English 1301
Narrative Essay Instructions
The purpose of this essay is to show your control of the narrative technique. Vivid, descriptive details that appeal to your reader’s five senses, contribute to your story’s mood, and draw your audience into the scene should be present in your paragraphs. You want your reader to experience the event just as you did. Be sure to read the Narrative notes in D2L as well as the information in the online textbook on pages 383-387. The Narrative Essays on the course schedule are examples to follow, but you do not need to include a quotation in your essay.
Word Count: 500 (minimum) to 950 (maximum)
MLA Format: Be sure to double-space your paper and indent the first line of each paragraph. You will use MLA format for your heading as well as pagination. You do not have to use quotations from the professional essays for this essay since it is your own personal story. However, if you do use a quotation, you must cite the quotations using MLA format. You will put quotation marks around the quotation and a citation with the author’s last name in parentheses after the quotation. The period for the quotation will go after the citation.
Purpose: Self-expression/entertain
Audience: General (professor/classmates)
Tone: Formal–You will use an informal tone, which means you will follow the guidelines below:
–You may use first person “I,” but you will not use “you.”
–You may use contractions
–Proofread for grammatical errors: comma splices, fragments, fused sentences, subject/verb agreement, pronoun agreement, pronoun reference, pronoun case, pronoun shifts.
Essay Format:
You have a great deal of freedom with the structure of this essay, but the story you tell should make a point; be sure to state the point of your essay somewhere in your essay. Your point should be a complete sentence. For example, the point to your narrative might be “The most exciting time of my life was the time I rode the world’s tallest roller coaster.”
Remember to change paragraphs when you change scenes.
Your story should focus on a person, place, or event (very limited in time) which had a memorable impact on your life. Tell your story about this limited subject in such a way as to clearly show your audience your feeling about the subject and to generate a similar response in your audience.
You will turn in a main point statement and a final draft of the essay. You must turn in your main point statement before I will grade your narrative essay. Be sure to check my comments on your main point statement before writing your essay. Check the course schedule for the due dates.
Consider the topics below for your own narrative essay:
Think of an experience that made an impact on the kind of person you have become.
Think of an experience that led you to choose the career path you are choosing.
Think of an experience you would never want to repeat.
Think of the best experience of your life: going to your first concert, meeting your best friend, a religious experience, such as a baptism, a wonderful time with your family, catching your first fish, riding your first roller coaster, getting your driver’s license.
Think of a time you came in first: an athletic event, a scholarship, an audition, a job.
Narrative topics you may NOT write about:
1) Finding out about a pregnancy or giving birth (You may write about a special time with your child, however, or the day you brought your new baby home).
2) Any kind of criminal activity (Committing a crime, getting arrested, going to jail/prison, getting out of jail/prison, using illegal drugs, getting drunk, abuse of any kind. There are just some things I do not need to know).
3) Intimate encounters (You may, however, write about your first date, best date, worst date, or blind date. I just do not need to know what happens afterwards.)
Remember the pointers below for the Narrative Essay:
1) Be sure your essay has a clear point, the same one you submitted for a grade. Be sure your point is a complete sentence–When my mom and I took a road trip together, I learned that our relationship had turned into a friendship.
2) Be sure your essay covers a limited time period (10 minutes to about 2 hours). Remember, you do not want to write about your entire summer vacation. You could write about the best moment, such as your first time water skiing at the lake during your summer vacation.
3) Be sure to have ample details that appeal to the five senses–sight, hearing, taste, touch, and smell.
4) Be sure to change paragraphs when you change scenes in your story.
5) Be sure you are telling a story with events that follow each other–first this happened, then this happened, and finally this happened.
6) Put some time and effort into your paper. Try to enjoy writing the story
