The Narrative Paragraph and The Narrative Essay What

The Narrative Paragraph and The Narrative Essay

What specific types of narrative reports have you written in other courses?

What specific types of narrative reports might you write in your career?

As a witness to an accident, a crime, or some other incident, you might report what took place. Whenever readers need to understand what happened, narrative reporting is essential.

Narration is a piece of writing that tells a story of an event or experience.

The events you include and the way you describe them create a story that is based on your point of view.

A good Narration Reveals something of importance to you (your main point) Includes all of the major events of the story. Uses details to bring the story to life Presents the events in a clear order, usually according to when it happened.

Common time transitions Before After During First Next Second Then Finally while Later At last Last Eventually Meanwhile Since Now Soon when

Guidelines of a Narrative Paragraph Write out the topic sentence and circle the point of view. List any background information Briefly summarize the incident (write several sentences telling what happened in your own words) Do all of these sentences support your point of view? Are the events in the story in chronological order?

Read the following paragraph. My twelfth birthday was originally a disappointment that turned into my best birthday ever. For five or six months preceding the big day, I begged my parents for a certain new bicycle. I had seen one in a medium price range that I figured my folks could afford. I hinted and even pleaded outright, promising to do extra chores if I got it. Pointing out that the only bike I had ever had was a hand-me-down from my older brother. I showed them how rusted the frame was. Meanwhile, my brother was begging for a set of tires for the car he had bought. When my birthday finally came, my hopes were so high. Instead of the bicycle, though, I got a new shirt, a pair of sneakers, and an envelope. At first, I thought it was just a card, but it turned out to have enough money for the bike in it. It also contained five “contracts” for extra work around the house that I could do to earn enough money for a much nicer bicycle. My parents gave me the gift of upgrading from the bike I settled for. I ended up getting a great new bicycle that I helped to buy with money I had earned myself.

1. What is the topic sentence? 2. Which sentence is not in unity with the rest of the paragraph? 3. What do you think is the writer’s reason for writing this paragraph?

-IIGuidelines for a Narrative Essay 1. Set the scene immediately. Place readers right at the center of the action. If you open with some sort of background explanation, keep it short and sweet.

2. Convey your main point. If you simply report, then there is no main point. You need to have a main point to help you present or explain the major events of the story.

In a narrative essay, the Thesis introduces the action that begins in the first paragraph. Now, as I watched the bus driver set my luggage on the airport sidewalk, I realized that my frustration had only just begun.

These major events will become the topic sentences for the body paragraphs in your essay. The paragraphs in the body will develop the story.

3. Choose details that directly advance your story in your support and bring the experience to life for the reader.

4. Choose details that are concrete and specific enough to show clearly what happened.

5. Order details in a clear sequence. Chronological ordering often works best in a narrative because it enables readers to follow events as they occurred.

6. Control your tenses and transitions. Indicate a clear time frame for each event: present, past perfect, or even future. If you move from one time frame to another, be sure to keep the tense consistent within each frame.

Transitions will help signal the end of action in one paragraph, and provide a link to the action of the next paragraph. They give your story unity and allow the reader to follow the action easily.

7. Tell us what all this means and what we should remember about it

You finish describing the action in the essay in the concluding paragraph. The final sentence can have two functions:

1. It can deliver the moral of the story, or tell the reader what the characters or you learned from the experience. 2. It can make a prediction or a revelation about future actions that will happen as a result of the events in the story.

Moral: The little boy had finally learned that telling the truth was the most important thing to do.

Prediction/revelation: I can only hope that one day I will be able to do the same for another traveler who is suffering through a terrible journey. Every Christmas Eve, my wife and I return to that magical spot and remember the selfless act that saved our lives.

When you think of a topic for your narrative essay, try to remember something exciting, difficult, wonderful, or frightening that has happened to you. Can this event be developed into an interesting narrative essay?

Ask yourself questions: When was an important time in my life? What has happened in my experience that I would enjoy writing about? Is there an event in my life that other people would enjoy hearing about? How did I feel about a particular experience? Who was involved? Why do I remember this event so strongly? What effect did it have on me? Did anything change because of this experience? What interesting experiences do I know of that happened to other people?

If you are answering some of these questions about a specific experience that you or someone else had, then you may have a topic for a narrative essay.

Write a narration paragraph or essay on one of the following topics.

1. Explain the most important or interesting event that has happened to you in college.

2. Tell about a recent experience or incident you witnessed that left a strong impression on you.

3. Write about an event when you were proud of someone in your family. or Write about an event when you were proud or ashamed of your behavior.

4. Think of a time when you had to do something against your wishes. Or Think of a memorable experience you have had – it could be frightening, sobering, or amusing.

5. Talk about an interesting, incredible story you heard on the news recently. 6. How did you meet your sweetheart?

After you have a suitable topic, brainstorm some ideas about your topic. Organize your ideas. Remember that it’s not necessary to tell every detail of the story. Include only the most important actions or events that move the story forward.

Introduction: What is the basic idea of the story? Where is the story taking place? When is the story taking place? Who is in the story? a) lead-in b) connecting information c) Thesis statement

Body: What feeling or atmosphere do you want to create in the story? What will happen in the plot? A) Paragraph 2 – Topic sentence 1. 2. 3. transition sentence

Conclusion: What will happen last in the story? How will you finish the plot? Will your narrative essay have a moral or make a prediction or a revelation? A) close of the action B) final sentence (moral, prediction or revelation

The End!