Exploring Your Neighborhood through the Narrative Essay

Exploring Your Neighborhood through the Narrative Essay

 

Narrative Writing is simply telling a story—a very detailed, descriptive story.  For this narrative essay, you are going to focus on stories from your childhood.  You will write a narrative essay where you relate to your reader three stories from your childhood and also provide some reflection—how have these childhood experiences shaped who you are today?  First you need to determine what you could write about—what events have occurred in your life that would make a good story to tell others? 

 

Prewriting

·         For this assignment, first you are going to do an activity that will help you generate stories from your own life to tell others.  You are going to draw a map of your neighborhood when you were about 5 or 6 years old.  The map may be just of your home and yard, it may include the houses close by, or it may be the entire town where you lived.  The point of this is for you to remember where your life was centered at this age.  Consider where you spent the most time—outside in the backyard, down by the creek, at the playground, at gramma's house, at the neighbor’s house???  Think back and try to recall where most of your play hours were spent. 

·         Draw and COLOR your map. 

 

·         After your map is complete, take a close look at it.  You need to decide on what stories you have to tell about your childhood.  You are to locate 12 places on the map where things happened to you (where your stories took place)—these are called your Personal Specifics.  These Specifics are 12 memories, incidents, people or experiences that occurred to you in your childhood.  Number 1-12 on the map and then fill out the Personal Specifics Worksheet.  This will give you 12 childhood stories to choose from when you begin writing your 1^st draft of the narrative essay.

 

1^st Draft

·         Now you have completed your Prewriting.  Select 3 of your best stories from the Personal Specifics Worksheet—three that you can turn into full-fledged, well-developed detailed, descriptive stories that will interest and intrigue other readers!  In writing your essay, you should follow the Outline in this packet—it will tell you how to organize your 1^st draft.

 

Add Sentence Patterns to draft and high light.

·         Print out 2 copies of your completed 1^st draft.

·         Turn in one copy to Mrs. Hapgood for editing. 

·         Use the other copy for Peer Editing—using the 2 Peer Editing Sheets in this packet.

 

2^nd Draft

·         Make corrections to your essay based on the suggestions given to you by both peer editors and Mrs. Hapgood. 

·         Print out another copy and have Mrs. Hapgood read through it again for further suggestions.  You also could have more peer editing done as well.

 

 

 

Final Draft

·         Make your final corrections.

·         Print out your final draft.

·         Complete the Check Off List.

·         Assemble your packet and turn it in.