Personal Narrative for College Application Scholarship

This narrative writing assignment has two purposes: 1. Students need well-written narrative essays of experiences of overcoming a challenge, reaching a goal, accomplishing something that they are proud of, or demonstrating leadership. 2. Students need to know how to express their life stories creatively and sequentially, while exploring and clarifying their thinking about their lives.

Requirements: three pages, 12-point font, double spaced, and title

A basic rubric is included.

Student Objectives:

1. I can structure an event sequence from my life to tell an impacting narrative

2. I can craft well-chosen details from a life event

3. I can can chose the best words to tell this narrative

4. I can write an error-free narrative

Getting Started

Students have been writing narratives for most of their school years. To review the process, click on the following book: 

Better Writing from the Beginning.

Students need to clearly understand the following:  

audience (in this case--a college scholarship committee!)

focus (and whether to reveal your point explicitly or implicitly)

development and the use of detail

organization

style and using descriptive language

Personal Narrative Rubric

Pre-Writing

You are going to be doing a fast write to brainstorm/pre-write for your personal narrative. Recall that a personal narrative is a personal story that you share with your audience in order to make a point or to convey a message, and in this case, ultimately will be used to compete for college scholarships. The strongest and most poignant personal narratives often result from writing about something ordinary. You may write about the common but make it uncommon.When thinking about writing a personal narrative, remember that it is not just what happens but what you, the author, make of what happens. 

Questions and statements to think about as you begin your personal narrative free-write:

Tell what you know or have heard about any of your ancestors other than your parents and grandparents. Include significant details when possible.

When were you born? What were you told about your birth and infancy, and who told you?

What kinds of "make-believe" do you remember playing? What did you find amazing as a child?

Recall your earliest memories of school. What do you remember feeling about your first few years in school. What do you remember learning? What do you remember liking about school? What was difficult or frightening?

Who were your childhood friends and what did you most like to do together? Who was your best friend and how did the friendship begin?

What did you do when you came home from school? Who would be there?

Imagine your family during a typical mealtime. What do you see going on around you? What would you be eating? What was regular Saturday like? Sunday?

What kinds of music did you hear as a child? Write a memory that involves music.

What were the reading material in your home? Who read to you?

Were there television shows and movies that made an impression on you as a child?

What did "being good" mean in your family? What work was expected of you as a child? What else seemed expected of you as a child, either stated or unstated?

What were the historical events taking place in your childhood and how were you aware of them?

Tell of time when you gained confidence in yourself.

What were some of your fears? Tell about a time where you felt extremely frightened and how you overcame that fear.

When were the times that adults let you down?

What questions did you have that did not seem to have answers?

What were some of the things you wanted to do as a child but could not? Which of them were forbidden to do? Which were unavailable or unaffordable? Which were beyond your abilities as a child?

What do you know about your grandparents' lives? What do you remember feeling about your grandparents?

What have you heard about your mother's childhood? What did you hear about your father's childhood?

What sense about marriage did you get from your parents?

Picture yourself as a child. Now imagine that this child is standing in front of you this moment. What would you like to say to this child?

Allow students to use an online timer for their freewrite.  HERE is a link to one of many online timers.  

Draft

Students will write their drafts.

Peer Review

Students need to ask their peer-review partners what their partners would like specific feedback on in the narrative. Students need to address any grammar they find used incorrectly. They need to specifically answer the following questions in addition, and then return to partner for revision:

What is the NARRATIVE EFFECT? (Recall that the narrative effect is the main point of the story--the moral, the message, or the insight that the writer offers.)

Which element of STYLE does the writer use well (show, not tell, sensory language, diction, figurative language, point of view, expressive words, etc.). 

What area could the writer improve in this personal narrative?

What was your favorite part about this narrative?

Revise

Student will consider the suggestions given to them by their peer-review partners and revise their drafts.

Edit

Students need to (1) read their personal narratives aloud and (2) use paperrater.com, a free web tool that proofreads, checks grammar and offers writing suggestions.  

Self Reflection

Self-Evaluation: Narrative Writing

Rate yourself on a scale of 1 to 5 (1 being the worst, 5 being the best) on meeting the objectives or success criteria for narrative writing below:

1. I can structure an event sequence from my life to tell an impacting narrative

2. I can craft well-chosen details from a life event

3. I can can chose the best words to tell this narrative

4. I can write an error-free narrative

 Reflect on your success in writing this narrative: