Assignment Outline for the Narrative Essay The Narrative Essay: Good writing comes when you convince yourself that you may respond to a writing assignment in such a way that you want to have that learning experience: you want to write it. For this assignment, you are asked to express in essay form that which you really want to express: a story about yourself. The goal for this assignment is to practice the skills of thesis writing (I know you can tell a story, can you make and support a point with it?), chronological ordering of a narrative as well as thematic ordering of a thesis-focused essay (in other words, can you keep your point/thesis in focus with hints and cues, reflections and commentary, as you write a story), keeping logical focus over the length of an essay in order to develop logical and meaningful conclusions (stories may wander, but essays cannot. Can you stay on focused and on topic?), getting the attention of a specified audiences to improve your ability to communicate with a variety of people (your teachers are not your only, the best, or even the most appropriate audience for your essay: that would make it a practice essay to be graded and not a real essay to be read), writing descriptively using concrete details to clarify important abstract concepts (a thesis is always some abstraction taken from or applied to life) and thus improve the impact of your writing overall, and producing college preparatory level work; this assignment qualifies in the sense that it will get you used to practicing the rigors of form and revision. Connections to Expected School-wide Learning Results 4.1: Self-directed learners will choose their own topics and pursue this assignment independently. 3.1 and 3.4: In choosing a personal story and identifying, defining, and discussing the ethical and/or moral issues within the context of their own experiences, students show respect for themselves, concern for others, and the ability to reflect on choices they have made in a variety of meaningful ways. 3.2: By choosing to write for a specific audience, students show concern for others and for diversity of perspective in general. 2.2 By producing a finished product through a series of drafts and in-class submissions and discussions, students practice the various communication skills we value at CCHS. “Real World” Connections: This form of writing is common to such publications as Reader‟s Digest, and, more locally, publications such as El Sol. Students may choose to prepare their piece for submission for publication. More importantly, this form of writing and what makes it good is the heart and soul of most college admission essay prompts.
Narrative Essay Rubric Guidelines Cover Page: This is written in reflective style about your process of writing the essay itself. Audience: You have identified the audience for your essay and have reflected on how you worked with your story, attention getter, thesis, word choice, and purpose to reach this audience. Purpose: You have identified what you expect this essay to accomplish. Tone: You have identified the kind of tone you have tried to adopt and why you think it effective and appropriate to your audience. Introduction: Your first impression. Remember to title your work, please. Attention Getter: Grabs the attention of the reader. Uses an identifiable strategy that is a) appropriate to the topic, b) comfortable to you, and c) is appropriate to the audience you are addressing. Thesis: Sets topic and promotes an opinion, observation, or theory that is abstract and meaningful as well as specific and detailed in its expression. Contains your meaning/purpose/main point. Does not leave us guessing – it is not a mystery. Body: Uses multiple paragraphs to explore a chronological narrative. Uses transitions to keep the audience on track and ON TOPIC. Each paragraph uses a topic/claim sentence that seems to control the narrative for that paragraph. The paragraph does not stray on to the next sequence of time or place without a new topic sentence. Each paragraph uses concrete details and descriptive writing to make the reader feel as if they are there. The more sensory detail the better in most forms of narrative, and you will find that it is a tremendous aid to any good writing. Remember, even dialogue is a form of sensory detail (we are asked to hear speech, rather than merely understand the meaning of what was said). The point is this: sensory details invite the reader to engage their body and mind simultaneously as they read. The more you can get the reader to experience when they read, the more they will get involved with what you write. They will begin to feel what you feel, predict what you will say next, fill in examples from their own lives („relate to your story‟) etc. Conclusion: Not mere summary, let us not escape from our paper but make some real conclusions. Returns to the thesis without merely restating it. Integrates/ties together/unites material from the story, relating it directly and concretely to a reflection on your thesis. Takes the thesis “1 step” further, emphasizing some crucial facet of what you/we have learned. Remember, we have just read an essay, we should not be at the same place we were at the beginning! Form: Pay attention to these, efforts can be recognized or ruined by failing to meet standards. Headings, spacing, margins, font, page numbers, etc. are all clean and up to MLA standards. Grammar has been checked, spelling reviewed, commas checked and rechecked, and awkward sentences rewritten. Such revisions will be clear by the evidence in drafts. Paper will be turned in with 1) A rough draft of the story, 2) a typed first draft, 3) a revised typed draft, and 4) a final draft which will be stapled separately and on top of the rest. The paper will be submitted to Turnitin.com by midnight, Sunday night, the week before it is due. Length: Absolute minimum is about 800 words. That is 2 full pages plus another ½ or so of the 3rd page. I will need that much merely to assign a grade. Anything less will not be graded. I assume that many will need more room for their story, but less than this probably means your story or your use of the story is underdeveloped. Feel inspired to write what needs written to fulfill your goals for the essay, your desire to tell the story, and your audience‟s needs for understanding and empathy/sympathy (feeling „with you‟ or feeling for you).