The Journaling of Reed 478

A narrative essay is simply a personal story, and we all have at least a few of these to tell. Sometimes plays and movies have a narrator, a person who stands to the side and tells his or her story. The narrator describes actions as well as thoughts and feelings. For the purpose of this lesson, you are the narrator. The story you choose to write will be your narrative essay. One of mine was published in a national magazine in 1999. I wrote about my personal experience with adoption. Many magazines publish personal narratives; readers are interested in other people's lives and how they handled danger, conflict, or uncertainty. Take a moment to jot down three of your own true-life, personal story ideas. 2 Unlike some other essay forms, the narrative essay is usually written from the first-person viewpoint. Because this is your story, you can pepper it with the words "I," "me," "my," and "mine." This is a personal experience piece.

While an opinion essay would also be written in first person, it would dwell more on thoughts and ideas than on events. Your narrative essay will be event-driven. 3 For example, take this sentence: "I was never more scared than the day I lost my little sister in a crowded mall." With that opening statement, the reader knows they are about to learn the details of that day, from the moments leading up to the child's disappearance, to your terrified scramble to find her, and finally to your reunion at the security office. You will draw them into the story with your descriptions of your fears and your attempts to locate your sister. 4 Your story will be written in the storytelling style complete with setting, characters, plot, climax, and ending. Let's use my adoption story as an example. 7 Plot: Will this couple ever have children? Will the babies ever have parents? This article was written with the help of Essay Writers.

Again, as with vertical time, it is important to keep the story moving. Don’t spend so much time describing every character’s actions that you can’t resolve your story. Balancing your resources is essential. With every pen stroke or keyboard click you are exhausting some of your time and energy. Good essays have powerful endings. In your narrative essay, you should use your final paragraph to bring your story to a satisfying conclusion. Unlike persuasive essays, the final paragraph in your narrative essay should not restate. Looking Toward the Future: A good way to conclude your story is to speculate about what the future may hold. You can discuss how the experience that you shared in your essay could impact the future. Example: Who knows what the future may hold? I might go back to law school or I might just keep working at Mickey’s. Either way I’ll never forget the time that I won that pie eating contest.

Lesson Learned: Another good way to conclude your essay is to share a lesson that you learned. This way you can demonstrate some thoughtful reflection on the meaning of your life. Example: After I won the pie eating contest, I couldn’t take the smile off of my face. I tried to be modest, but I just couldn’t contain my feelings. I was exploding with joy. This experience taught me that if you really want something then you have to work for it. Now that I had acquired this prodigious honor, nothing could stop me from enjoying it, not even myself. Alternate Universes: Another way with which you can conclude your narrative essay is to briefly discuss how things could have been different. Choose an important point in your story, maybe the climax, and consider how this affected your future. Example: Who knows what would have happened if Mrs. Gracie had never kept me after class that I day. I might have fought Clyde. I might have dropped out of school. I might never have entered that pie eating contest.

But write a narrative essay about overcoming a challenge is that she did keep me after class, and that was the greatest act of kindness that anyone has ever showed me. Telling you how to end your story is like telling a snowflake how to fall. Each story has its own ending and it’s up to you to find it. Still, you can apply these techniques to bring a sense of closure to your essay when a more personal technique eludes you. New writers have a difficult time revising their work. As a new writer, you are experiencing the power of creation. You are making stories out of experiences. It is an amazing process. New writers become attached to their creations, and this inhibits the revision process. The reality of the situation is that your work will get better if you continue to revise it. As happy as a writer may be with a text, there is always a way to improve it.