Your assignment is to write a narrative (story) about your (or a friend’s or family member’s) adventures in your neighborhood. Stick to one specific event that happens in 24 hours or less. Try to give a sense of how people talk as well has how they act. Use description techniques, (review the handout under narration resources) to help build your narrative.
A narrative essay should recount an experience where you learned something or an experience that changed your life. Make sure your story has a point! Describe what you learned from this experience. Your essay should be clearly organized in time, make a central point, and contain specific details relevant to that point.
2. Before you begin, brainstorm your topic and consider experiences that covered a brief span of time, from a few minutes to a few hours, basically less than 24 hours. Reflect on the significance of the event or experience.
To do this, you need to answer the 5 W’s and H about your narrative.
Why it was important?
What happened?
Where did it happen
When did it happen?
Why did it happen?
How did it happen?
3. There are certain features to a narrative essay that should be kept in mind while writing. These are:
The first paragraph should be an introduction, You can follow these basic guidelines: who, what, where, and when.
Use logical ordering of events with a beginning, middle, and end (chronological).
A narrative essay may be written in the first-person (I) or third-person (he, she, or it) point of view; do not use second person (you).
Include sensory language that appeals to the readers’ five senses, descriptive language
Purposeful dialogue may be included that shows action and not idle conversation, but isn’t mandatory.
Include all the conventions of a story – plot, setting, characters, climax, and an ending.
Most narratives are told in past tense and in chronological order. You should keep tense consistent.
The conclusion must wrap up the story and include what you learned or realized from this experience
4. Use MLA format, including heading, title, page numbers, Times New Roman, size 12 font, and double space.
Minimum Requirements
For a C or above, your essay must:
Be 800 words long and formatted according to MLA guidelines.
Focus on a thesis that includes the overall theme and/or lesson learned.
Maintain coherent organization with the use of topic sentences for each body paragraph.
Use descriptive techniques with subjective and objective descriptions.
Incorporate at least two metaphors or similes.
Incorporate two examples of personification.
Be written effectively and coherently, with few punctuation or grammatical errors.
Not use outside sources, AI, or the Internet to write the paper. Any use of these tools will earn an automatic zero
