Personal Narrative Essay

“I made mistakes in drama. I thought drama was when actors cried. But drama is when the audience cries.”
— Frank Capra (director, It’s a Wonderful Life).NOTE: Since this is one of six major assignments in this course, all students must submit this assignment at least once to pass the course.

The assignment for your Personal Narrative Essay is to write about a specific event or experience from your own life — using action, dialogue, and specific, sensory details — in a way that helps your readers learn what you did from the experience.

It should be neither meaningless nor told in summary: “One time I went to a place that was really fun. It was really fun. You should go, too, because it’s really fun.”

Instead, the Personal Narrative Essay should tell a story by using specific sensory details, including dialogue and action, so that your readers get to emotionally experience the event(s), metaphorically.

For example, “The taste of warm, buttery croissants melted on my tongue, their delicate flakes falling apart with each bite, transporting me to the streets of Paris on a sunny morning” (Julia Child, My Life in France). Notice the specific, sensory details — taste, texture, sight, etc.

Your audience should be able to feel and “see” your perspective conveyed through specific, descriptive details and precise phrasing.

To do so, try to minimize the summaries, often found in narration, until the conclusion. Rely on actions and dialogue (why may also be spelled as “dialog”). Remember the storyteller’s maxim: “Show, don’t tell.”

By reading the same specific, sensory details you felt and saw in that moment, your readers will have “experienced” what you did. Then, share what you learned from it, so they can learn from the experience as well (without having to actually go through what you did).

The narrative should tell of a meaningful experience — an experience you learned from, that others can learn from, too. As you consider what to write about, ask yourself, “What do I want my readers to learn from my story?”

Readers share their time and attention with you. Reward them! Give them an engaging and rewarding experience to consider and remember.

So, in the conclusion of your narrative, offer an interpretation of your experience. Ideally, the conclusion should comprise 25% of the entire paper itself; in any case, it should be (much) more than a single sentence.

Interpret the experience and show how it led to what you learned. Share your interpretation — and what you learned — with your readers.

In sum, your Narrative should offer a meaningful appeal to pathos — an emotional experience to your readers. The way to do that is by offering specific details, dialogue, and meaning.

REQUIREMENTS

• Two or more double-spaced pages (500 words or more)
  • Note: There is no such thing as “too much writing” in this college writing course!
• Follow MLA formatting guidelines:
  • At the top right, set up automated page numbers, with your last name, a space, and the page number.
  • At the top left, put your name, then your instructor’s name, the course name, and the CURRENT date.
  • Center your title, in the same font, which should be descriptive and engaging (not “Personal Narrative Essay”). Great writing deserves a great title!
  • Indent the first line of each paragraph.
  • If you aren’t sure how to set those up, there are thousands of “MLA How to…” tutorials online.
• Save the file name in this format: Your Last Name – Assignment Name – Draft (or Final)(1, 2, 3… number your drafts, just in case.).
• Submit your narrative, as an attachment, in .pdf format (or .doc/.docx).

PURPOSES

• Practice using exploration as a method of inquiry, including using questions to challenge easy assumptions.
• Practice using dialectical thinking (considering multiple perspectives to arrive at a deeper understanding, a mark of mature thought) and moving from the “here and now” to the “there and then,” from telling to showing, and from critical thought to creative thought.
• Learn that your life experiences can provide a basis for good writing.

HOW THE ESSAY IS GRADED

You can use these evaluation questions (from the “peer review” assignments), as a checklist to proofread and appraise your writing:

1. Which specific ideas, words, phrases, or images struck you as particularly memorable and effective?
2. Which specific things struck you as confusing or needing elaboration?
3. Where does the writer use descriptions to show rather than tell? Where would more sensory description, dialogue, or detail help readers engage more with the narrative?
4. As a reader, what do you want to hear more about?
5. In your own words, what would you say the “idea” is of the essay?
6. Is the idea significant and clear, and does it have a strong connection to the narrative? Is that reflection at least 25% of the essay?
7. What does this draft do especially well?
8. What two or three things would most improve the draft in revision?