The Narrative Essay and the Writing Process

Narration is used daily in many ways: sharing news about a common friend, news broadcasts, newspaper articles, describing a first date, etc. Stories are powerful tools used to intrigue readers and listeners both. An effective narrative recounts action for a purpose. For our narrative essay, we will use first-person narration; although some writers use second and third person narration. Because this essay is about your personal experience, it will be narrated from your first-person perspective.

Selecting a Topic and Prewriting: You have a treasure trove of stories just waiting to be told, some sad, some happy. Prewriting will help you find them. If you decide to describe an unpleasant or painful experience, however, you may find you are too close to see the implications and to shape the narrative accordingly. Time allows you to distance yourself from disturbing events and gain perspective. Mull over the effect of your experiences and consider:

How did the experience influence me? What did I gain or learn? Am I happier? Wiser? What? Can I find a lesson or moral? How might the narrative affect someone else? Does the experience remind me of an event in the public eye? If so, what is the connection?

Guiding Questions:

What is the source of tension or conflict? What is the purpose of the narrative? Who are the readers? Why should readers want to read the narrative? Where is the best spot to start? How much do readers need to know? What details should be omitted to preserve the unity and advance the point? Can I think of a symbol to help unify the actions? What tone is appropriate?

Questions for Revision:

Is the situation clear? Is the action arranged in the most effective order? Or should some events be rearranged? Are there enough transitions to clarify the time sequence? Is the complication, conflict, or problem clear? Does the pace of the sentences reflect what is happening? Does the ending give a sense of completion?

1 Prewriting

Brainstorming – usually phrases, ideas

Free Writing – uncensored writing in sentence form

Clustering – brainstorming combined with doodling

Questioning:

Who was involved? What happened? When did it happen? Where did it happen? Why did it happen? How did it happen?

List-Making and Outlining

Drafting – This step helps a writer to solidify the structure and organization of their essay. (Global Concerns)

Introduction – start from general to specific Thesis – main idea or theme of the essay stated in one definitive sentence Body – supports the thesis Conclusion – move from the specific to the general

Revising – The writer will assess the draft and make revisions based on the following:

Is there one clear central idea? Does the writer’s voice sound appropriate? Is each paragraph clearly related to the thesis and to other paragraphs? Are the paragraphs arranged in a logical order? Do sufficient details support each topic sentence? Does the conclusion flow logically from the body? Is it consistent with the introduction?

Editing Sentences and Proof Reading – The writer will examine the final draft at the sentence level:

Is the sentence clear? Does a word need to be defined for the reader? Does the sentence make sense? Does it ramble? Does the sentence read smoothly? Is the sentence too long? Are there too many short, choppy sentences? Are there too many simple sentences?

Finally Proofread for Grammar, Punctuation, and Spelling

Handout created from: Reasoning & Writing Well: A Rhetoric, Research Guide, Reader, and Handbook Author: Betty Mattix Dietsch