Personal Narrative Essay

1. Personal Narrative Essay • Write an essay about a PERSONAL EXPERIENCE that TAUGHT YOU SOMETHING. • Understand your Goals: page 98 As you write, keep in mind the five traits of good writing: • Focus and Coherence • Organization • Development of Ideas • Voice • Conventions

2. Writing Process • PREWRITE – Brainstorm, create flee map (pages 99-106) • DRAFT – Write out using transition words/phrases (pages 107-112) • REVISE- (pages 113-122) • EDIT- (pages 123-128) • PUBLISH- (pages 129-136)

3. Prompt Write a personal narrative about a time when you had someone spread a lie about you. Be sure to write about your experience in detail and describe what happened as a result.

4. Thesis Statement – a sentence that states the main or controlling idea of your essay. Page 35-36 • WHAT is it? A sentence in the first paragraph of your essay that tells what the major ideas of the essay are. It should make a claim that you will prove in your essay. • EXAMPLE: Character is more important than talent because character is what gives us our traits and special qualities. • WHY do you need it? You need to write a thesis statement to help organize the essay; the reader of your essay needs a thesis statement to let him or her know that the essay is supposed to discuss – what you plan to “prove” in the essay. • Looking at the example provided, the reader knows that the essay is supposed to prove why the writer believes that character is more important than talent. • How do I know what to include in it? A thesis statement must have two parts: a topic and a claim (or opinion) about that topic. • The topic of the thesis statement above is character. The writer’s claim (opinion) is that character is more important than talent.

5. Create a flee map • Introductory Paragraph (Beginning Paragraph) page 109 • Hook • Thesis Statement • Sets the Scene Transition words or phrases Body of Essay (Middle Paragraphs) page 108 Gives details that appeal to the senses and tells what happened first, next, last. It also uses dialogue to show personalities and keep the action going Transition words or phrases Transition words or phrases Topic (Recall the event) Topic Topic Detail 1 Detail 2 Detail 3 • Conclusion Paragraph (Ending Paragraph) page 112 • Reflect on the experience • Share what you learned from it

6. Create a flee map • Introductory Paragraph (Beginning Paragraph) page 109 • Hook • Thesis Statement • Sets the Scene Transition words or phrases: see transition toolbox handout or page 634 in textbook Body of Essay (Middle Paragraphs) page 108 Gives details that appeal to the senses and tells what happened first, next, last. It also uses dialogue to show personalities and keep the action going Topic (Recall the event in the order it happened) Topic Topic Detail 1 Detail 2 Detail 3 • Conclusion Paragraph (Ending Paragraph) page 112 • Reflect on the experience • Share what you learned from it

7. Create your first rough draft Write your personal narrative on one page. Make sure you have included dialogue and sensory details as well as transition words. NEXT: Begin the revising process, make the appropriate revisions and then write your 2nd rough draft THEN: We will peer edit our personal narratives. FINALLY: Write our final copy (publish)

8. TEKS 7.14C page 114 REVISING for FOCUS and COHERENCE • Have I focused on one experience? • Don’t include anything that does not relate to that one experience. • Is my point of view consistent? • Read your first draft. Make sure all of your details, events, and dialogue are about your one experience. Check that there is a consistent point of view. • Has the purpose of my narrative remained the same? • ~Your purpose is to tell a story, or entertain. • Does the writing sound as if someone is telling a story? • Have I done any writing that distracts from the story? • Is every part of my narrative entertaining? • Read your narrative aloud and listen for anything that does not entertain or add to the story. Omit those sentences and revise as needed. • Have I kept my audience in mind? • Do any of the words or sentences sound as if I’m talking to someone different from my intended reader? • Are the tone and style of my writing consistent from paragraph to paragraph? • Have I written a narrative essay? • ~ a narrative essay tells a story about an individual experience or event and has taught you something. • Does my essay tell a story about one event or experience? • Does the narrative read like a story or something else? • As you read your narrative, make notes next to any writing that does not sound like it would be part of a story. Revise or omit those sentences.

9. TEKS 7.14C 7.19A(viii) page 116 REVISING for Organization • Did I choose the best way to begin my narrative? • Reread your opening. Make any necessary changes to improve your beginning. Use page 109 for ideas. • What method do I use to grab the reader’s attention? • As I read over my narrative again, can I see that a different beginning would work better? • How do I know if the middle is well organized? • ~ your middle is well organized if you put your events in the order in which they happened. Use transition words or phrases to tie ideas, sentences and paragraphs together. • As you read your narrative, think about places where adding a transition would help your reader follow the events or connect ideas. Look at page 117 for the correct way to add transitions to your draft. • Where does my reader need help to know when something happens? • What are the best transition words to use in those places? • Does my ending work well? • Does my narrative end soon after the most important or intense moment? • Does my whole narrative lead up to the lesson I learned? • Will the reader be left with unanswered questions? (if “yes”, make changes to bring the reader to a satisfying ending.) • Use the questions listed above to see if you have written a winning ending.

10. TEKS 7.14C page 118 REVISING for Development of Ideas • ~Be sure you have focused on one experience. Check to see that you use a variety of sensory details to create vivid images. • Have I used a variety of sensory details? • Read through you r first draft. Underline and label each sensory detail, using the following labels: “S” – See, “H” – Hear, “SM” – Smell, “T” – Taste, “F” – Feel. TRY IT on page 118 • Do I “show” instead of “tell”? • ~ If you have created a detailed picture of your experience by using vivid descriptions in your writing, then you have shown your ideas. • Make sure your details “show” your ideas. Use action verbs and concrete nouns.

11. TEKS 7.14E page 120 REVISING for Voice • ~Check to make sure your writer’s voice is sincere and shows feelings. Also make sure that the dialogue you use helps to reveal each speaker’s personality. • Is my personal voice heard in my narrative? • Read your personal narrative aloud to a friend. Ask for feedback about which parts of your writing sound like you and which don’t. Rewrite any parts of your narrative that don’t sound like the real you. Underline any thoughts and feelings that sound like the real you. • Does my dialogue show each speaker’s personality? • ~ Your dialogue shows each speaker’s personality if it sounds natural and expresses true thoughts and feelings. • Do I include enough dialogue? Does it sound realistic and show each speaker’s personality? If you can’t answer “yes” to these questions, revise the dialogue in your narrative.

12. Revising Checklist Focus and Coherence page 114 • Do all the details and events tell about my one experience? • Have I kept my purpose, audience, and form in mind? Organization page 116 • Have I placed all the events in their correct time order? • Does my beginning grab the reader’s attention and interest? • Have I used transition words to help my reader follow the story? • Do I have a strong ending? Development of Ideas page 118 • Did I include enough vivid details? • Did I “show” instead of “tell”? Voice page 120 9. Can the reader hear my personal voice in the narrative? 10. Does the dialogue show the speaker’s personality?

13. TEKS 7.19C 7.19A(iii) page 124 EDITING for Conventions • ~When you edit, you are checking to make sure you have followed the rules for grammar, mechanics, sentence structure, and spelling. These rules are called the conventions of writing. Use page 624 for symbols when editing. • GRAMMER • Did I place the modifiers correctly? • ~Modifiers, especially adjective and adverb phrases and clauses, need to be • placed where they do not confuse your reader. • ~ a MISPLACED MODIFIER modifies the wrong noun or pronoun or is • unclear about which noun it is modifying. • ~a DANGLING MODIFIER is placed so that the reader is unsure which • noun or pronoun is being modified • Carefully review your sentences for misplaced or dangling modifiers and correct all that you find. • How can adverbial clauses improve my writing? • ~ A clause that modifies a verb, an adjective, or an adverb . They are powerful additions to your writing that help further describe when, where, why, how and to what extent. • Edit your sentences to add adverbial clauses where they will make your writing stronger.

14. TEKS 7.19A(i) 7.14C page 126 EDITING for Conventions • ~When you edit, you are checking to make sure you have followed the rules for grammar, mechanics, sentence structure, and spelling. These rules are called the conventions of writing. • SENTENCE STRUCTURE • How can participles improve my writing? • ~ Participles are powerful adjectives that help writers strengthen • their sentences. They are formed by adding –ingand –ed to verbs. • Edit your sentences to add participles where they will make your writing stronger. • How can I use simple sentences effectively? • ~ A good writer will vary his or her sentence structure by using a mix of simple, compound, and complex sentences. • ~ A simple sentence has one subject and one verb and is usually short. You should use them to draw attention to important details in your writing. • Edit your sentences to vary the structure and to create short sentences that draw attention to important facts or details.

15. page 128 EDITING checklist CONVENTIONS Grammer page124 1. Have I placed my modifiers correctly? 2. Have I effectively used adverbial clauses? Mechanics page 640-697 3. Do I use end punctuation after all my sentences? 4. Do I use commas after introductory word groups and transitions? 5. Do I use commas between equal adjectives? 6. Do I punctuate dialogue correctly? 7. Do I use apostrophes to show possession (the dog’s toy)? Sentence Structure page 126 8. Have I used simple sentences effectively? Spelling page 699-707 9. Have I spelled all my words correctly? 10. Have I double –checked the words my spell-checker may have missed?