In an essay that is 3-4 typed, double-spaced pages in length, write a narrative essay in response to one of the following prompts. (Remember that the standard font is New Times Roman, 12 point, and standard margins are 1″ top and bottom and 1″ on left and right. Essays in MLA format should include an MLA heading, which students can easily Google.)
1) Write a personal narrative looking back from some point in the far future on your own life as you hope others will see it. Use thira person if you like and write your own obituary, or use first person, assessing your life in a letter to your great-grandchildren.
2)Write an account of one of these “firsts”: your first serious argument with your parents; your first extended stay away from home; your first encounter with someone whose culture was very , noude different from your own; or your first experience with the serious illness or death of a close friend or relative. Make sure to reflect on the events you narrate: did your perspective change as a result of these events? If you are interested in a different “first” than listed here, you will need instructor permission to pursue that option.
3)Write a narrative about a time when you were an outsider, isolated because of social, intellectual, or ethnic differences between you and others. Did you resolve the problems/challenges your isolation created?
4) Using Sherman Alexie’s story as a model, write the story of your own education. Be sure to make a point with your story, just as Alexie does.
Keep in mind all of the exemplars of narrative we have read so far. Please note that every single one of them uses specific incidents, a specific moment, in order to tell the story, to SHOW the traits of the person. Regardless of the option you choose, your essay should do the same. Even if you are looking back on your life from the end of it, you should use specific incidents to tell the reader (whether a person attending the funeral or the great great grandchildren you hope will learn from your experience) what kind of person you were, how you lived your life. DO NOT simply list the things you did on a trip (first we went here, then we went there.), give a general overview of a time period (sophomore year was hard) or list the characteristics of the person you have been (she was kind and loving). The reader will know and believe what kind of person you are/were because you SHOW us.