Narrative Essay

  • At home guides: Student Sample Essay handout and Holt Literature & Language Arts textbook p. 498-518, “Workshop 1: Narration”
  • The essay will be written over three days in class and later revised – bring all pages of your essay and all planning worksheets every day until the due date. Detention will be assigned if essay materials are left at home.
  • “Prewriting: Plan Your Story Elements” and “Prewriting: Explore Plot” organizing worksheetshave story details, and show the basic order of the essay:
  • Paragraph 1 = describe setting
  • Paragraph 2 = describe character
  • Paragraph 3 = plot - beginning
  • Paragraph 4 = plot - middle
  • Paragraph 5 = plot - end (climax and resolution)
  • We will work together to revise papers and share ideas. However, each essay must be your own original work. No two essays should be exactly alike (word for word) … not even one sentence!
  • Final draft due Wednesday, May 11th. Final draft includes all planning worksheets, journal entries, rough drafts, revised drafts, and final typed copy. You are expected to walk into class with your finished essay. Complete essay assembly must be properly, squarely, stacked and stapled.
  • Check your printer and be sure it is working properly – including having plenty of ink.
  • It is not feasible for me to print student essays, so don’t ask. If you are having a printer or computer problem then take the copy you’ve stored on your flash drive to another computer or printer (such as the public or school library). When you save your essay onto a flash drive to print elsewhere, be sure “Save as Type” is set toWord 2003document (*.doc). Search the internet or maybe YouTube specifically, if you are unsure of how to do it.
  • Format your final draft using MLA Style (see attached “Correct MLA Formatting” paper – the full W.P.U.S.D. Writing Stylebook can be accessed through teacher websites at
  • 12 point font - Times New Roman only – black ink only
  • Double-spacing (>Format >paragraph >line spacing >drop-down: select “double”)
  • One inch margins (top, bottom, left, right)
  • Left justify
  • Proper heading
  • Proper header
  • Cover page stating your name, teacher name, class name and block, and date –artwork is optional and does not earn extra points.
  • All of these items have been discussed and shown in class so be sure to include them in your final essay