The Narrative Essay

The Narrative Essay
Composition 101

Essays are forms of writing that seek to make and develop some point, an idea about something. Essays can take many forms, from describing and arguing and comparing to simply telling a story, which is what this essay will do. You’ll tell a story in order to make a point.

The best topics will be stories that lead to change. Something happens, and it changes your situation or the way you think.

Begin by listing stories that you know well—things that have happened that matter to you or you have seen happen. Write them down—try for a list of twenty or so. You’ll only choose one for now, but choose. Don’t simply pick the first thing that comes to mind. In your list, write down whatever comes to mind, even those stories you won’t tell publicly. Often a good source is childhood memories. What are some of the events you remember from before you started school? Or from when you were first in school? Those memories have stuck with you because they matter. Here are some prompts from another source.

It’s a good idea to keep the journalist’s questions in mind: who, what, when, where, why, and how. Who: Think of the characters involved. Who are they and what does your reader need to know about them? What: What happened? When: What’s the time frame? Where: What’s the location? Why: What led to this and what’s its significance? How:

Start as near the end as possible. Think of where you can begin the story to get quickly to the heart of the message. Sometimes you can start very near the end as a way of getting the reader’s attention, and then circle back and fill in the background.

Dwell on details that matter. Give your reader a way to experience what happened. We experience things through our senses—taste, touch, hearing, smell, and sight. Try to provide images that offer the reader a way to imagine and experience the events as you tell them. In other words, don’t interpret for the reader if the detail will do. The poet William Carlos Williams said, “If you see a bicycle with a broken red reflector, don’t say you saw a broken bicycle. Say you saw a bicycle with a broken red reflector.” The idea is to provide the reader with an idea, and then provide them with the information to make that idea clear. If the information will make the idea clear on its own, that’s all you need.

Narratives depend on sequence and connections. You know how to tell a story. But you also know how a story can go wrong. Think of how people tell jokes badly: “Oh, yeah. I forgot to say that there was this other guy . . .” In an essay like this, you get to construct the narrative deliberately, putting all the pieces where you want. But remember; you know the story and why it matters better than anyone else. Help your reader to see it.

Assume your reader gets it. Make your point, but don’t whang your reader over the head with it. Don’t lecture them, especially at the end. Simply discuss what meaning you think the story has.

Here is another page that seems to be fruitful in its discussion of the narrative essay. Here’s another one. If you’re interested, another. Do note that these pages are NOT your assignment, but they might help you understand this assignment more fully and see that there are many options. Here's a sample student-written narrative essay. And another.

Details: The essay should have a title. It should be from 500-1000 words (two to four typed, double spaced pages). The final version is due Friday, June 8. You will be posting it on the discussion board and sending it to me.

See your Schedule for what to do when. You’ll be providing each other with feedback in the writing process.