Personal

Narrative

Writing the first essay; connectors;

habitual past versus simple past
 Introductions
Interview a partner for 5 minutes.
Ask your partner questions (Where are
you from? What are your hobbies? Are
you a student?)
Write a 5 sentence introduction of your
partner.
 First Writing Assignment
Your Task:
Write a personal narrative in one or two
paragraphs. Each paragraph should have
at least five sentences.

Think about:
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/reading
about?
 What is a personal narrative?
A personal narrative is a story about
yourself and an event that happened in
your past
Narrative=Story
The most creative essay and allows you
more freedom than other academic
essays.
 Components of a story
Setting=Where the action in a story
happens.
Theme=Basic idea or point of the story
Mood=Feeling or atmosphere the author
creates for the story.
Characters =The people in the story
Plot=What happens in the story
 Introduction-Narrative
Describe the background of the story
(characters, setting, atmosphere)
Prepare the reader on what to expect in
the story.
Folse (2004) believes that in
introductions, you should have a hook
that will grab the readers attention, as
well as a thesis that organizes the essay.
 What is a hook?

The first two or three lines in the

introductory paragraph that grabs readers
attention.
Help set the stage for the story.
Make readers guess what will happen next in
the story.
How to write a good hook

Like a fish getting hooked by a fisherman, you

need to hook your readers and make them want
to read your essay.
If its a good hook, people would want to read
your essay.
If it is not a good hook, then no one wants to read
your essay.
 Some suggestions
Ask a question. (How many of you spend hours
downloading music to your iPod?)
Use an interesting observation (Because of the
economy, President Obama is having problems
sleeping well these days.)
Create a unique scenario. (Traveling at more
than 300 km per hour, he traveled to another
dimension.)
Use a famous quote (To be or not to be; that is
the question.)
Use a statistic (If world temperatures continue to
rise, Singapore will be under water by 2050.)
 Hooks-Connecting
Information
After the hook, the writer usually writes
three to five sentences that connect it to
the topic.

Example from Keith Folse

Her daily routine was not glamorous. She
did everything from sweeping the floors
to cooking the meals. If someone had
asked her, Are there any household
chores that you practically hate?, she
probably would have answered, None.
 Example
Write a sample hook for this paragraph:

At 16 I worked in the toy department of

Lotte Department Store, where I learned
that I enjoyed helping people. I always
went out of my way to help people
because I learned that if I worked hard, I
would succeed. This is the reason why I
want to go to a businessman and go to
business school.
 Example
I had never been more anxious in my life. I
had just spent the last three hours trying
to get to the airport so that I could travel
home.

What questions do you have?

What do you think will happen next?
 Thesis
States the main idea of the essay (thesis
statements).
In narrative essays, they introduce the
action that begins in the first paragraph of
the essay.
 Examples
1) Now, as I watched the bus driver set my
luggage on the airport, I realized that my
frustration has only just begun.
2) I wanted my mother to watch me race
down the steep hill, so I called out her
name and then nudged my bike forward.
3) Because his pride wouldnt allow him to
apologize, Ken now had to fight the
bully, and he was pretty sure that he
wouldnt win.
 Body
Contains most of the plot-the supporting
information.
Can be organized in many different ways.
One way is chronological, or time, order
(where you give more information about
the story as it proceeds in time).
 Transitional Sentences
Have two purposes
1. Signal the end of action in one paragraph
2. Link the next paragraph.

Gives your reader an ability to follow

happens and predicts what will happen
next.
 Concluding Paragraph
Can have two functions:
1. The moral of the story, or what the
character(s) learned from the experience.
2. Make a prediction about what will
happen next based on what happened.
 Examples
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.
 Example Narrative Essay
Have you ever had trouble trying to get to
someplace very important? Where were
you going? Why were you having
problems?

What is a hero? What do you consider to

be a heroic act?
 Paragraph Unity
Each paragraph of an essay must
have unity.
A paragraph must have one
main idea.
Every sentence in the paragraph
must be relevant to that main
idea.
 Paragraph Unity-Example
As you manage your time, think about how
long certain activities will take. A
common mistake is to underestimate the
time needed to do something simple. For
example, when you are planning to go to
the store, there may be a line of people.
Last week in line I met a woman I went to
high school with, so we chatted. It turns
out she has two children just the same age
as mine.
 Connectors and Time
Relationship Words
Show how events progress.

Chronological Order- first (second, third,

etc.), next, finally, later, now, then

Prepositions- after (a moment), at (1pm), by

(Thursday), during (class), until (6:00)

Time Words that begin clauses- after, as

soon as, before, (two weeks) later, from
then on, when, while, whenever, until