CLRC Writing Center
Structure of a Personal Narrative Essay
“Narrative” is a term more commonly known as “story.” Narratives written for college or personal narratives, tell a story, usually to some point, to illustrate some truth or insight. Following are some tools to help you structure your personal narrative, breaking it down into parts.
The “Hook” Start your paper with a statement about your story that catches the reader’s attention, for example: a relevant quotation, question, fact, or definition. Introduction
Set the Scene Provide the information the reader will need to understand the story: Who are the major characters? When and where is it taking place? Is it a story about something that happened to you, the
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Para. 1:
Beginning
Action
Topic sentence:
Detail 1.
Detail 2.
Detail 3.
Para. 2:
Middle
Action
Topic sentence:
Detail 1.
Detail 2.
Detail 3.
Para 3:
End
Action
Topic sentence:
Detail 1.
Detail 2.
Note:
Don’t forget to “Show,
Don’t Tell”:
List sounds, smells, sights, tastes, and textures that you remember. Your experience is your “evidence”.
Use
transition words to mark the passage of time. Detail 3.
Conclusion:
Analyze and reflect on the action of the story, including how the events are significant to you.
Writing Strategies to Consider
First Person vs. Third Person Narratives are a mode of writing in which writers often use first person perspective
(“I saw”, “I did”). Check with your instructor to determine whether you can use “I” when telling your story.
*Verb Tense: Reporting vs. Reflecting The events of most narratives are told in past tense: “As I hiked, I felt the warm sun on my back.” Use present tense when reflecting on the events: “Now I know how unprepared I was”. Notice the change in tense in this sentence as the writer reflects on the past event, from the
Also, the five characteristic features of a narrative are examined in chapter 8 of Everyone’s an Author. The first characteristic is that a narrative
Narrative: An individual intro outlining their thoughts on the conclusions of their writings, and how individuals understand the meaning of their lives through the process of narrating it (Andrews et al., 2013).
Narrative stories or essays can expand through a wide variety. Although a narrative is telling a story, it could be a person narrative or something they have experienced. This allows others to become creative when telling their stories. Reading “The Sanctuary of School”and “Tell Me Something”, the authors used various ways of writing and publishing a narrative story.
I have lived in only one location my entire life: Edwardsville, Illinois. A peripheral suburb of St. Louis, it stands as the rare oasis of people in a desert of corn, pinned in its own personal bubble. Due to this blend of time and isolation, I developed a natural familiarity with my hometown. But, throughout my childhood, I longed to break free from the confines of the bubble and venture outward. However, this changed last summer, as I walked through Richards Brickyard, our family heirloom, that my great-grandfather, Benjamin Richards, founded over 120 years ago. I felt these childlike sentiments slip away. The bubble that had surrounded me for so long began to vanish, and the picture that it had been obscuring was slowly revealed.
What is narrative? Narrative is a story, narrative is a type of movie, narrative is a way of structuring fictional or fictionalized stories presented in narrative films, narrative is a broader concept that both includes and goes beyond any of these applications.
Stories use narrative to involve the responder in a range of experiences. Storytellers use narrative techniques to establish a setting and shape the characters personality. This is shown in Henry Lawson’s short stories the drover’s wife and the loaded dog as well as Roger hargreaves picture book little miss sunshine.
That was a lot of money, and I didnt want to let Tony down so I got in the car and started to drive. As I drove the road was empty. I had confidence I was not going o get caught. It was a slightly wormer day out witch might have been because the sun was out. I had the windows down and was blaring music just trying to enjoy life when a cop pulls out behind me.
A narrative essay “describes events that people want to share with readers”. Some events may include a traumatic event, a life-lesson learned, or a triumph, the options are limitless. A narrative must have a beginning, middle, and end to reach the reader and not confuse them. Metaphors and other parts of speech are often used to allow the reader to get an accurate understanding of what the author is trying to pursue. The objective of a narrative is to tell one story with a purpose, not a list of stories to connect to the main story, or else the reader will be confused
Most readers identify Stephen King’s works as horror, however he sees them as suspense novels (citation needed). Stephen King is often associated with the horror genre because of his excessive use of gore in his novels. However, gore is merely a side agenda that helps King shape his ideas. Instead, King’s main goal is to create suspense. By creating a vivid image of the impact of a murder, rape, or other catastrophe he is able to foster his goal by unnerving his reader and creating a conflict. Stephen King’s extensive and creative use of detail and literary elements in his novels assists the motive for the conflict between good and evil, constructs a complete depiction of the supernatural and reality, and builds an ongoing sense of tension.
Revolutionary Response I selected the Revolutionary Period or as some might call it the age of reason. This event took place between 1775 through 1783. The common characteristics of literature during this time period was literature centered around the birth of America. Establishing a native voice and tone that built American history. Another big thing was patriotism was a national mission.
It's a Friday afternoon, I plan to go to Great Wolf Lodge in an hour with my church. I see one of my friends so he says to his mom “ Hey, that's my friend” I said “Crap” So I go inside to sign in to go and see my friends just sitting in a corner on a big sofa. We are listening to music and just talking then a green bus comes.
I was in high school the first time I had to write a narrative. I was a freshman. This was Ms. Bradley’s first time teaching at Union Christian Academy. On her first day, she gave us our syllabus and said, “I do not accept late work, especially on writing assignments.” We, literally, sat there stunned. My freshman class had it very easy during eighth grade year. We were not expecting this. As I looked through the syllabus, I saw that our first assignment was due in a week and it was a narrative. At this time, I did not even know what a narrative was. Ms. Bradley explained that a narrative was an account or story of events. It could be either true or false. Our narrative had to be true. It had to be a true account of something that happened to us over the summer. She wanted to gauge how are writing skills were. Our narrative had to be at least two to two and a half pages long. I chose to write my first ever narrative on my trip to Fort Worth, Texas. Once again, I was plagued with writer’s block. I had the story in my head, but everything I
stories are those narratives that can be read in one sitting and its plot usually involves one main
It is true in life that everything happens for a reason. It is also true to say that sometimes it is all about being in the right place, at the right time. There was never a more prominent example of this than a traumatic summers evening, only a few years ago.
Often times, authors use their works to display themes that they deem to be important or wrong with the world. Frequently, the authors are able to convey these themes to the reader through the use of various literary devices. These literary devices have the themes that the author wants to convey embedded in them. In Hemingway's novel The Old Man and the Sea, he uses devices to display what he calls the code hero. One ideal of the code hero is endurance. Endurance is a necessary part of life that everyone will have an experience with. While some may endure lots and other little, everyone has issues they must endure through. In “The Veldt”, Bradbury uses literary devices to display his thoughts of technology. Technology is constantly becoming more and more advanced and some, including Bradbury, have the fear technology will take over the role of humans. In A Thousand Splendid Suns, Hosseini uses the devices to show oppression. Everyone strives to take control of their lives, however sometimes that is not possible when they are being restricted by outside forces. The authors Hemingway, Bradbury and Hosseini use the literary devices of symbolism, flashback, imagery and metaphor to demonstrate their themes.