Making your Narrative essay awesome!

Learning to work independently This is what will happen if you ask us to read your paper to see if “it’s ok.” Mrs. Beckerman and I love you all dearly and want to support your development of skills in writing, but that does not mean we tell you what to write or that we read your paper to tell you if it’s ok. We’ve given you your rubric. If you did that stuff, it’s likely in good shape. If not, do that stuff.

You may ask what we refer to as “point to” questions. Examples of point to questions: Does this subject agree with this verb? Is this transition clear? Is this use of a comma correct? I’ve attempted to make this passive sentence active, but am struggling. Can you help me? You see, these are “point to” questions b/c they are asking about very specific things, not just reading to see if “it’s ok.” Also, note that most of these reflect you’ve already attempted to fix the issue.

Commas after introductory phrases Label the subject and verb in each sentence. Yes, I know it’s a lot, but do it anyhow. If the subject isn’t the first word in the sentence, you likely have an introductory phrase. Place a comma after that phrase just before the subject. Ex. After she left for work, Sarah realized she’d forgotten to tell her husband she’d be home late. Ex. Because my mom had always done it for me, I had no idea how to do laundry when I went away to college.

Why the comma? Now circle every comma in your paper. Ask yourself why they are there? Some possible reasons might include: They separate things in a series of three or more. I went to the store for eggs, cheese, and milk. They separate two adjectives modifying the same noun. I ate the salty, delicious pretzel. They follow an introductory phrase. After this lesson, I knew how to use commas. They precede a conjunction (FANBOYS) and serve to help that conjunction join to independent clauses. I tried out for the baseball team, but I did not make the cut. They separate a dependent clause preceding an independent clause. After I got the call, I ran to tell my parents the good news.

Word choice Read EACH sentence of your paper individually. Look for any vague or cliché words or phrases that may make you sound like a goofball. Make sure words make you sound intelligent, but don’t over do it to the point it sounds unnatural. Your language should work together to reflect the overall tone you are trying to set for your paper. Words should be specific to what exactly you are trying to communicate. This is an area that READING YOUR PAPER ALOUD will help. I cannot stress this enough.

Telling a story Highlight your anecdote / story. Did you include any of the narrative techniques you learned yesterday? Did you include sensory details to bring your reader into the moment? Did you create any suspense? Does it serve to illustrate something about you? To add interest?

Balance of story and self You want to include story and character. There should be a pretty healthy balance between the two.