Do Now

1. Do Now • Imagine you have the chance to meet a famous person in history. Whom would you choose to meet? Why? • Ex. George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks, etc.

2. Elements of a Narrative Essay

3. What is a narrative essay? • A narrative is a story. • A narrative essay is a story that has a specific point. • It strives to teach a lesson OR • It strives to make a specific point

4. What should be included in a narrative essay? • Often written in 1st person – I or we- because it is based on a personal story. Otherwise, written in 3rd person. • Has specific sensory details to get the reader hooked on the story. • Is developed in chronological order. • Has verbs that helps paint a picture and draw in the reader.

5. Sensory Details: use words related to your 5 senses of sight, sound, smell, taste and touch. • The tinkling of broken glass. • He reminded her of her grandfather, a scent of peppermint and tobacco. • The sour taste of vomit. • He was tied tightly, and the rough bark gouged his back.

6. Use Vivid Verbs: eliminate the use of am, is, are, was, were, be, being, been. Use specific words instead. • Molly went to the store. • Molly skipped and jogged to the store. • The third graders go into the gym. • Third graderschargedinto the gym. How did your sensory images change when you read the second example? What other verbs might work? Why? Instead of “go,” try: Instead of “fall,” try: walk tumble ride twirl trudge whirl amble plunge

7. What else should be included in a narrative essay? • Since this is a story, the narrative essay needs everything a story needs (story elements): • Plot • Characters • Problem • Climax • Often uses dialogue

8. Setting • What if The Lion King took place in Indiana? • What if Finding Nemo took place in Ireland? • What if The Outsiders took place on the moon? • The SETTING a writer chooses is significant. It can make ALL the difference! Choose it wisely. Then DESCRIBE it! BE SPECIFIC: *Don’t say, “It was a summer day.” *Say, “It was so sticky my clothes stuck to my body and sweat made its way down my back, between my shoulder blades.”

9. Eye-catching openings: write an attention grabber. • Use action. Ex. Running down the stairs, I heard my mom yelling from the kitchen • Use dialogue: Ex. “Do I have to mom?” I complained as I ran down the stairs. • Use a quote: Ex. “He who fails to plan, plans to fail.” • Use an onomatopoeia: ex. Bang! I heard something crash below. • Use a startling fact: Ex. Scientists at the University of Illinois have demonstrated that in fact, sugar doesn’t melt, it decomposes. • Use a question: Ex. What would you do if you found your mother had been kidnapped? • Use the word “imagine”: Ex. Imagine walking through the hallways and not hearing a word.

10. Develop your character (s) • What good is a story if there are no characters? What if there was a story with no one the reader could relate to, no one the reader could love, no one the reader could hate? • PICTURE YOUR CHARACTER IN YOUR MIND: • Physical Description • Describe what they spend time doing (Actions) • Describe their thoughts • Describe how other characters react to them • What do they say? Use dialogue to reveal their personality.

11. Develop your character(s): Be specific! Let’s practice: Look at the picture. • What physical traits can we describe? Don’t say a hand; say a pasty hand clutching the steering wheel. • What does this person do? Don’t say, “He is a driver”. For what company? Where is he going? Why? At what speed? • What are they thinking? • How are other characters reacting to them? • What are they saying?

12. Conflict • Without it, you have no real story. It becomes a simple series of events. I can hear the reader yawning already! • Pick more than one conflict for your story: internal AND external. • What is an internal conflict for Ernie in “A Crush”? • What is an external conflict faced by Ernie? • What is an internal conflict faced by Jimmy in “A Retrieved Reformation”? • What is an external conflict faced by Jimmy in “A Retrieved Reformation”?

13. Conflict: Let’s Practice • What INTERNAL conflict is this character experiencing? • What EXTERNAL conflict is this character experiencing?

14. Complication • Don’t jump straight from a problem to a solution. That is NO FUN! • Provide some sort of problem along the way, while your character is TRYING to solve the main conflict. • Maybe on their way home finally, they realize they have also lost their key. Maybe before a starving lion finds food, they injure their paw and can’t hunt as easily as they thought? • What is the major conflict and complication in The Hunger Games? • What is a conflict and complication in Finding Nemo?

15. Resolution With a Moral • You must satisfy your readers in the end with a resolution and a moral/lesson. This does NOT mean it has to be a happy resolution every time, but you can’t have too many loose ends, or your reader will look like this: • You want them to be able to say, “Oh, I get it!” You do not want them to think you ran out of time!

16. Planning the Narrative • Brainstorm ideas for a personal story or observation • Outline or web the important parts of the story to be told. • Write an introductory paragraph that includes the thesis statement and then write the story. • Because this is a story, use as many paragraphs as necessary to tell the story. • Write a conclusion that reflects on the thesis statement.

17. What is a thesis statement? • A thesis statement is a sentence or two that contains the focus of your essay and tells your reader what the essay is going to be about. • Example • “Oftentimes, people do not follow simple directions. However, these campers learned just how important following directions can be.”

18. Sample Introduction of a Narrative including the thesis statement • It was a wonderful week to camp in the great outdoors, even if some of their friends thought it was a strange way to honeymoon. Trudy and Jeff were looking forward to their week at the Great Smokey Mountains National Park in Tennessee. Little did they know what a learning experience this trip would be. Oftentimes people do not follow simple directions. However, these campers learned just how important following directions can be.

19. Ways to create a thesis statement • Without a thesis, or a point, you are not really writing a narrative essay – make sure you have a point. • You can get help finding a point when you: • Think about sayings or quotes that teach a lesson • Think about a time when you learned something valuable. • Think about lessons learned from characters in novels/stories.

20. Dialogue Rules • Rule #1: • A direct quote begins with a capital letter. • Ex. Jimmy shouted, “See you at the game!” • Ex. “Is it true?” asked Cindy.

21. Rule #2 • When a quote is interrupted into two parts with words like “he asked” or “the teacher demanded,” the second part begins with a lowercase letter. Ex: “What are some of the things,” Mrs. Small asked, “that make school so much fun?” Ex: “One thing I like,” Ali replied, “is recess!”

22. Rule #3 • When writing dialogue, all punctuation marks at the end of the quote go at the inside of the quotation marks. • Ex. “Let’s visit the museum,” suggested Samantha. • Ex. Jon replied, “Didn’t we go there last weekend?”

23. Rule #4 • Do not put a period at the end of a quotation followed by things like she said, mom asked, he explained. Use commas, question marks, and exclamation marks but not periods. Periods end sentences. • Ex: “My Math class is hard,” replied Tom. • Ex: “That’s my favorite class!” yelled Monica.

24. Rule #5 • Make a new paragraph (indent) when a different person begins to speak. Ex: • “Last night, I dreamt that I ate a giant marshmallow,” Kevin said. • “That’s crazy!” replied Kate. • “Wait until you hear about the dream I had about swimming in a mountain of fruit cocktail,” responded Jim.

25. “Said is Dead” • Remember, do not overuse the word said. • Use more descriptive words like whispered, shouted, or asked. • Or, describe how they said it with an adverb.

26. Compositional Risks • An attempt by an author to do something interesting, engaging, and unusual with his or her writing. • Qualities of a piece of writing that make it stand out in some way. • Must be sustained - that means the writer can't just throw in one or two • Need to be spread throughout the writing.  They should also not just be randomly included, but rather should work together or flow smoothly from example to another. 

27. Compositional Risks • Rhetorical Questions • Humor • Similes and Metaphors • Idioms • Repetition • Analogies • Directly Addressing the Audience • Opening with a Question • Closing with a Question • Vivid Imagery • Sarcasm • In Music: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=os9gBvQzJwE

28. Simile – comparing two UNLIKE things using “like” or “as” Ex. I was as angry as a raging bull. Make Your Own Similes : •     That puppy was as skinny as________________________. •     The chickens were as nervous as__________________. •     Grandma's hug was as warm as__________________. •     The librarian was wound as tightly as_______________.

29. Metaphor: comparing two UNLIKE things, implying one IS the other. • Ex: I was a raging bull. Make your own: Her stomach was a growling ________________________. The howl ripping through the air was ______________.  The breeze from the window was _______________. Fear crawled over him and was_______________________.

30. Personification: giving human characteristics to something non-human. Practice Personification: Personify extreme Hot or Cold. Write about what the heat or the cold does to you. Try doing so without using the words hot or cold.

31. Transitional Words and Phrases • Helps papers read more smoothly • Enhance logical organization and understandability • Improve the connections between thoughts. • Indicate relations, whether within a sentence, paragraph, or paper.

32. Now it’s your turn to write a Narrative Essay.