writing

Write a personal narrative essay on a topic of your own choosing. Begin your story in a specific moment and allow the story to unfold chronologically from there, using background information ​only as it is pertinent and necessary​: in other words, you should use your paragraphs to reconstruct specific moments of time for your audience, saving any reflective explanation that is not pertinent to the events for your conclusion.

● Keep your audience – your fellow members of our WR 333 class – at the forefront of your mind as you write. Tell a story that they will be interested in reading.

● Feel free to talk with family or friends who were present for the event or moments you are sharing.

● Render your story in moments. Show, don’t tell. Ask yourself “How did I know ___” (that your friend was upset, that it was cold outside, that something exciting was about to happen).

● In each moment you depict, focus on two or three of your five senses (sight, touch, sound, taste, and smell) to evoke a sense of reality for your reader. Allow your reader the sensory and temporal sensations you experienced.

● Take care to focus your topic closely and carefully to avoid slipping into a reflective essay mode.

● Like other stories, narratives center around an event or series of events that precipitate or demonstrate a significant personal ​change​. Make efforts so that your reader understands the significance of the story you are sharing.

● Draw inspiration from ​LNR ​essays that we’re reading in this unit. Feel free to skip ahead if there’s an essay you think might help you approach your writing.

● Recall that narrative essays should depict some sort of meaningful change. Stay connected with the purpose of your own work.

● As you explore topic ideas, consider experiences that were exciting, unexpected, devastating, adventurous, frightening, liberating, painful, or broadening. This class is a safe space and we will respect one another’s personal privacy and intellectual property by not sharing details about others’ experiences (unless explicit permission has been given by the author).