1. Personal Narratives

2. Personal Narratives
I. Definition: Writing about a specific, meaningful event or experience from your life
The first time you experienced death
The time you fell in love
The time you saved your brother from drowning
Learning how to swim
Etc.

3. Personal Narratives Start thinking…
What is your first memory as a child?
What is the most embarrassing thing that has ever happened to you?
What is the best gift you ever received?
Who were your best friends in 4th grade? Are you friends with them now? Why or why not?

4. Personal Narratives II. 4 Things to Consider:
a. A PURPOSE (why is this event important and why does the reader care?)
b. A SEQUENCE OF EVENTS (think plot)
c. DESCRIPTIVE IMAGERY (five senses)
d. DIALOGUE

5. III. Purpose
Pick an event that has CHANGED YOUR LIFE in some way. This event happened and you have never been the same.
**Make sure you will be comfortable with me reading about it.

6. IV. Sequence of Events a. CHRONOLOGICAL order b. flashbacks
c. flash-forwards

7. V. Imagery and Dialogue
a. Imagery: using the five sense to describe something.
Begin to think about what senses come back to you when you think about your memory.
b. Dialogue. What did people in your memory say?

8. VI. Point of View
a. What point of view do you want to tell your story from? For example, write it from the perspective being 6 years old, or you being 13 looking back on a past event?
Pick a point of view and stick to it!