Narrative Essay Writing Expanding our Knowledge of Writing Styles

Reviewing Narrative Writing With your partner, write down three important pieces of information that you remember about narrative writing.

A Narrative Essay Has similar features as a narrative paragraph Introduction, Body, Conclusion First person Main idea Setting Reflection Descriptive language Transitions Is about a single event Chronological Order

The Structure of a Narrative Essay: Introductory Paragraph A narrative essay expands on what we already know, but now we have an opportunity to develop our ideas more The Structure of a Narrative Essay: Introductory Paragraph Body Paragraphs ( 3-4) Concluding Paragraph Now we will look at each part more closely.

Introductory Paragraph An introductory paragraph has three jobs: To hook the reader To provide a setting and introduce the characters What is the basic idea of the story? Where is the story taking place? When is the story taking place? Who is in the story? To give a purpose to the essay

Introductory Paragraph Another way to look at an introductory paragraph: Hook Who What When Where This is to show the idea that the hook is a general idea to pull the reader in, but then the paragraph gets more specific by giving the reader more information (who, what, when, where) and then very specific with the thesis Thesis (the purpose of your essay)

What is your Hook? The hook is the FIRST sentence of the introductory paragraph. The purpose of a hook: To pull the reader Grab the reader’s curiosity Your hook should transition smoothly into the rest of your introductory paragraph.

It has a main idea and a claim. What is a thesis? Your thesis does the same job as the topic sentence in a narrative paragraph. It has a main idea and a claim. It is the PURPOSE of your essay. If you don’t have a thesis, you don’t have a purpose and your essay will be very confusing for the reader. Your entire essay will develop to support your thesis. Your thesis is ONLY ONE sentence. Your thesis is the LAST sentence of your introductory paragraph.

The Body Paragraphs The body paragraphs look similar to the body of a narrative paragraph. They develop the story. Climax: the event Rising Action: leading up the event Falling Action: what happens afterwards The story is told in chronological order.

Thinking about Transitions Transitions will help signal the end of one paragraph and the beginning of the next. They provide a link between ideas and paragraphs. They will give your essay a feeling of unity and allow the reader to follow the story easily.

Common Time Transitions Remember to use a comma after a transition. Before Second Later Meanwhile After Then At last Since During Finally Last Now First While Eventually Soon

Concluding Paragraph The concluding paragraph has the same function in a narrative essay as in a narrative paragraph. It must synthesize your main idea and claim as well as provide your reflection. It can: Make a prediction or revelation about future actions that will happen as a result of the story It can challenge the reader’s thoughts and beliefs about the main idea It can tell what the writer has learned from her experiences.

Concluding Paragraph Another way to look at the concluding paragraph: Synthesizing the main idea and claim Reflecting on your event Synthesizing and reflecting are kinda merged together. The “clincher” sentence is the final-thought provoking sentence that lets the reader know that the essay is finished…a sense of completion Finishing Sentence “Clincher Sentence”

Some Final Notes: 1. Choose details to move your essay forward and bring your experience to life for the reader by appealing to her 5 senses. 2. Choose details that are specific enough to show clearly what happened. 3. Control your tenses and transitions. Remember a narrative essay shares an event from the past, so you should write in the past tense.