A specific point-of-view on the events of the story Vivid details that incorporate all 5 senses (sight, sound, smell, touch, and taste) Dialogue A reflection on what the experience meant
Have your students read narrative essays, such as “My Indian Education” by Sherman Alexie, “Shooting an Elephant” by George Orwell, “Learning to Read” by Malcolm X, or “Fish Cheeks” by Amy Tan. Show your students a movie, such as Moana or Frozen and then plot out the structure of the story with your students. Have your students listen to a podcast or radio segment that features a short narrative, such as the Modern Love podcast or NPR’s “This I Believe” series. [5] X Research source
Who are the characters in this story? What are they like? How can you tell? Who is telling the story? What happens to the characters? How do they work towards a solution to the problem? Where and when does the story take place? What is the mood of the story?
For example, start by looking at the action and characters in the introduction. How does the author introduce the story? The characters? Then, move to the body paragraphs to identify how the story develops. What happens? Who does it happen to? How do the characters respond? Finish your map by looking at the conclusion to the story. How is the conflict resolved? What effect does this resolution have on the characters in the story?
For example, you might start the story by saying “Once,” which another student might follow with “upon,” another with “a,” and another with “time,” and so on. You might also give the story more structure by giving your students a model to follow. For example, you might require them to follow a format, such as this one: “The-adjective-noun-adverb-verb-the-adjective-noun. " Post the format where all of the students can follow along as they tell their story. To build a story sentence by sentence, you might start with “Once upon a time, there was a princess named Jezebel. ” And then the next student might add, “She was betrothed to a foreign prince, but she did not want to get married. ” And another might add, “One her wedding day, she fled the country. ”
Allow each student about 7 to 10 minutes to write their paragraph. Return the stories to the student who wrote the opening paragraph so they can see how other people continued their story. Ask students to share how their story progressed after they passed it to their neighbor.
For example, if the author of a story writes, “Sally was so angry,” then they are telling. However, the author would be showing by writing, “Sally slammed the car door shut and stomped off towards her house. Before she went inside, she turned, shot me a furious look, and shouted, ‘I never want to see you again!’” The first example tells readers that Sally is angry, while the second example shows readers that Sally is angry using her actions and words. A great way to practice this concept is to give students a plot point or have them create their own. Then, have the students work on showing the plot point using only dialogue.
What does the character look like? Hair/eye/skin color? Height/weight/age? Clothing? Other distinguishing features? What mannerisms does the person have? Any nervous ticks? How does their voice sound? What is their personality like? Is the person an optimist or pessimist? What are their likes/dislikes? Hobbies? Profession?
The diner was empty, except for me, the waitress, the cook, and a lone gunman. I was lost in a strange city with no money, no phone, and no way to contact anyone. The creature disappeared as suddenly and unexpectedly as it had arrived.
Invite students to share what happened on their islands at the end of the 5 days. Display the island drawings and descriptions on the wall of your classroom.
Tell your students if you are using a theme or focus. For example, if you want students to write their narrative on an experience with reading or writing, then you might provide examples, such as the first novel they read and fell in love with, or the time they had to totally rewrite a paper for an English class. Also, include details in the rubric on the required length of the essay, special features you expect to see, and any formatting requirements.
Make sure to provide students with feedback on their pre-write activities. Encourage them on what sounds like it has the most potential and steer them away from topics that seem too broad or that would not hold up well as narratives. For example, if a student submits a freewrite in which they discuss wanting to write about all of the English teachers they have ever had, this would be too broad and you would want to encourage them to narrow their topic, such as by writing about 1 teacher only.
For example, if the paper is due on April 1st, then students ought to start drafting at least 1 week in advance, or sooner if possible. This will help to ensure that they will have plenty of time to revise their work.
Does the story seem complete? What else could be added? Is the topic too narrow or too broad? Does the paper maintain its focus or is it disorganized? Are the introduction and conclusion effective? How might they be improved?
