Effectively Responding to a Narrative Prompt

Analyze the prompt O What is the prompt asking you to do? O Underline key components in the prompt. O You may want to rewrite the prompt in your own language so you’re able to better understand the question.

Introduction O Restate the prompt and answer the question. This will form your topic sentence. O Let’s look at the example! O In her short story “Fish Cheeks,” Amy Tan describes an embarrassing childhood memory to explain that people should strive to be proud of what makes them different, rather than ashamed. O RED—restated prompt O GREEN—stated the THEME of the story

Introduction O The second part of the question asks you to identify the narrative techniques that help to establish the message. O What this means is that you need to identify the techniques that were used to ENHANCE the story. In other words, how did the author bring the story to life O Literary Elements O Tone

Introduction O Lets analyze the second part of the topic sentence. O Tan’s use of imagery when describing her mother’s “strange menu” indicates the shame she felt as a young, insecure fourteen- year-old (8). O BLUE- technique used to establish the message. O ORANGE-this is in quotations because it borrows the language directly from the text.

Supporting Details O Your details must ACTUALLY SUPPORT your topic sentence. In other words, You need to ELABORATE on the specifics of your topic. O In this case, you want to describe HOW the techniques establish the message. O You need to give SPECIFIC EXAMPLES from the text.

Supporting Details All of the food is described in disgusting ways. “The kitchen,” she states, “was littered with appalling mounds of raw food.” For instance, she refers to the shrimp as “fleshy prawns” with “black veins”, and she describes a squid dish that looks like “bicycle tires” (8- 10). Amy Tan’s unappetizing description of the food allows the reader to feel just how disgusted and ashamed Amy was of her own family and culture. Red- textual evidence directly from the story Orange- borrowed language from story Blue-describing the textual evidence as it relates to the message (FOLLOW UP or ELABORATION) -See how the MESSAGE is restating the THEME

Supporting Details O The supporting details in this essay continue to give elaboration. Notice how the writer uses the language from the text; thus, it’s highlighted in ORANGE. These gross food descriptions are especially interesting because Amy indicates at the end of the story that all of the items her mother cooked for dinner that Christmas Eve were actually her “favorite foods” (31). This means that the food Amy describes only looked disgusting to her when she was worrying too much about what people with “proper American manners” thought of her (6).

The Conclusion O The conclusion paragraph provides the reader with the theme. Remember the point of the essay is to provide the overall message and the vehicle in which the message was delivered. O Remember to bring your essay full circle and conclude it with final thoughts, do not restate the introduction.

The Conclusion O However, when Tan learns to embrace and appreciate her unique Chinese culture, she is able to realize that her Mother purposely selected all her favorite foods. The foods were not disgusting; in fact, they were unique—just like Amy Tan. The reader understands at the end of the story to celebrate differences, not be ashamed of them.