Transcript What is a narrative essay?

Do Now
 Imagine you have the chance to meet a famous person
in history. Whom would you choose to meet? Why?
 Ex. George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Martin
Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks, etc.
What is a narrative essay?
A narrative is a story.
A narrative essay is a story that
has a specific point.
It strives to teach a lesson OR
It strives to make a specific
point
What should be included in a
narrative essay?
 Often written in 1st person – I or we-
because it is based on a personal story.
Otherwise, written in 3rd person.
 Has specific sensory details to get the
reader hooked on the story.
 Is developed in chronological order.
 Has verbs that helps paint a picture and
draw in the reader.
Sensory Details: use words related to your 5 senses
of sight, sound, smell, taste and touch.
 The tinkling of broken glass.
 He reminded her of her grandfather, a scent of
peppermint and tobacco.
 The sour taste of vomit.
 He was tied tightly, and the rough bark
gouged his back.
Use Vivid Verbs: eliminate the use of am, is, are, was,
were, be, being, been. Use specific words instead.
 Molly went to the store.
 Molly skipped and jogged to the store.
 The third graders go into the gym.
 Third graders charged into the gym.
How did your sensory images change when you read the second example? What
other verbs might work? Why?
Instead of “go,” try:
walk
ride
trudge
amble
Instead of “fall,” try:
tumble
twirl
whirl
plunge
What else should be included in a
narrative essay?
 Since this is a story, the narrative essay
needs everything a story needs (story
elements):
 Plot
 Characters
 Problem
 Climax
 Often uses dialogue
Setting
 What if The Lion King took place in Indiana?
 What if Finding Nemo took place in Ireland?
 What if The Outsiders took place on the moon?
 The SETTING a writer chooses is significant. It can make ALL the difference!
Choose it wisely. Then DESCRIBE it!
BE SPECIFIC:
*Don’t say, “It was a summer day.”
*Say, “It was so sticky my clothes stuck to my body and sweat made its way down
my back, between my shoulder blades.”
Eye-catching openings: write an
attention grabber.
 Use action. Ex. Running down the stairs, I heard my mom yelling from






the kitchen
Use dialogue: Ex. “Do I have to mom?” I complained as I ran down the
stairs.
Use a quote: Ex. “He who fails to plan, plans to fail.”
Use an onomatopoeia: ex. Bang! I heard something crash below.
Use a startling fact: Ex. Scientists at the University of Illinois have
demonstrated that in fact, sugar doesn’t melt, it decomposes.
Use a question: Ex. What would you do if you found your mother had
been kidnapped?
Use the word “imagine”: Ex. Imagine walking through the hallways
and not hearing a word.
Develop your character (s)
 What good is a story if there are no characters? What if there was a
story with no one the reader could relate to, no one the reader could
love, no one the reader could hate?
 PICTURE YOUR CHARACTER IN YOUR MIND:
 Physical Description
 Describe what they spend time doing (Actions)
 Describe their thoughts
 Describe how other characters react to them
 What do they say? Use dialogue to reveal their personality.
Develop your character(s): Be specific!
Let’s practice: Look at the picture.
 What physical traits can we describe? Don’t say a hand; say a
pasty hand clutching the steering wheel.
 What does this person do? Don’t say, “He is a driver”. For what
company? Where is he going? Why? At what speed?
 What are they thinking?
 How are other characters reacting to them?
 What are they saying?
Conflict
 Without it, you have no real story. It
becomes a simple series of events.
I can hear the reader yawning already!
 Pick more than one conflict for your story: internal AND external.
 What is an internal conflict for Ernie in “A Crush”?
 What is an external conflict faced by Ernie?
 What is an internal conflict faced by Jimmy in “A Retrieved
Reformation”?
 What is an external conflict faced by Jimmy in “A Retrieved
Reformation”?
Conflict: Let’s Practice
 What INTERNAL conflict is this
character experiencing?
 What EXTERNAL conflict is this
character experiencing?
Complication
 Don’t jump straight from a problem to a solution. That is NO




FUN!
Provide some sort of problem along the way, while your character
is TRYING to solve the main conflict.
Maybe on their way home finally, they realize they have also lost
their key. Maybe before a starving lion finds food, they injure
their paw and can’t hunt as easily as they thought?
What is the major conflict and complication in The Hunger
Games?
What is a conflict and complication in
Finding Nemo?
Resolution With a Moral
 You must satisfy your readers in the end with a resolution
and a moral/lesson. This does NOT mean it has to be a
happy resolution every time, but you can’t have too many
loose ends, or your reader will look like this:
 You want them to be able to say, “Oh, I get it!” You do not
want them to think you ran out of time!
Planning the Narrative
 Brainstorm ideas for a personal story or
observation
 Outline or web the important parts of the story to
be told.
 Write an introductory paragraph that includes the
thesis statement and then write the story.
 Because this is a story, use as many paragraphs as
necessary to tell the story.
 Write a conclusion that reflects on the thesis
statement.
What is a thesis statement?
 A thesis statement is a sentence or two that
contains the focus of your essay and tells
your reader what the essay is going to be
about.
 Example
 “Oftentimes, people do not follow simple
directions. However, these campers
learned just how important following
directions can be.”
Sample Introduction of a Narrative
including the thesis statement
 It was a wonderful week to camp in the great
outdoors, even if some of their friends thought it
was a strange way to honeymoon. Trudy and Jeff
were looking forward to their week at the Great
Smokey Mountains National Park in Tennessee.
Little did they know what a learning experience
this trip would be. Oftentimes people do not
follow simple directions. However, these campers
learned just how important following directions
can be.
Ways to create a thesis statement
 Without a thesis, or a point, you are not really
writing a narrative essay – make sure you have a
point.
 You can get help finding a point when you:
 Think about sayings or quotes that teach a
lesson
 Think about a time when you learned
something valuable.
 Think about lessons learned from characters in
novels/stories.
Dialogue Rules
 Rule #1:
 A direct quote begins with a capital letter.
 Ex. Jimmy shouted, “See you at the game!”
 Ex. “Is it true?” asked Cindy.
Rule #2
 When a quote is interrupted into two parts with words
like “he asked” or “the teacher demanded,” the second
part begins with a lowercase letter.
Ex: “What are some of the things,” Mrs. Small asked,
“that make school so much fun?”
Ex: “One thing I like,” Ali replied, “is recess!”
Rule #3
 When writing dialogue, all punctuation marks at the
end of the quote go at the inside of the quotation
marks.
 Ex. “Let’s visit the museum,” suggested Samantha.
 Ex. Jon replied, “Didn’t we go there last weekend?”
Rule #4
 Do not put a period at the end of a quotation followed
by things like she said, mom asked, he explained. Use
commas, question marks, and exclamation marks but
not periods. Periods end sentences.
 Ex: “My Math class is hard,” replied Tom.
 Ex: “That’s my favorite class!” yelled Monica.
Rule #5
 Make a new paragraph (indent) when a different
person begins to speak.
Ex:
 “Last night, I dreamt that I ate a giant marshmallow,”
Kevin said.
 “That’s crazy!” replied Kate.
 “Wait until you hear about the dream I had about
swimming in a mountain of fruit cocktail,” responded
Jim.
“Said is Dead”
 Remember, do not overuse the word said.
 Use more descriptive words like whispered, shouted,
or asked.
 Or, describe how they said it with an adverb.
Compositional Risks
 An attempt by an author to do something interesting,
engaging, and unusual with his or her writing.
 Qualities of a piece of writing that make it stand out in
some way.
 Must be sustained - that means the writer can't just
throw in one or two
 Need to be spread throughout the writing. They
should also not just be randomly included, but rather
should work together or flow smoothly from example
to another.
Compositional Risks
 Rhetorical Questions
 Humor
 Similes and Metaphors
 Idioms
 Repetition
 Analogies
 Directly Addressing the Audience
 Opening with a Question
 Closing with a Question
 Vivid Imagery
 Sarcasm
 In Music: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=os9gBvQzJwE
Simile – comparing two UNLIKE things
using “like” or “as”
Ex. I was as angry as a raging bull.
Make Your Own Similes :

That puppy was as skinny as________________________.

The chickens were as nervous as__________________.

Grandma's hug was as warm as__________________.

The librarian was wound as tightly as_______________.
Metaphor: comparing two UNLIKE
things, implying one IS the other.
 Ex: I was a raging bull.
Make your own:
Her stomach was a growling ________________________.
The howl ripping through the air was ______________.
The breeze from the window was _______________.
Fear crawled over him and was_______________________.
Personification: giving human characteristics to
something non-human.
Practice Personification: Personify extreme Hot or Cold.
Write about what the heat or the cold does to you. Try
doing so without using the words hot or cold.
Transitional Words and Phrases
 Helps papers read more smoothly
 Enhance logical organization and understandability
 Improve the connections between thoughts.
 Indicate relations, whether within a sentence,
paragraph, or paper.