Narrative Essay

ENG 122 Milestone One: First Draft: Narrative Essay Guidelines and Rubric Overview For this assignment, you will write the first draft of a narrative essay. Narrative essays rely upon personal experience. Drawing from your experience allows you, as the writer, to think about and share your own stories. A narrative approach, however, is not simply the telling of a story; it is the telling of a story to communicate a realization, to express a significant point. A narrative essay should use your experience as evidence to show how the experience led you to a lasting realization. Your essay should tell readers the point that you learned from the experience. Writing the draft gives you practice with the skills that you will need to compose your final project, a reflective essay, and your first draft of the narrative essay will provide reference material that you can use when you write the reflective essay. In this milestone, due in Module Three, you will submit the first draft of your narrative essay. The purposes of this narrative rough draft are to help you start the essay and give your instructor an opportunity to comment on the critical elements of your text before you revise it for the Final Draft: Revised Narrative Essay, due in Module Six. As such, the rough draft of your paper should include all elements of your final draft. The extent to which you have incorporated your instructor's feedback on the rough draft will be considered in the assessment of the final draft of your revised narrative essay. Please be sure to study the Milestone Three Rubric, located in the Assignment Guidelines and Rubrics folder under the Course Information link on your ENG 122 course page, before drafting your essay, to make sure you understand which critical elements will be reviewed and graded. Then, use the instructions and rubric below to make sure you have included all of the required elements in your rough draft. Prompt We often find ourselves saying, “If only I had done this or said that.” In this assignment, you will write a narrative essay about an experience in which you later questioned your actions. You may have been pressured into doing something you did not want to do, you may have been forced to react quickly to a situation without having time to think, your actions may have led you closer to danger than you anticipated, or you may have reacted to a situation in anger or fear or even with humor. Your essay can be serious or light in tone. Use elements of descriptive language to purposefully advance your story. Considering how to introduce, support, build, and resolve the conflict will help you develop the structural guide that you can use to write and shape your narrative. If you mention an outside source or use language from such a source in your essay, full, formal citation format—in-text references and documentation in an appropriate section at the end of the essay—is required for each reference to an outside source. Paraphrasing, quoting, and mentioning others’ ideas (your outside sources) means acknowledging the sources and not representing their ideas or concepts as your own original thoughts or work. Specifically the following critical elements must be addressed:

1. Identify a central event in your own life that involved a conflict and led you to realize a larger point. 2. Articulate your main point; the essay will use the account of your experience to make a larger point or illustrate a bigger idea. 3. Demonstrate a unique point of view that is appropriate to your narrative essay, using effective voice and perspective.

4. Selectively include meaningful, specific evidence, such as pertinent actions, dialogue, and/or sensory details (appealing to sight, smell, touch, taste, and hearing) to engage readers, advance the narrative, and show how your experience connects to the main point of your narrative.

5. Apply a clear organizational structure that enhances readability. 6. Describe the resolution to the central event and conflict with insightful details that support the meaning behind your main point. 7. Follow either MLA or APA formatting conventions; choose the one you prefer, and use it consistently. 8. Apply appropriate syntax and rules of grammar for clear readability.

Rubric Requirements of Submission: The first draft of your narrative essay should follow these formatting guidelines: It must be at least 2 and no more than 3 pages long, double-spaced, use 12-point New Times Roman font, with standard one-inch margins, and follow MLA or APA conventions. This assignment uses an integrated rubric in Blackboard. To view the integrated rubric in Blackboard, navigate to the final submission item, click on the title, and then click the “View Rubric” button. For more information, review these instructions.

Critical Elements Proficient (100%) Needs Improvement (75%) Not Evident (0%) Value

Central Event/Conflict Identifies and establishes a specific event from the author's personal experience which involves a conflict and illustrates a larger point

Discusses several events from the author's personal experience that relate to a common theme, but does not identify and concentrate on a specific event as illustrating a larger point

Does not discuss an event from the author's personal experience

15

Your Main Point Uses a narrative approach and clearly presents a significant point that grows out of the central event/conflict

Uses a narrative approach but does not present a significant point that grows out of the central event/conflict

Does not use a narrative approach 15

Point of View Point of view is clear, consistent, and appropriate throughout the draft

Point of view is generally clear and appropriate, but voice occasionally varies in perspective

Point of view is confusing or inappropriate to the narrative form

15

Concrete Details Includes many specific, appropriate details that connect the audience with the main point

Includes a few details, but they seem vague or insufficient to connect the audience with the point

Lacks specific, appropriate details 20

Organizational Structure

Has an organized flow of key narrative elements

Some elements advance the narrative, but with either confusing gaps or apparently unnecessary tangent(s)

Organizational structure presents apparently unrelated elements

10

Resolution of Central Event

Central event is satisfactorily resolved Central event is acknowledged but not sufficiently resolved

Central event seems unresolved 5

MLA/APA Format Draft uses standard 1" margins and Times New Roman 12-point font; provides and appropriately formats all identifying information called for by either MLA or APA conventions; cites outside sources, if used, as specified by the chosen style; and is 2 or more pages long

Draft uses standard 1" margins and Times New Roman 12-point font; provides most identifying information called for by either MLA or APA conventions; uses unconventional format for identifying information; cites outside sources, if used, as specified by the chosen style; and is 1.5-2 pages long

Draft lacks standard 1" margins and Times New Roman 12-point font; lacks significant identifying information called for by MLA or APA conventions; does not cite sources used; or is less than 1.5 pages long

10

Syntax and Grammar Most sentences are easy to read; grammar and mechanics are clear and effective throughout the draft

Most sentences are understandable, but reading is made difficult by unconventional syntax, grammar, or other mechanical details

Many sentences are difficult to understand because sentences use unconventional syntax, grammar, or other mechanical details

10

Earned Total Comments:

100%