How to Structure a Personal Narrative
- 2. First Writing Assignment Think about: • When was an important time in my life? • What has happened in my experience that I would enjoy writing about? • Is there an event in my life that other people would enjoy hearing/reading about?
- 3. Components of a story • Setting=Where the action in a story happens. • Theme=Basic idea or point of the story • Mood=Feeling or atmosphere the author creates for the story. • Characters =The people in the story • Plot=What happens in the story
- 4. Introduction-Narrative • Describe the background of the story (characters, setting, atmosphere) • Prepare the reader on what to expect in the story. • Folse (2004) believes that in introductions, you should have a “hook” that will grab the reader’s attention, as well as a thesis that organizes the essay.
- 5. What is a “hook”? •The first two or three lines in the introductory paragraph that grabs readers’ attention. •Help set the stage for the story. •Make readers guess what will happen next in the story.
- 6. How to write a good “hook” •Like a fish getting hooked by a fisherman, you need to “hook” your readers and make them want to read your essay. •If it’s a good hook, people would want to read your essay. •If it is not a good hook, then no one wants to read your essay.
- 7. Some suggestions… • Ask a question. (How many of you spend hours downloading music to your iPod?) • Use an interesting observation (Because of the economy, President Obama is having problems sleeping well these days.) • Create a unique scenario. (Traveling at more than 300 km per hour, he traveled to another dimension.) • Use a famous quote (“To be or not to be; that is the question.”) • Use a statistic (If world temperatures continue to rise, Singapore will be under water by 2050.)
- 8. Hooks-Connecting Information • After the hook, the writer usually writes three to five sentences that connect it to the topic. Example from Keith Folse Her daily routine was not glamorous. She did everything from sweeping the floors to cooking the meals. If someone had asked her, “Are there any household chores that you practically hate?”, she probably would have answered, “None.”
- 9. Example Write a sample hook for this paragraph: At 16 I worked in the toy department of Lotte Department Store, where I learned that I enjoyed helping people. I always went out of my way to help people because I learned that if I worked hard, I would succeed. This is the reason why I want to go to a businessman and go to business school.
- 10. Example I had never been more anxious in my life. I had just spent the last three hours trying to get to the airport so that I could travel home. What questions do you have? What do you think will happen next?
- 11. Thesis • States the main idea of the essay (thesis statements). • In narrative essays, they introduce the action that begins in the first paragraph of the essay.
- 12. Examples 1) Now, as I watched the bus driver set my luggage on the airport, I realized that my frustration has only just begun. 2) I wanted my mother to watch me race down the steep hill, so I called out her name and then nudged my bike forward. 3) Because his pride wouldn’t allow him to apologize, Ken now had to fight the bully, and he was pretty sure that he wouldn’t win.
- 13. Body • Contains most of the plot-the supporting information. • Can be organized in many different ways. • One way is chronological, or time, order (where you give more information about the story as it proceeds in time).
- 14. Transitional Sentences Have two purposes 1. Signal the end of action in one paragraph 2. Link the next paragraph. Gives your reader an ability to follow happens and predicts what will happen next.
- 15. Concluding Paragraph Can have two functions: 1. The moral of the story, or what the character(s) learned from the experience. 2. Make a prediction about what will happen next based on what happened.
- 16. Examples Moral: The little boy had finally learned that telling the truth was the most important thing to do. Prediction/Revelation: I can only hope that one day I will be able to do the same for another traveler who is suffering through a terrible journey.