Unit 3Narrative Essay

What is Narrative Essay?

• A narrative essay is a story.• A narrative essay is a piece of writing that

recreates an experience through time.• A narrative essay can be based on one of your

own experiences, either past or present, or it can be based on the experiences of someone else.

• In addition to telling a story, a narrative essay also communicates a main idea or a lesson learned.

http://www.writeexpress.com/narrative-essay.html

Writing Model

• (p.55) Breaking Ground to Be a Man• Jimmy Carter, 1977-1981

• (p.56) Exercise 4.

Key Features

• Narratives are generally written in the first person, that is, using I. However, third person (he, she, it) can also be used.

• Narratives rely on concrete, sensory details to convey their point. These details should create a unified, forceful effect, a dominant impression.

• Narratives, as stories, should include these story conventions: a plot, including setting and characters; a climax; and an ending.

http://essayinfo.com/essays/narrative_essay.php

Writing Model

• P.58 An Embarrassing Incident.

• Background information? – when?– Who?– What?– Where?– Why?

• What was the writer’s embarrassing incident?• What did the writer learn?

Prewriting Stage

• Identify the experience that you want to write about.

• Think about why the experience worth writing.

• Spend time drafting your recollections about the details of the experience.

• Create an outline of the basic parts of your narrative.

Narrative Topic

• Formative experience: an experience that shape how we see the world and what type of person we become later in life.

• Sometimes you show your personality and characteristic in the story/experience. – Showing what you “learned” is important.– E.g. Interview

Writing Task

• Choose one of the following topics. Write a three-to-four-paragraph narrative essay (200-250 words). Remember to give a specific title for your essay.

• Topic 1. Write about an experience of learning something new. What problems did you encounter? How did you overcome them?

• Topic 2. Think about an event in your life that seemed bad but turned out to be good. What makes the event change from bad to good? What did you learn?

Rhetorical Focus (p.58)

• Introduction: to engages the reader’s interest.– The hook.– The middle sentences to provide background

information (people, place, time)– Thesis statement to prepare readers for the following

action. • Body: to give details about the main event/action.

– To describe what happened by time order, including details that bring the story to life.

• Conclusion: to describe the outcome. – The comment about what the event showed or taught.

Writing Model

• P.58 An Embarrassing Accident

• Hook? Background information? Thesis statement?

• What was the writer’s embarrassing incident?• What did the writer learn?

Writing Task

• Outlining your narrative essay based on your brainstorming ideas.

• Topic 1. Write about an experience of learning something new. What problems did you encounter? How did you overcome them?

• Topic 2. Think about an event in your life that seemed bad but turned out to be good. What makes the event change from bad to good? What did you learn?

When did the story happen? - Verb Tense-

• Past Continuous: to set the scene.– It is used for an action that continues for some time and

is usually paired with an action in the simple past. It is often used with "as", "while", and "when".

– Certain stative verbs are NOT used with past continuous. e.g. seemed, appeared, was/were, became.

• Simple Past • Past Perfect: to describe something that happened before

another thing in the past. – It is sometimes used for reported speech after verbs

such as say, tell, report, recount.