NARRATIVE ESSAYS

Tell me a story.

That's the easiest way to describe this form. 

Tell me a story of something that happened in your life.

Remember that an essay is a writing that makes a point. 

Some idea you want us to understand.

The "thesis." 

Somehow, your  story from your life should also make a point.

You don't just tell us about driving to school. 

Instead you tell us about how on the way to school you picked up a homeless hitch hiker, and how his dignity in spite of his  position in life suddenly made clear to you that a real education can happen in lots of places, even on the streets.  

Or something...

If you're having trouble remembering a story, here's a useful technique:

(If you already know what story you want to tell, click here.)

Using the box below, think back over your life and make a list of about twelve significant events.

These are not necessarily good or bad things, you'll probably have some of both.

Be specific, don't list "High School", list the time you got caught skipping.

Significant often means a time when your life changed in some way:

Falling in love.

Day you moved.

First time you did. . .

The day__________died.

etc...

Your first significant event was the day you were born.  We all have that in common.  And then you...and then...and then...up to about twelve.

Keep your description short. Just a sentence will do nicely.

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10 11 12

Now! Choose one.  If you can't decide, choose the third from the bottom.

Using either your own paper, or the Writing Space below, freewrite a description of what was going on at that time.

Write about how that event came about. Who were the important people? What else was going on in your life?

One good way to begin is to open with these words, "That was a time in my life when. . ." Then just let it go.

Here's a jump to the Writing Space.  Click here.

The First Draft:

You've done enough prewriting to get an idea of what story you want to tell.  Now write the story.

Relax, it's just the first draft. 

It's a freewrite! 

Don't worry about spelling or punctuation.

Don't even worry about being brilliant. 

Just worry about getting the story down.

Use the box if you'd like.

Don't forget to save it! (Just highlight it and click on "save" under "file" in your browser.)

This freewrite can serve as an "exploratory" draft--a very rough first draft in which you explore ideas that you may or may not use in your final essay.   You may prefer to use the Exploratory Place Page for this draft.

To save: Highlight text, and click the "copy" tag under "edit" on your browser. You can then copy to a disk or to your hard drive.

If you've done the above exercise you already have a first draft!  Is this program great or what?

On the other hand, if you still don't have a topic you like, try these:

• You can find more prewriting advice on the Prewriting Page:
• One more thing, there's a list of suggested topics on the Topic Generator Page.

Revision:  You will find suggestions for revision and for editing elsewhere in the program.  You may even know how to go about these steps already. Whatever.

Revision:

Editing:  

That's pretty much it. Except for handing it in and collecting your good grade. Good luck.

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To email the program author, click on the email address: vickryston@mac.com

This program copyright 2000-2002 by Vic Kryston. All rights reserved.