Essay- Personal Narratives-

Personal Narrative

This writing assignment involves writing your Personal Narrative. Once you draft your essay and

revise, you may submit it for feedback. The feedback will help you write the final draft; your

final draft will be graded.

 

 

Option #1: A Life-Changing Moment

Think of a specific experience that had a huge impact on you–something that really changed

your life in some way (winning the state championship, riding your first roller coaster, surviving

a car accident, going on your first date, etc.). Then, write a narrative about that experience.

Make sure that it has an introduction, several body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Use time,

dialogue, descriptive details, and one point-of-view to tell the story leading up to the climax of

your life-changing moment. For instance, if your life-changing moment discusses your first date,

the last body paragraph before the conclusion should detail your date and the previous body

paragraphs should explain the events leading up to the date.

 

The conclusion should sum up the major subtopics in your story as well as explain how this

event changed you. For instance, did it teach you a lesson? Did you walk away with a new

appreciation for something?

 

Sample Thesis Statement: “After I got to know John, I discovered that you should not judge

people on first appearances.” Your job after this is to tell the story of this thesis statement.

Remember to underline your thesis!

 

 

Option #2: Crossroads

We have all been in situations where we have had to make crucial choices–choices that

affected us in potentially life-changing ways (going back to school, buying a house, having a

child, choosing a college, etc.). Write a narrative describing this type of situation. Make sure

that it has an introduction, several body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Use time, dialogue,

descriptive details, and a single point of view to describe the situation, making sure that you

explain what caused it (suggested for body paragraph 1), what decision you made (suggested

for body paragraph 2), and how that decision impacted you (suggested for body paragraph 3).

In your conclusion, you will want to sum up your story and explain whether your choice was

the best one for you and why.

 

Sample Thesis Statement: “Moving out of my parents’ house was bad because I needed to

either buy a home or rent an apartment, and because a down payment for the home I wanted

would deplete my savings, I chose to rent an apartment.”

 

 

Formatting requirements are on the next page.

 

 

 

Header: Include a header in the upper left-hand corner of your writing assignment with the

following information:

• Your first and last name

• Course Title (Composition I)

• Assignment name (Personal Narrative)

• Current Date

 

Length: This assignment should be at least 750 words.

 

Format:

• Double-spacing throughout

• Title, centered after heading

• Standard 12-point font (Arial, TimesNewRoman, Calibri)

• 1” margins on all sides

• Save the file using one of the following extensions: .docx, .doc, .rtf, or .txt

Underline your thesis statement.