, climax and falling action (body/middle), and a resolution (end).

Your paper must be typed, MLA heading, Times New Roman font, 12 size type, and double-spaced.

Exposition (Introductory Paragraph):

Start the essay with an “attention getter” – interests the reader.
Next add the thesis statement – what the essay is about. Examples: Express your agreement or disagreement with a popular saying. For example: “I recently learned that ‘Keeping a promise is easier said than done…’” OR “’Never give advice to a friend’ is not always true, as I learned after my best friend helped me through a difficult time in my life.”’
Setting (when and where does the story take place?)
Main characters (who were the main characters?)
Thoughts about the event or situation before the event occurred.
Any information that a reader would need to understand the context in which your story exists.

Rising Action, Climax, Falling Action (Body Paragraphs):

Each paragraph should have a focus (topic sentence).
Provide plenty of descriptions.
Try to use creative language – similes, metaphors, personifications, onomatopoeia, etc.
It is imperative to include dialogue
Make sure that the story transitions and is chronological.

Resolution (Conclusive Paragraph):

The last paragraph should end the story.
You should use this paragraph to discuss some significance of the event. Why is it important? What makes the story useful? Why does this story stay in your memory? Or why will this event stay in your memory for years?

Requirements (also make sure you follow your rubric):

Must have dialogue
Must use, at least, two examples of figurative language (simile, metaphor, personification, etc.)
You must be the central character
Must have a title that is creative and descriptive of your essay
Must have description
Must have correct language usages and punctuation (conventions)
Must be told in first person (I, me, my, mine, etc.)

Some topic suggestions:

Firsts: driving, sleepover, onstage, day of school, job, airplane ride, trip out-of-state, concert attended, game, concert performance, hiking, rock climbing, etc.

Other ideas: learning to swim, most embarrassing moment, time when you surprised yourself, favorite vacations, losing something and finding it, an important purchase, something scary that happened to you, giving away something precious, your worst hair day ever, a time when you were nervous, summer break, a light bulb moment, childhood event, achieving a goal, standing up for yourself, moving, etc.

Or choose your own topic.

This is an example of a student’s Narrative Essay – make sure your essay is ALL double-spaced.

David Friggle

Mraz

English 9

26 August 2013

A Stranger’s Lesson

That Friday night started out normally. I was watching television when jarring ring broke into the studio audience’s laughter. Normally, I can wait out a phone call until the answering machine or one of my parents picks it up. This time, however, my resistance gave out first, and I picked it up, slightly annoyed.

“Hello?” This had better be good, I thought to myself, as I muted the television.

“Hi, John?” The woman on the phone mistook me for my father, which led me to believe she was either a co-worker of his or a distant relative who’d not seen me for quite some time.

“No, this is George. Who’s speaking?”

“Georgie? That’s you? I can’t believe it! You sound just like your father! You’ve grown so much since the last time I saw you!”

“Really? Thanks. Yeah, it’s Gorge. Who’s this?”

She suddenly took on a more serious tone.

“This is your aunt Catherine, dear. May I talk to your mother?”

“Sure, just hold on a sec. MOM!”

“YES?”

“Aunt Catherine on the phone!”

There was a pause, then some footsteps, than a click on the line. Suddenly, my mother’s voice came on, “Thanks, George, you can hang up now.

Our house is old, and you can half hear when someone talks downstairs. You may not hear the joke, but you know someone told one. But there was no laughter from my mom, nor was there any idle chatter. The muffled voices spoke of seriousness, gloom, and worry. Someone had died, I was sure of it.

The click of the phone hanging up led to a hushed conversation between my mom and dad in the living room. Then, as if on cue, I was called down to talk.

I asked what was wrong. My mom searched for words, her mouth moving as if to start saying every phrase she pondered, before finally telling me that my great-uncle Paul had died.

The initial shock of being told about a death quickly subsided, to be replaced with confusion. Who was Great-Uncle Paul? Was he nice? Had I ever met him? Why don’t I remember him? Should I remember him? Thoughts of my great-uncle Paul stayed in my mind until I was asleep. The funeral was Saturday. At least the mystery would be solved soon.

The car ride to the funeral home was awkward. My parents’ obvious grief and my persistent curiosity were offset by the saccharine voice of “Cousin Brucie,” the oldies station’s morning disc jockey. For an hour and a half, Cousin Brucie was the only one in the car who was talking. Herman’s Hermits and Derek and the Dominos didn’t seem to excite the same exuberance in my family as it did in Brucie.

The funeral service was no better. The generally uncomfortable mood during the car trip was evident tenfold at the funeral. Pop music was replaced by forced smiles, but jittery hands, nervous tapping of fee, and conversation without mention of my great-uncle Paul challenged the validity of any of the smiles. At least Cousin Brucie was genuinely excited about his silly asides.

Sitting in the corner, I felt like a complete stranger. Everyone seemed to know who I was, however. Co7usine of uncles and sister-in-law of aunts all came over to me in an effort to “cheer me up.” Half of them told me that if I thought high school was good, I’d love college, and the other half made some sort of weird joke when I told them I fenced in my spare time. I did my part by putting on a happy face and answering everything politely, but the whole time I wondered who was being comforted.

After a while, it was time for everyone to pay their respects. Although I had no idea what to do when I got there, went up because I didn’t know what else to do. There were several pictures of Great-Uncle Paul, in various stages of his life. He looked like my mother’s side of the family, but beside that, there was nothing I recognized about him.

Standing in front of a coffin next to mourning people makes one think, and thing I did. I thought about the impact he left on so many people. I thought about how I should have known him, how I should have remembered him, and how I no longer had a chance for any of that.

Suddenly, I stopped thinking about him as Great-Uncle Paul and started thinking him as Paul Horenburg. Paul Horenburg, who told jokes to friends at work, who laughed, who fell in love, who cried on occasion, who got angry, and just a few days earlier, died. I realized that although Paul Horenburg had died, the world didn’t. In days, weeks, months, or possibly years, the morning would stop, and everyone would go back to their normal lives. Memories of Paul Horenburg would crop up occasionally, as co-workers remembered funny stories he had told, or as friends looked back on evenings they had spent with him, or when his family remembered the helpful advice he had given them in times of trouble. Then, I finally realized that he had taught me something, too.

On that Saturday, I cried for a man I didn’t know.

Taken from Writing and Grammar Communication in Action – Prentice Hall – page 91

The Writing Process

Prewriting: Choosing a topic and gathering details

Search for a meaningful writing idea—one that truly interests you and meets the requirements of the assignment.
Use a selecting strategy (listing, webbing, clustering, free writing, outlining, and so on) to identify possible topics.
Learn as much as you can about your topic.
Decide on an interesting or important part of the topic—your focus—to develop. Express your focus in a sentence to help map out your writing.
Think about an overall plan or design for organizing your writing. This plan can be anything from a brief list to a detailed outline.

Writing the Rough Draft: Connecting your ideas

Write the first draft while your prewriting is still fresh in your mind.
Set the right tone by giving your opening paragraph special attention.

Introduction/Opening Paragraph: should help clarify your thinking about your topic and accomplish three things: (1) GAIN YOUR READER’S ATTENTION – Attention Getter,(2) IDENTIFY YOUR THESIS, and (3) INTRODUCE YOUR MAIN IDEAS

Thesis Statement: identifies the focus for your academic essays. It usually highlights a special condition or feature of the topic, expresses a specific feeling, or takes a stand.

Middle Paragraphs: should support your thesis. Make sure to use your pre-write (mind map, outline, list, cluster) as a general guide for your writing.

Conclusion/Closing Paragraph: allows you to tie up your essay neatly. You can refer to your thesis, review your main supporting points, answer any unresolved questions, or connect with the reader’s experience.

Any of the following can be used for your Introduction and Conclusion

*Share some thought-provoking details about the subject.

*Ask your reader a challenging question.

*Begin with an informative quotation

*Provide a dramatic, eye-opening statement.

*Open with some thoughtful dialogue or an engaging story.

*Identify the main points you plan to cover.

Refer to your plan for the main part of your writing but be flexible. A more interesting route may unfold as you write.
Don’t worry about getting everything right at this point; just concentrate on developing your ideas.

Revising: Improve your writing - adding information, deleting information, reordering material, reworking material, transitions (use a different colored writing implement than you use for the editing/proofreading)

Review your rough draft, checking the ideas, organization, voice, word choice, and sentence fluency of your writing.
Ask at least one classmate to react to your work.
Add, cut, reword, or rearrange ideas as necessary (You may have to change some parts several times before they say what you want them to say.)
Carefully assess the effectiveness of your opening and closing paragraphs
Look for special opportunities to make your writing as meaningful and interesting as possible.

Editing and Proofreading: Checking for accuracy (use a different colored writing implement than you use for the revision)

Edit your revised writing for conventions.
Have a dictionary and thesaurus close at hand as you work.
Ask a reliable editor—a friend, a classmate, a parent, or a teacher—to check your writing for errors you may have missed.
Proofread the final draft for errors before submitting it.

Publishing: Sharing your work

Share the finished product with your teacher, writing peers, friends, and family members.
Decide if you will include the writing in your portfolio.
Post your writing on your personal or class Web site or elsewhere online.
Consider submitting your work to a school, a local, or a national publication. Make sure to follow the requirements for submitting manuscripts.

Parts of a paragraph

Paragraphs begin with a topic sentence, identifying the topic of the writing. The sentences in the body of the paragraph support or explain the topic, while the closing sentence brings the paragraph to a logical stopping point. The Topic Sentence: tells your readers what your paragraph is about.

The Body is the main part of the paragraph. This is where you place all the information readers need, to understand the topic. The sentences in the body should contain details that clearly support the topic sentence. Arrange these details in the best possible order.

The Closing (clincher) sentence comes after all the details have been included in the body of the paragraph. This sentence may (1) remind readers of the topic, (2) summarize the paragraph, or (3) link the paragraph to the next one.

Six Traits

The six traits listed below identify the main features found in effective essays, stories, and articles. If you write with these traits in mind, you will most likely be pleased with the results.

IDEAS: Effective writing presents interesting and vital information about a specific topic. It has a clear purpose or focus, or as writer Donald Murray states, “It has a controlling vision, which orders what is being said.” The ideas are thoroughly elaborated and analyzed and hold the reader’s attention from start to finish.

ORGANIZATION: In terms of basic structure, good writing has a clearly developed beginning, middle, and ending. Within the text, transitions are used to show relationships between ideas. The overall arrangement of ideas unifies the writing and makes the writer’s purpose clear.

VOICE: In the best writing, you can hear the writer’s voice – her or his special way of expressing ideas and emotions. Voice gives writing personality: it shows that the writer sincerely cares about her or his topic and audience.

WORD CHOICE: In good writing, the nouns and verbs are specific. The modifiers are colorful (and used somewhat sparingly). The overall level of language helps to communicate the message and set an appropriate tone. In short, all the right words are in all the right places.

SENTENCE FLUENCY: Effective writing flows from sentence to sentence. But it isn’t, by any means, predictable. Sentences vary in length, and they don’t all begin in the same way. Sentence fluency gives rhythm to writing, which makes the writing enjoyable to read.

CONVENTIONS: Good writing follows the accepted standards of punctuation, mechanics, usage, and spelling. It is edited with care to ensure that the work is accurate and easy to follow.

There are many types of details you can include in paragraphs (and longer forms of writing)

Facts: are details that can be proven. Facts remain constant, regardless of the type of paragraph you write.

Statistics: present significant numerical information about a chose topic.

Examples: are individual samples that illustrate a main point.

Anecdotes: are brief stories or “slices of life” that helps you make your point. They can illustrate a point more personally than a matter-of-fact listing of details.

Quotations: are words from another person that you repeat exactly in your writing. Quotations can provide powerful supporting evidence.

Arranging your Details

Chronological order (time) is effective for sharing personal narratives, summarizing steps, and explaining events in the order in which they occurred

Order of location (spatial) is useful for many types of descriptions. Details can be described from left to right, from right to left, from top to bottom, from edge to center, and so on.

Illustration (deductive) is a method of arrangement in which you first state a general idea (thesis statement) and follow with specific reasons, examples, and facts.

Climax (inductive) is a method of arrangement in which you present specific details followed by a general statement or conclusion.

Compare-contrast is a method of arrangement in which you show how one topic is different from and similar to another topic.

Cause-effect is a type of arrangement that helps you make connections between a result and the events that came before it. Usually, you begin with the cause of something, and then you discuss a number of specific effects.

Problem-solution is a type of arrangement in which you state a problem and explore possible solutions.