Narrative Essay
Most of us love to tell stories. Most of us admire the person who can unravel a great story. Think for a few moments about what it is we love about a great story. We love the details that put us right in the action, we love the anticipation, that sense of something is going to happen, and whether we realize it or not, we love that a good story has meaning.
For your personal essay, you are to write narrative based on a theme from Billy Elliot. I have identified several below that you may think about. If you can think of another theme you think is relevant, you may ask me to consider it for your narrative. We will brainstorm these suggestions in class.
You need to select a story from your own life that conveys a moment in your life:
•a moment of recognition (about yourself or others or about the world you lived in);
· a moment of pride for your accomplishment after obstacles;
· a moment of passion or a dream you pursued in the face of opposition;
· a moment of defiance to be yourself in the face of authority;
The only guidelines are that the incident involve you and that it be true i.e. not fiction. What you need to do is tell the story so that your audience understands the meaning the experience had for you and understands the meaning you want to suggest to them.
Elements of a Narrative Essay
All elements of narrative are in service of meaning. In your essay, you should consider all the following elements:
· point of view: first person? third person?
· context: your audience needs to know enough detail to understand the experience; this is the "set up"
· structure: from beginning to end? middle of the action back to the beginning? end to beginning?what is the timeline?
· time: very short frame of time (an hour, a day, a week); is there a moment of recognition?
· description of a place alluded to in the story
· dialogue to develop character or to move the action
· description of a person alluded to in the story
· details of action to put the reader in the experience with sensory details (seeing, hearing, smelling, feeling, touching)
meaning: may be implicit or explicit; use concrete details to suggest the meaning of the action; show, don’t tell; You may need to make up details you don’t quite remember or combine action to heighten the drama and to compress time. As long as the narrative is generally true, it’s okay to “tell a little lie for a big truth.
Read the sample student model on the website from The Write Source to see how a narrative flows.