Personal+Narrative

media type="custom" key="13335406"[|Life Changing Event]

We all tell stories, and for many different reasons.
 * Share our daily experience with others.
 * To make a point.
 * Establish a bond (I've had an experience like that, too.)
 * To support our standards of conduct. (When I was young....)
 * Make people laugh
 * Illustrate ideas (parables)
 * Recollect actual accounts of our own experience or that of someone else
 * Fictional

A __narrative__ is a story. To __narrate__ means, “To tell, to give an __account__ of.” Narrative takes many forms:
 * A novel
 * A short story
 * A biography is a narrative because it tells the story of a person’s life.
 * An anecdote: a brief story included in a longer __work__ to illustrate an __idea__.
 * A memoir

A __narrative essay__ tells a story, usually of a personal experience that makes a point or supports a thesis. The purpose of a narrative __paper__ is to re-create an experience in such a way that your readers can imaginatively participate in it and share it with you.

__Strategies for Writing Your Narrative Paper__

 * 1. Limit the Subject **

Your goal is to tell a story so dramatically and so completely that your readers can share the experience.

__Summer camp counselor__ - Too broad The time the skunk got in your tent - Just right

The two week __vacation in London__: Too broad The short cut shared by a __local__ getting you to the theatre on time: Just right

One day in the country: Too broad The picnic in the rain: Just right


 * Questions to consider when thinking of a __topic__ **:

v Was there a time when things didn’t turn out as expected?

v Have you recently had a great accomplishment?

v Have you ever witnessed something troublesome?

v Have you experienced a landmark in life- a __birth__, marriage, death that has impacted you?

v Have you been part of a gathering of people, an athletic, cultural, or family event, that has changed the way you think?

v Have you experienced problems from being an outsider? Or have you seen the injustice done to others by being an insider?

v Have you had an episode that made you change your mind about something or someone?

v Have you ever made a discovery, pleasant or unpleasant, about a family member, friend, or teacher?


 * 2. Have a Thesis **

The experience you narrate is not as important as its significance to you.
 * Why did the experience matter to you?
 * Why do you want to tell about it?
 * Did it change you in some way?
 * Did it embarrass you?
 * Did it make you __happy__?
 * Sad? Was it thrilling?
 * Frustrating?
 * Did it lead to a decision?
 * Did you learn something about yourself or about others or about the world around you? Were you disappointed?
 * Did it, perhaps, give you an inkling that it’s great to be alive or that your neighborhood has joys you never noticed before?
 * Any little event in your life – even taking out the garbage- can make good subject matter for a narrative __paper__ if you determine the significance of the experience and tell the story well.

A good narrative essay connects readers to some sort of emotion felt by you or the essay’s subject.
 * 3. Displays Emotion **

When you read the header “Display Emotion,” above, you immediately think of:
 * anger
 * sadness
 * pain
 * joy

More subtle and more difficult to articulate but very powerful:
 * jealousy
 * perseverance
 * loneliness
 * anxiety
 * passion to name a few.

Feelings are the prime vehicle for creating an instant reaction on the part of your reader. They’re what we all identify with.


 * Read the following and underline words that reflect some sort of emotion **

//When I applied under Early Decision to the University of Pennsylvania four years ago, I was motivated by two powerful emotions: ambition and fear. The ambition was to fulfill my lifelong expectation of attending an Ivy League school; the fear was that without the advantage offered by Early Decision, I wouldn’t make the cut. A Penn admissions officer told me that the previous year they had accepted 45 percent of Early Decision applicants and just 29 percent of total applicants. The implication was clear: applying under Early Decisions dramatically improves your chances of acceptance. At Brown University, my other favorite, applying early did not offer any advantage. While Brown was my No. 1 choice, Penn was a close second, and I desperately wanted to make sure I go into one of the two.//

Specific details give life to your writing.
 * 4. Use Specific Details **

If your narrative paper is about the time you spent the night alone in your aunt’s one-hundred-year-old house, it matters that the dark red living room curtains were made of velvet so thick that no light could penetrate them, that the cobwebs hung from the ceiling, that the stern eyes in the portrait over the mantle seemed to follow you as you moved about he room, that no lamp in the room was bright enough to illuminate the corners, that the stairs creaked an the wind moaned.

Remember, a narrative re-creates an experience for your readers. They should be able to share the experiences with you. In most cases, you can make your readers feel what you felt if you use specific details. A word of caution, however. The details you use, like everything else in your paper, should support your thesis.

**To create specific details, a writer appeals to a variety of senses. Brainstorm on the lines provided as many sensory- filled details as you can recall about the event chosen above.**

[|Miles from Nowhere]



[|A Night at the Carnival]

[|Skydiving]

THE DRAFT: [|Beginning My Draft] Your readers should feel that an intelligent, articulate friend is telling them a story. The language of a narrative, therefore, should sound conversational. The key word is //SOUND//. The language shouldn’t, in many cases, be conversational, because many people, when they converse with others, tend to ramble, to repeat themselves, to use needless expressions such as “You know,” “You know what I mean?”, “Okay?”, and “Well.” Listening to a rambling, repetitious narrative filled with meaningless expressions is difficult. Reading one is next to impossible. Still, writing should sound conversational, which means you should avoid two extremes – the pompous and the inarticulate.
 * 5. Use Language that Sounds Natural **

**Pompous**: As for the first time, I entered the portals of the edifice that housed my new employer and donned the attire specified for my position; thus, I felt apprehensive.

**Inarticulate:** Like, man, the first day, ya know, was like… well, when I put that waiter’s jacket on, ya know, I was scared.

**Try Instead:** I was nervous that first day on the job. When I put my white waiter’s jacket, my hands were trembling.

**__Direct quotations:__** Another way to give a natural sound to your narrative is direct quotations.

1. Direct quotations give a sense of reality to the narrative, sometimes by helping __set a__ __scene__.

**//Example in Maya Angelou’s, “Champion of the World”//** “ I ain’t worried ‘bout this fight. Joe’s gonna whip that cracker like it’s open season. He’s gonna whip him till that white boy call him Momma.”

These comments, which follow the description of the crowd that has gathered at the general store to hear the broadcast, continue to set the scene of the exciting event.





[|Creating Dialogue from Images]

2. Direct quotations are __good for revealing the personality and feelings__ of the characters in your narrative.

// “Get lost,” Pablo growled. //

// “I’m not your doormat!” she screamed. //

//Emilia grabbed her car keys and raced for the door with tears in her eyes. She turned to her love, hand on the doorknob, and half-whispered, “I was only trying to help. I always am here to help you. But this is thee last time. The very last time.//”

What does the dialogue reveal about Pablo?

_ What does the dialogue reveal about Emilia?

Most papers contain first, an introduction, which includes the thesis statement; next, a body, which supports the thesis and is organized according to the principle of time, space, or logic; and finally, a conclusion, which restates the thesis and gives a sense of finality to the paper. A narrative paper also should contain these three parts, but the development of each part is somewhat different from that of other papers. A narrative should center more on events than on ideas.
 * 6. Give Order to the Narrative **

1 . **The introduction usually does NOT include the thesis statement**.
 * A. INTRODUCTION**:

a//. **Instead it may set the scene for the story**:// //The last inch of space was filled, yet people continued to wedge themselves along the walls of the Store. Uncle Willie had turned the radio up to its last notch so that youngsters on porch wouldn’t miss a word. Women sat on kitchen chairs, dining room chairs, stools, and upturned wooden boxes. Small children and babies perched on every lap available and men leaned on the shelves or on each other//. Maya Angelou, “Champion of the World”

b. **//Instead it may give the background – the facts that led to the experience being narrated//.** //During the 70’s, I fell victim to the notion that my hair needed more than just cutting. It needed to be styled. Like millions of other people, particularly my peers in the 25-to-25 age group, I viewed barbers as being outmoded.// Jeff Shaffer, “The Neighborhood Barber”

**c.Sometimes a narrative paper doesn’t even have an introduction. In this case the writer simply begins with the first event to the story**. //“There’s a gun at your back. Raise your hands and don’t make a sound,” a harsh voice snarled at me. I raised my hands.//

**__B. BODY__** **1. The body of a narrative paper can only be organized chronologically.**

**a. //It is possible to begin with the present and then portray an earlier episode. But the heart of the narrative should be arranged chronologically.//**

//As I sit in my soft leather easy chair that I keep in front of the fireplace this time of year and gaze at brightly burning pine logs, I remember a Christmas forty years ago.//

**b. //Since you want readers to share the events as you experienced them, you must present the events in the order they occurred. The events should unfold over time. You should let readers know by transitions of time.//**

**Transitions of time**: After, next, approximately, before then, first of all, during, suddenly, earlier, as soon as, continuously, originally, at the onset, primarily, beforehand, all along, in the course of, spontaneously, finally, at the same time, then, sometime before, in a few minutes, meanwhile, later, presently, initially, afterwards, sequentially, chronologically, opening with, in the interim, subsequently, in the first place, years ago, in the past, last year, next term, currently, beyond that, eventually, following, yesterday, in progression, for the duration, in the aftermath, in the near future, immediately after, formerly, amid this, recently, previously, ultimately, just before,coming after, at a later date, in the end, from its inception, prior to, in the course of, for this occasion, in an instant, for a time

**__C. CONCLUSION__** **The writer tells a good story in the introduction and body and then states the significance of the story at the end of the paper.**

**//Thesis statement written in the last paragraph//** //At last I admitted to myself that the raccoons had won. I was tired of getting up in the middle of the night to gather the garbage they scattered by the backyard. I was tired of trying to find a garbage can that they could not open. I was, in fact, tired of the country. As I crept wearily back to my bedroom, I knew the raccoons had taught me a valuable lesson: I did not belong in the country; I belonged in a high-rise apartment in the heart of the city. And that’s just where I moved two weeks later.//

**Revising**


 * Making decisions about how you want to improve your writing
 * Looking at your writing from a different point of view
 * Selecting places where your writing could be clearer, more interesting, more informative, and more convincing

** A.R.R.R. Method: ** This method allows you to make four types of changes.


 * A ** dding: What else does the reader need to know?


 * R ** earranging: Is the information in the most logical and most effective order?


 * R ** emoving: What extra details or unnecessary bits of information are in this piece?


 * R ** eplacing: What words or details could be replaced by clearer or stronger expressions?

** Questions to Ask Yourself ** :


 * Does every word and action count?
 * Is the series of events logical?
 * Are vivid/descriptive words used to describe characters and/or events?
 * Is your train of thought clear?
 * Do you use a variety of verbs throughout the piece?
 * Is it wordy or redundant? Are you using the same words and phrases over and over again?
 * Is there a catchy introduction?
 * Are there transitional devices used throughout?
 * Is a vivid mental picture created in the reader’s mind?
 * Have you replaced “vanilla” words using a thesaurus?

** LEADS **


 * I. TYPICAL **

It was a day at the end of June, 1984. My whole family, including my mom, dad, brother and me, were at camp at Rangely Lake. We arrived the night before at 10:00 so it was dark when we go there and unpacked. The next morning when I was eating breakfast my dad started yelling for me from the dock at the top of his lungs about a car in the lake.


 * II. ACTION: A CHARACTER DOING SOMETHING **

I ran down to our dock as fast as my legs could carry me, my feet pounding away on the old wood, hurrying me toward the sound of my dad’s panicked voice. “Scott!” he hollered again. “Coming, dad!” I gasped and picked up my speed.


 * III. DIALOGUE: A CHARACTER OR CHARACTERS SAYING SOMETHING **

“Scott! Get down here on the double!” my father hollered.

“Dad?” I hollered back. “Where are you?” I was sitting at the kitchen

table eating breakfast our first morning at our Rangely Lake camp, and from

someplace outside my dad was calling for me.

“Scott! MOVE IT! You’re not going to believe this,’ dad’s voice urged me. I gulped down my milk, pushed away from the table, and bolted out the door, slamming the broken screen behind me.


 * IV: REACTION: CHARACTER THINKING ABOUT SOMETHING **

I couldn’t imagine what my father could be hollering about already at 7:00 in the morning. I thought hard and fast about what I might have done to get him so riled up. Had he found out about the cigarettes I’d hidden in my knapsack? Or the way I talked to my mother the night before, when we got to camp and she asked me to help unpack the car? Before I could consider a third possibility my dad’s voice shattered my thoughts.

“Scott! Move it! You’re not going to believe this.