Epiphany Writing Assignment Honors 10 English Council Rock South High School

Epiphany – “…an event in which the essential nature of something – a person, a situation, an object – was suddenly perceived…an intuitive grasp of reality achieved in a quick flash of recognition in which something, usually simple and commonplace, is seen in a new light (A Handbook to Literature 195.)” The sudden insight provided by the experience is the epiphany. (An “ah ha” moment!)

Assignment: In vivid detail write a narrative about an event from your life which resulted in an epiphany for you. You must write in first person, and the narrative must begin in medias res, which is a Latin term for “into the middle of things.” In other words, begin in the moment. Do not begin with phrases such as, “One day on my way to school…) Choose an event from your life that you are comfortable with sharing with another student because your paper will be read by at least one student in the class.

Requirements: 1) Length: 1 ½ - 2 typed, double-spaced, 12-point font pages 2) Content must be appropriate for the classroom. 3) Narrative begins in medias res. 4) Verb tense must be consistent unless you need to switch between tenses in order for the story to develop. This must make sense to the reader! 5) All paragraphs well-developed (topic sentences, supporting details…) 6) Free of fragments and run-on sentences 7) Composition must be free of spelling or punctuation errors 8) Composition must be free of grammar errors 9) Read story aloud to yourself before you submit any drafts. *This essay will be graded according to the PSSA Writing Rubric and is worth 40 points.