T HE N ARRATIVE E SSAY A SSIGNMENT

C REATIVE W RITING VS. A CADEMIC W RITING Creative writing: Strives for beauty, art Tries to capture interest Uses flowing/creative language Judged by literary standards Read for personal enjoyment

B UT... Academic writing: Has a goal (to persuade, inform, recommend, etc.) Places emphasis on information, not beauty Audience reads for information

This course focuses on academic writing (essay writing). However, the narrative essay mixes creative writing features and academic writing features. Note: Love creative writing? Consider a creative writing class at BC!

I S A NARRATIVE ESSAY DIFFERENT FROM OTHER ESSAYS ? A narrative is like other essays: Still uses “hamburger form” An introduction Examples A conclusion Still needs a thesis statement

A narrative is different from other essays: Tells a story Has characters, setting, conflict May have dialogue Is about YOU

The narrative is still an essay, but it is the most creative assignment we will discuss in this course.

T O HAVE A NARRATIVE, YOU MUST INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING :

1 - A C ONFLICT /A CTION If there isn’t conflict or action, you don’t have a story that will keep your reader’s attention. Note : When you look at the student sample narrative essay, see if you can find the central conflict/point of action.

P OTENTIAL C ONFLICTS /A CTION First driving experience A car wreck First day of school Evacuating from a storm Losing/Finding something Meeting someone A “first” experience Skydiving experience A bad vacation A bad experience with a pet A surfing lesson that went poorly A good day fishing A bad date Losing a loved one

2 – N ARROWED C ONFLICT ( IS O NE S PECIFIC M OMENT IN T IME ) As with any topic, make sure your focus is very narrow. For example, you can’t write an essay about your entire freshman year of high school or a week-long vacation. Like an idea but it’s too large? Cut it!

3 – C HARACTERS, S ETTING Make your story come alive! Add characters and lots of description so your reader connects with your narrative. You might even add dialogue.

4 – I S F OCUSED ON YOU I always have students who ask if they can write their narrative about someone else. Please write about yourself.

N ARRATIVE E XAMPLES Ready to see a few narrative essay examples? Reread the student essay “Skydive!” Read “Momma the Dentist and Me” in your Resourceful Reader. Read the student essay “A Second Date is out of the Question”

R ECAP A narrative essay needs: - Conflict/Point of action - Conflict/action that only covers 1 moment in time (narrowed topic) - Includes characters, setting - Focus on you