English 90—Rosselli

Essay #1—Narration

Value:

Pre-writing exercises—5 pts Peer Review—10 pts each Final Draft—100 pts

Due Dates:

Write draft/revise essay—see assignment sheet Peer editing/review—see assignment sheet Final Draft—MW—3/1; T/TH,3/2

Length: Final Draft—750 words (three pages double spaced), typed using MLA style In this unit of study you will

Read and analyze several narrative essays by professional writers Practice critical reading skills Practice prewriting strategies Select an appropriate topic for a narrative essay Discuss and implement the basic pattern of narrative writing—situation, conflict,

struggle, outcome, and meaning Part One—Select a Your Topic: For your first essay, you will be writing a personal, reflective essay prompted by our readings and exercises in class. Choose one of the following:

“Black Hair”

1. Soto seems not to have belonged to any of the worlds he inhabited at this time in his life—not among his various coworkers and not in the middle –class household where he lived in a rented room.

Write about a time when you had a sense of alienation, of not belonging. Describe the sequence of events: what happened, who and what was involved, how you felt before and after. Meaning: What did you discover or learn at the end? How did that discovery make you feel? Why? How did it change the way you see yourself or the world? Why? Thinking back, do you consider it a positive or negative experience and discovery? Why?

“Complexion”

2. Rodriquez writes, “I grew divorced from my body. Insecure, overweight, listless.” We are often told as children that “It’s what’s on the inside that counts,” and “Beauty is only skin deep.” Rodriquez writes about going through the process of accepting that he is inferior to others because of his dark skin. Through his personal journey, he begins to discover his own uniqueness and the harm that he has done to his sense of self, to his identity, by buying into the perception of others and denying himself a “sensational life.” Write an essay that discusses a time when you changed something about your body in order to “fit in.” What was your motivation to change? How did it affect your identity? In the end, did you feel accepted or were you still an outsider? How do you feel about yourself now?

Part Two— Plan and Draft Your Essay

1. Do prewriting or brainstorming to select your topic. (Save your notes.) 2. Write the story! Include everything that you remember about it. Don’t worry

about the official parts of the essay yet—introduction, body, conclusion—just get it down on paper. (Save the draft.)

What are the situation (the exposition), the conflict, the struggle,

outcome, and the meaning of the story? How do you want your audience to react to the narrative? What lesson or

truth do you want them to get from your story? As you complete this assignment, what part of the process is the most

clear? What part of the process produces the most anxiety?

3. Attach all of your prewriting notes to your rough draft. Keep the first draft of your story for the next revision.

4. Revise your story, adding an introduction and conclusion.

Part three—Revise Using information from mini-lectures and class discussions, re-write your draft and prepare for peer review. Afterwards, you will revise for the final submission.

Part Four

Revising your graded draft: Students earning a C grade or lower will have an opportunity to revise the essay to earn back 50% of the lost points; for example, if you earned a C (75 points), you have the opportunity to revise the essay to earn up to 13 points, thus, a new grade of B+ (88 points).

English 90—Rosselli Narration Essay Worksheet: plotting your essay Directions:

1. Read your rough draft carefully 2. Answer the following questions

Situation?_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Conflict?__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Struggle?_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Outcome?_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Meaning?_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

English 90--Rosselli Narration Essay Worksheet for Peer Editing Value: 10 points Directions: Follow the steps below: 1. Write down your name (reader) and your partner’s name (writer).

2. Read your partner’s draft through quickly to get a sense of the story.

3. Re-read your partner’s draft carefully and do the following:

Place a wavy line next to sections that you find vague or confusing Place a check mark and clearly label the situation, conflict, struggle,

outcome and meaning (may occur in both intro/conclusion)

Underline and identify all details that appeal to the five senses (sight, sound, smell, taste, touch)

Circle all active, action verbs; draw an arrow above linking verbs

e.g., is, has, was, and had

Check for consistent verb tense; double underline where verb tenses switch.

Tell your partner one specific thing that you like about the draft

Give your partner one suggestion for improving his/her draft

4. Return the marked draft to your partner and discuss your suggestions 5. Each writer is responsible for turning in this form and draft

with your final draft so that your partner receives his/her points

English 90 Rosselli Rubric for Narrative Essay A Paper Student will demonstrate the following skills:

The ability to select an appropriate topic for a short narrative essay The ability to implement the basic pattern of narrative writing—situation, conflict,

struggle, outcome, and meaning The ability to integrate the techniques of writing a narrative—details, examples,

and consistent verb tense—into the essay assignment The ability to tell the story in chronological order The ability to conform to the rules of standard written English Format the paper according to MLA style

The A writer demonstrates exceptional abilities in conveying meaning (main idea) through the use of appropriate, vivid details presented in a logical format. The writer clearly understands the concept of “show vs. tell.” The essay usually conforms to the rules of standard written English although grammar errors do not distract or hinder communication. B Paper Student will demonstrate the following skills:

The ability to select an appropriate topic for a short narrative essay The ability to implement the basic pattern of narrative writing—situation, conflict,

struggle, outcome, and meaning although word count may be low The ability to integrate the techniques of writing a narrative—details, examples.

paragraphing, consistent verb tense—into the essay although student may provide fewer details; verb form and tense errors are more frequent

The ability to tell the story in chronological order The ability to conform to the rules of standard written English although errors in

grammar—syntax, punctuation, spelling, etc.—are more frequent Format the paper according to MLA style

The B writer demonstrates a strong ability to convey meaning through the use of appropriate details presented in a logical format. The writer demonstrates an adequate understanding of the concept of “show vs. tell.” The essay contains few serious grammar errors such as verb tense and sentence boundary errors but not enough to distract or hinder communication.

C Paper

Student will demonstrate the following skills:

The ability to select an appropriate topic for a short narrative essay The ability to implement the basic pattern of narrative writing—situation, conflict,

struggle, outcome, and meaning although word count may be low as a result of fewer details/development

The ability to integrate the techniques of writing a narrative—details, examples, and consistent verb tense—into the essay although student provides fewer details; verb form and tense errors are frequent

The ability to tell the story in chronological order The ability to usually conform to the rules of standard written English although

errors in grammar—syntax, punctuation, spelling, etc.—are more frequent and may distract or hinder communication

Ability to format paper MLA style although there may be minor errors The C writer demonstrates an adequate ability to convey meaning through the use of details presented in a logical format. The writer demonstrates some understanding of the concept of “show vs. tell.” The essay contains grammar errors that may distract or hinder communication. D Paper Student will demonstrate one or more of the following errors:

Inability to select an appropriate topic for a short narrative essay Omit a clear purpose, introduction, and/or conclusion Be too general or too specific—problems with details, examples and verb

tense, revealing a lack of understanding between “show vs. tell” Contain unimportant or irrelevant events or details Have flaws in organization/development of narrative also resulting in low

word count Contain flaws in grammar and usage that hinder communication

Contain multiple MLA style errors