Drafting Project #1: The Personal Narrative
Directions: For this essay, due September 16th, by 11:59 p.m. you are going to write about a specific experience or a series of connected events that were a "tipping point" in your life. This piece will contain the same elements as a fictional story: characters, a central action, or problem, and a setting, all expressed from a particular perspective. The point of this essay is to illustrate how the experience you describe altered you. In this essay, I will be looking especially at
- Structure
- Proper Punctuation
- Descriptive Language
You are not composing a research essay here, but you will have a thesis. It is the core message of your story. Hopefully when you are done your message will surprise you. The essay should have 1-inch margins, indented paragraphs, and be in Times New Roman font, size-12. Your essay should also have a title that speaks to the motif or motifs in the work.
You are going to submit this essay as a PDF to the email address: bondeng201@gmail.com by midnight on 9/16. For each class period the essay is late, 10-points will be struck from your grade.
Also, in the subject line of your email include your class section.
Getting Started: A simple format for organizing and pre-writing your narrative is to think of it as five paragraphs, each with a specific purpose. Below a general content guide is listed for each paragraph. Using this guide, you are going to pre-write content for your essay by composing a few sentences in the place of each paragraph. After you have settled on an event, don't get hung up on the introduction when you start writing. Instead begin with the second paragraph.
Intro: Brief description of experience
2nd paragraph: One way the experience changed you
3rd paragraph: Another way the experience changed you
4th paragraph: Summary of impact on narrator's identity
Conclusion: Takeaway/where is the narrator now as a result of the experience?