Autobiographical/Biographical Narrative Standards

							                 Autobiographical/Biographical Narrative Standards

1. Relate a sequence of events and communicate the significance of the events to
the audience.
      - Even though it is a story that you are telling, you should still have some sort
      of thesis that alludes to your purpose. Why are you telling the story? Why is it
      significant?


2. Locate scenes and incidents in specific places.


3. Describe with concrete sensory details the sights, sounds, and smells of a scene
and the specific actions, movements, gestures, and feelings of the characters; use
interior monologue to depict the character’s feelings.
       - When writing an autobiographical or biographical narrative, be sure to really
       describe the thing that is the subject. Take note of all the sensory details that
       you can. Use figurative language (metaphor, simile, personification, etc.)
       when possible. Be sure to only include necessary details, though – extraneous
       details will cause you to lose your audience.


4. Pace the presentation of actions to accommodate changes in time and mood.
      - How much time do you want to spend on each element of your story? Be sure
      to tell the story completely.

5. Make effective use of descriptions of appearance, images, shifting perspectives,
and sensory details.
      - Watch tense shifts. You need to tell the story completely in the past or
      present tense unless you are using tense shift for a purposeful effect.

                                     Your Prompt

Write an autobiographical or biographical narrative about when you or someone that
you know performed a heroic deed. Your essay should be typed in MLA format and
should take into account the above standards.

Rough Draft Due: Friday, October 26rd
Final Draft Due: Tuesday, October 30th