Personal Narrative

English Composition I


Personal Narrative Essay

PURPOSE: The purpose of this assignment is to introduce you to the method of writing you will be following in this course. You are to relate a personal experience in a five paragraph composition with at least five sentences in each paragraph.

SELECT A TOPIC: You must choose from one of the topics below:

• A time when you won something
• How you met one of your friends
• A time you did something wrong and got punished
• A vacation or trip you’ve taken
• A memorable birthday for you

POINT OF VIEW: first person WHO'S THE AUDIENCE?: a new friend with whom you wish to share the experience

WRITING THE INTRODUCTION: Have the people, the action, and the setting clearly in mind before you begin to write. A narrative often begins with the WHO, WHAT, WHERE, WHEN, WHY, and HOW of a news story. Don't give away all the facts at the beginning though. Begin with enough background information to enable your reader to understand the rest of the events. You should grab his or her attention so that he or she wants to continue reading; hook the reader. The introduction is not a part of the exper¬ience itself.

THESIS STATEMENT: The thesis is a complete sentence which will explain the importance of the story. It will be the last sentence of the introduction. It will be restated, stated in other words, in the conclusion. This restatement may be any sentence in the conclusion.

WRITING THE CONCLUSION: The last paragraph, even more than the first, gets special emphasis from its position. Since what the reader reads last is likely to impress him or her the most, your narrative should end with the idea or impression that you want the reader to carry away. Choose your words carefully. The conclusion is not to be a part of the experience.

TITLE: Think of an appropriate title for your paper--one that will attract readers but will not reveal too much about the narrative. Do not get hung up on determining a title. Also, your title may change several times while you are working; that's fine.

WRITING THE PERSONAL NARRATIVE: You are to write the essay in chronological sequence of events. Present the actions or events in the order in which they happened. The essay must have meaningful structure and order. Events cannot happen helter-skelter. You must have three body paragraphs.

WORD CHOICE: A good narrative attempts to make the reader live the experience. To do so, it must use words which appeal to the same senses a reader would use if he or she were having the actual experience. Use many sensory words: taste, touch, smell, hear, see.
VERB TENSE AND VOICE: Past tense, active voice. Because the experience is over, this narrative is written in past tense.

As with all your papers for this class, please submit in WORD using 12pt Times New Roman font. Please double space all of your assignments. Submit via Moodle.

DUE DATE: January 30 at 11:55pm

Point Value: 25

Go to the text website. www.dianahacker.com/writersref 
You will need to register as a student for this class. They will ask for your teacher's email:  bethanief@coffeyville.edu

Once you're registered, you will need to take the following tests:

• Writing Exercises
• C1-1 Purpose and audience
• C2-1 Thesis Statements
• C2-2 Introductions
• C3-2 Choosing an appropriate point of view
• C4-1 Topic Sentences

Your grades will automatically be submitted to me. These are due at the end of the hour. Once you are fnished you may be excused.