Narrative Essay

Personal Essay Assignment with thesis

(topic sentences to be supported by narrative anecdotes)

Write a personal essay (use first person) about a subject that you feel strongly about but that you have personal experience with. (Include at least three narrative anecdotes in three separate body paragraphs that would illustrate your thesis or controlling idea. Two of the anecdotes should be your own, but the third anecdote could be that of a friend or a relative.)

Use the model paragraph that we discussed in class that can serve as a model for the organization in your own body paragraphs, the one from “Black Men, Public Space.”

The formula for the body paragraphs should look like this:

Topic sentence + background sentences + narrative anecdotes. At least two of the narrative anecdotes need to be about yourself, and the third could be about a friend or family member.  (“University Days” is a piece that is similar to this kind of essay in that it contains three separate anecdotes; however, because it is not an essay but an excerpt from an autobiography, that piece lacks an introductory paragraph and a conclusion, and I want you all to turn in five paragraphs at a minimum.)

Students have written on the following topics in the past:

1. some aspect of divorce

2. why their UIL band judges were unfair

3. three aspects of being a single mother

4. why guns should be banned or limited in the U.S.

5. Illegal immigration

6. Whether or not the legal drinking age should be lowered or raised

Do not write on a topic you feel strongly about but have no personal experience with. For instance, one fellow felt strongly against abortion, but he couldn’t write much about the subject except to paraphrase the sermons his preacher talked about on Sunday mornings, so I told him he had to choose another subject because he has no narrative anecdotes to include in such a paper.

Here are some general directions to get you started:

1. In the opening paragraph, introduce your theme or idea—a generalization about your subject that reveals your attitude toward it. Are you for or against the issue or idea you have chosen to write about?

2. Provide focus by expressing this attitude throughout your paper in places which remind your reader of it.

3. Include briefly sketched narrative anecdotes in the body paragraphs to add life and interest to your essay, but you should be sure that they relate to the focusing attitude of the essay.

4. Remember that a good personal essay often ends with a humorous or ironic twist which reinforces the content of the opening statement.

Due Date:  End of the business day on Wednesday June 24th (5 p.m.)

Model Essay: Google this model essay and read it before writing your own paper. Most textbooks title it

“Walk on By: Black Men Public Space” by African American journalist Brent Staples.

Just Walk on By: Black Men and Public Space – Olean City …

www.oleanschools.org › cms › lib › Centricity › Domain

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