Wednesday

Personal Narrative

      A Personal Narrative is a form of writing in which the writer relates an event, incident, or experience in his or her own life. It is usually focused on one idea.  The events of a personal narrative are most often presented in chronological order, the order in which they actually occurred in time. The personal narrative incorporates vivid descriptive details as well as the thoughts, feelings, and reactions of the writer. 

           

Remember the first paragraph, just like an essay, should have a grabber or an attention getting statement and it can set up your reason for writing—it could contain a controlling idea and can also state a list of topics that you will discuss in your essay (these are not bad things to practice and you should look at the student examples).   It should follow a plot with an exposition, inciting event and a resolution. 

            Some things you can discuss:

1)    Who are you and where are you from?  What is your family like?   What do your parents or relatives do? 

2)    Tell me something was important in your life (example: describe winning a race, or attending your sister’s marriage, etc.)

3)    Tell a story about your past (maybe this past summer—such as your job)?

4)    Overcoming some problem or situation (example: I had a girl in the Marshall

Islands write about battling anorexia).

5)    Take an experience from your life, an experience that taught you something about life (either about suffering, about healing, about people, about yourself) –Think about F. Scott Fitzgerald’s statement: “What most people are ashamed of usually makes a good story.” 

I’m looking for passion, excitement, description, dialogue, and your voice coming out and calling the reader to pay attention because what you have to say is important! 

Please use details, imagery and if possible figurative language (metaphors, similes, personification, etc.)  If you don’t know these terms do not worry, we will cover them in class during the year.  Before you begin writing I’d like you to begin by pre-writing and thinking about organization.  Never just start writing without jotting down ideas or writing out some sort of map or outline. 

The purpose of this assignment is for you to start to format letters/ideas for you to use as a senior when you apply to colleges and for scholarships.  It will also give you valuable writing practice for writing is a skill that needs constant practice and developing.    

Requirements:  Your narrative needs to be at least 3 pages long (it can be double-spaced).  There is no maximum length.  You will be graded on a rubric broken into ideas, organization, voice, word choice (usage), sentence fluidity (structure), and conventions. 

Grade:  This assignment will be worth 150 points.

Unit Learning goal: Students will demonstrate knowledge of the structure of fiction by breaking down the essential building blocks (literary elements) of short stories by plot, dialogue, imagery, character development, figurative language (metaphor, symbolism, irony), point of view, connecting these blocks to the overall meaning (or theme) of the text, and final writing a personal narrative using some of these devices. 

 

 Scale/Rubric relating to learning goal:

4 – The student can analyze the elements of a short story come up with a valid theme (or themes) of a text and relate this theme to other texts and/or movies and real world situations.  The student is able to write a personal narrative using these elements to create a text with a realistic theme that relates to the student’s life.

3 – The student can analyze elements of a short story and come up with a valid theme for a text.  The student is able to write a personal narrative using some of these elements to create a text with a valid theme that relates to the student’s life.

2 – With some direction/help from the teacher the student can analyze the elements of a short story and come up with a theme for a text.  With some direction/help from the teacher the student is able to write a personal narrative using some of these elements to create a text with a valid theme that relates to the student’s life.

1 – Even with help from the teacher the student is unable to analyze elements of a short story and come up with a theme for a text.  Even with help from the teacher the student in unable to write a personal narrative using some of these elements to create a text with a valid theme that relates to the student’s life.

Grading Rubric

                                                Excellent                    Good                           Fair                                 

IDEAS                                        20                      19     18      17          16      15     14               13     12

Is the essay focused?

Does it define a purpose?

Does the letter address an

audience? 

DETAILS                                   20                      19    18      17           16      15      14              13     12     11

Extent which you back

up your main ideas with

examples, the extent which

you describe a scene with

imagery.

ORGANIZATION                   20                       19      18    17             16      15     14              13       12     11

Extent to which you

effectively organize information

so the reader can follow

(includes: paragraph structure,

topic sentences, how well paragraphs

stay aligned with thesis, etc.)

SENTENCE FLUENCY/ VOICE  20                19     18     17             16       15     14            13    12

Do you the sentences flow,

are they varied: complex, compound,

simple.  Does the writer have his/her

own voice?  Is the voice original?

CONVENTIONS                20                          19     18     17             16    15      14                13    12

Correct us of the conventions of spelling

punctuations, etc.