What is your favorite story? (novel, film?)

How did the writer/producer transport you into that world?

How did the writer/director make that story memorable to you?

What was the message of the novel/film?

“Great literature teaches and entertains.”

--Thomas Napierkowski, Ph.D.

recreates an experience through time

Involves stylistic choices that make the experience memorable

communicates a lesson or life truism

Writers develop new, subtle, and rewarding perspectives.

You can look back on an experience in a new way and gain new insights

1. Describe 2 instances in which you were proud of someone else

2. Proud3. Describe 2 times you have struggled in

your life4. Struggle5. Describe 2 rewind moments (relive or

regret)6. Rewind7. Describe 2 times you have ever helped

someone through a difficult time8. Helping9. List 2 of the best gifts you have ever given10. Gifts

11. Describe 2 instances when you realized something in your life

12. realization13. Describe 2 instances when you have met a

goal14. goal15. Describe 2 instances when you have failed16. fail17. Describe 2 instances when you have ever

stood up for yourself or another person18. courage19. List 2 times when you have experienced

change in your life20. change

Circle 3 you would like to share with someone near you

Discuss 1 or 2 to share with a partner (2 minutes)

Put an asterisk near the one that is the most important of your three circled memories

What happened

next?

What went through

your head?

What happened in

the final moment?

What happened

first?

Where were

you?

The first sentence should provide background information. This is usually where you will identify your subject and establish the setting.Time, place (physical, geographical, seasonal)

The next three boxes should describe the most important details of the event.

The last box should include your internal dialogue during the most pivotal moment you may include additional internal or external

dialogue throughout the essay where necessary

Transitions are words, phrases and sentences that bridge concepts and events together for your reader.

They usually take place at the beginning and ends of paragraphs. Your repetend functions as connector to piece your genre selections together in your essay.

Narratives can be told chronologically or in flash back, but make sure your transitions are present and carefully selected.

about during meanwhile today tomorrow initially in the end additionally

after first until next soon later finally then at last

second when consequently as a result in addition as soon as

Before third one important another important furthermore following this

Draw a box at the top of your sentences in the margin and begin a sentence in it that begins:

“I’ve learned that…”

1. In life’s struggles, perseverance is the key.2. Being in the public eye opens us up to criticism.3. The actions of the past become the hands that mold the

present.4. Parents give us life but inspiration gives us the fuel to live.5. Faith gives us the strength to stand up for what we believe

in.6. Illness can be your biggest competitor.7. Criticism can weaken or strengthen a person’s beliefs.8. It’s important to always remember where you came from.9. The past can have many haunting truths.10.To get to the top of the ladder, you must start on the bottom

rung.11.The stress of fame is equal to the ease of normality.12.Love can be deadly.

Now cross off the words “I learned that…”You’ve just written a working draft of a

narrative thesisThis is a truism about life you want to

communicate to your readers. Compare this truism to the themes you

analyze in literature. In literature, we draw our inference of the

theme from the events of the plot, use of figurative language, and characterization

These elements work the same way in the narrative essay

Partners share the most moving, funny, or interesting memories with the class

(Option 1: truism in the introduction) Begin with a paragraph that introduces the experience and communicates the significance Reader will understand the significance of the experience

early on and will think about it as he or she progresses through the narrative

(Option 2: truism in conclusion) Begin by jumping directly into the narrative (dialogue, a scene) and then communicate the truism at the end Readers can develop their own understanding of the

experience through the body of the essay and then connect to your expression of the significance at the end.

Avoid being redundant and restating the truism in the beginning and in the end unless you do so carefully and with different wording. Think of this approach as using subtle foreshadowing for your point.

Introductions establish the setting, introduce your subject and interest the reader. Write down the one or two options that will work best for your topic.

A startling and relevant statement about the experience In medias res—beginning “in the middle of” of the action

A dialogue A vivid scene

A question or a problem (should lead directly to the thesis truism and should not be a question with an obvious yes/no answer)

A personal reflection about the topic or truism A description of the topic that does not name it A contrast An idea to be refuted (acknowledge the opposite opinion) An analogy (Be creative and original and try not to be too

far fetched)

The conclusion is the last chance you have to provoke thought in your audience. Remember that your essay should be both entertaining and instructing. Write down one or two options that will work best for your topic.

Raise a question that arise from your reflection on the topic

A strong contrastPlace the experience in a larger contextReturn to the idea or structure in the beginningInclude an insightful statement of the subject’s

overall significanceAdd a speculation about what the truism implies for

the futureInclude a brief remark that sums up your feelings

about that time or who you are now as a result

Narrative details transport your reader into your memoryGive an account of actions, words, and thoughts of people involved

Include internal and external dialogue

Descriptive details help describe people, places or things in the story; these details “flesh out” the framework of the narrative detailsImagery: appeals to the five senses: sight,

sound, taste, touch and smell.

Factual details: give the straightforward, objective aspects of the events, people, places, and objects in the narrative. They often involve names, dates, and numbers.

Figurative language uses figures of speech to compare things in imaginative ways that prompt readers to look at things differently. SimileMetaphorpersonification.

All of the small and seemingly unimportant details known to you are not necessarily known to your readers. (Audience Awareness)

SHOW VS. TELL by using sensory details

Telling: “Mmmm...pie,” Rachel said hungrily.” vs.

Showing: “Rachel eyed the pie and zipped across the room to where it sat on the counter, tempting her with its sticky, sweet aroma.”

Symptom: Your characters think, feel, hope, suspect, fear, regret and understand.Solution: Rather than naming emotions, describe

what’s going through their head. (internal dialogue)Symptom: Weak verbs such as entered, moved, went,

fell, rose, describe outcome rather than effect.Solution: Show specific actions “Jorge lumbers into

the room or Lydia glides”Symptom: Use of the verb to be (is, were, are) do not

demonstrate action.Solution: Rephrase using stronger verbs “It was a hot

day day when Jorge found a dead man who was slumped over the workbench” could be rewritten as, “The heat pounded Jorge’s back as he heaved open the garage door and found a dead man slumped over the workbench”

Symptom: Adverbs weaken action and tell readers what’s happening rather than show them.Solution: “Jorge belted/charged/raced along

the sidewalk in pursuit of the purse snatcher is more evocative than, “Jorge ran quickly.” 

Symptom: Nonspecific adjectives. (an old man, a decrepit house)Solution: Tell the details (Liver spots,

weathered siding)

Symptom: Generic nouns. Children, building, vehicle...Solution: Move the camera a little closer to reveal

toddlers, teenagers a warehouse or corner storeSymptom: Narrative summary. Condensing a

potential scene into one sentence. “Jorge and Lydia met for lunch.”Solution: Use full scenes rather than narrative

summary to convey significant action, include action, reaction and interaction.

Symptom: Overload dialogue. Dialogue that is too long or weighed down with information.Solution: Use a light hand. keep exchanges short and

make sure it serves as a function to reveal important information.

Dialogue can include text messages, emails or telephone conversations

Next class we will draft the essay after reviewing the rubric and reviewing score 4 essays from student writers.

Use each sentence as an idea for a topic sentence

Develop the introduction and conclusion using a strategy from this presentation

Make sure your life lesson/thesis is clear to your audience

As an option, take on the persona of a person in history and write a narrative memory essay based on at least 2 sources.