Narrative Writing Task Your task is to create a personal narrative OR narrative fiction that contains ALL the concepts and skills we have learned so far in quarter 1. Personal Narrative Option You may draw upon your own unique and individual experiences in a personal narrative: Your life is a series of stories, all uniquely yours. Each story reveals something about you and the events that shape your life. When you write about yourself, you gain a deeper understanding of why certain experiences are important to you. In this assignment, you will write a personal narrative a story that describes a memorable event from your past. Your task: Write a personal narrative in which you describe for a specific audience a meaningful experience in your life. Make sure you narrate the events of the experience, reflect on its significance, and include the concepts we studied in Quarter 1. Narrative Fiction Option You may not be comfortable sharing a personal experience, or you may feel put on the spot to find something that is meaningful. You may create a story from scratch that still contains the concepts we have studied in Quarter 1. Getting Started Step One: Choose a story to tell! Think back over your life, recalling memorable or challenging experiences, OR choose a single experience that you want to write about. Here are some ideas: An embarrassing experience Overcoming an obstacle Making a hard decision Learning a valuable lesson A frightening experience Being misunderstood Losing a competition Making a decision you regret Overcoming a fear Getting caught in a lie Standing up to a bully Standing up for something to believe in Having your life changed by someone Learning that you should be careful what you wish for A disastrous date An act of heroism or cowardice An experience that led to renewed faith Taking a stand on an important issue The break up of a friendship An experience that alters the view of someone Step Two: Think about your audience and purpose. As you begin to reflect on your topic more deeply, keep in mind your purpose, which is to describe some sort of meaningful experience. Consider your audience so you know what type of language is appropriate. For example, a description of an experience aimed at parents will contain different language than a description of the same experience aimed at your classmates. 1
Step Three: Complete the prewriting stage of your narrative. Form I am writing: personal narrative narrative fiction Point of View The narrator will be: first-person third-person limited third-person omniscient Exposition Characters: Protagonist: Antagonist: Character Traits: Character Motivation: Setting Sensory Imagery for your Setting Sight: Sound: Smell: Touch: Taste: Conflict 2
Rising Action (list the events) Climax Falling Action (list the events) Resolution I will be using: irony symbolism Explanation: I will be using: flashback foreshadowing I will use the following transition words/hints to demonstrate my use of this concept: My intended mood is: I will achieve this mood by: The theme/message about life that is learned through this narrative is: The following rubric will be used to grade your narrative. It will be weighted at 100 test points. 3
Element 5 points 3 points 1 point Total Exposition p. 28 Writing includes an obvious exposition that introduces the main characters, setting, and sets up the conflict. Writing includes a somewhat discernable exposition but only includes two of the three elements of an exposition. Writing has an obvious beginning but only includes one of the three elements of an exposition. Rising Action p. 28 Climax p. 28 Falling Action p. 28 Resolution p. 28 Protagonist Antagonist Foreshadowing Or Flashback p. 30 Dialogue p. 177 Internal Conflict p. 28 External Conflict p. 28 Character Traits p. 204 The rising action is a logical sequence of events that develops the conflict and leads to the climax. Writing has an obvious climax that is the turning point of the story, the greatest moment of suspense, and makes the outcome of the conflict clear. The falling action eases the suspense, reveals the outcome of the story s climax, and shows how the main character resolves the conflict. The resolution reveals the final outcome and ties up loose ends. narrative is student, the story is a true event, and the writer is driving the events of the narrative. There is an obvious antagonist (person, place, or thing) in the narrative that serves as an opposing force to the Protagonist. The student uses colorful language and phrases to indicate foreshadowing or a flashback is occurring and the device is purposeful to the logical sequencing of the story. The writing includes dialogue that is natural to the event in the story and serves to drive the plot. The student presents an obvious internal conflict that is developed in full by thoughts and emotions. The student presents at least one obvious external conflict that is developed in full by details about a clash between the student and the outside force. Character traits of the characters are revealed as appropriate to the story through physical appearance, speech, thoughts, actions, and relationships. The rising action is a logical sequence of events but does not develop the conflict. Writing has a climax that is the greatest moment of suspense but the outcome of the conflict isn t clear. The falling action eases the suspense, but does not reveal the outcome of the story s climax or show how the conflict is resolved. The resolution reveals the final outcome but does not tie up loose ends. narrative is the student, the story is a true event, but the writer does not drive the events of the narrative. The antagonist is not directly related to the conflict, and it is unclear if the antagonist is an opposing force to the Protagonist. The student does not use colorful language and phrases to indicate foreshadowing or a flashback is occurring, and the transition is awkward, but the device is purposeful to the logical sequencing of the story. The writing includes dialogue that serves to drive the plot but it feels awkward and unnatural. The student presents an internal conflict but it is developed only by thoughts or emotions. The student presents at least one external conflict but does not provide enough details about the clash with the outside force. Character traits of only the protagonist as appropriate to the story through physical appearance, speech, thoughts, actions, and relationships. The rising action has a confusing sequence and includes details irrelevant to the climax, and does not develop the conflict. The climax is difficult to determine, not suspenseful, and the outcome of the conflict isn t clear. The writer does not include falling action and the sequencing leads directly to the resolution. The resolution does not reveal the final outcome or tie up loose ends. narrative is not the student, or the story is an untrue event. The writing does not include an Antagonist or opposing force as a direct result of a weak or underdeveloped conflict. The device is not purposeful to the logical sequencing and is unrelated to the story. The writing includes dialogue but it does not drive the plot and it feels awkward and unnatural. The student presents an internal conflict but it is not developed. The student presents at least one external conflict but it is not developed or explained. Narrative contains very few character traits, or the character traits presented are irrelevant to the story. 4
Motivation p. 206 Point of View p. 202 Irony p. 101 or Symbol p. 460 Setting p. 330 Mood p. 332 Imagery p. 176, p. 332 Theme p. 460 Form Narrative fully develops the reasons behind the actions of the characters as appropriate through direct comments, actions, interactions, thoughts, and or feelings. Student has written from first person POV and includes their thoughts and emotions. The writing develops an obvious characteristic of irony in which there is a stark contrast between what is expected to happen and what actually occurs (a surprising plot twist) OR The writing develops an obvious characteristic of symbolism in which a person, animal, place, or object stands for something beyond itself and emphasizes an important idea or character trait. The writing provides descriptive details about the time and place in which the story occurs, and the setting obviously influences the characters, creates a conflict, and or serves as a symbol. The story has an obvious emotional atmosphere that matches the intended mood outlined in the prewriting because the student makes use of sensory details to convey the mood. Narrative contains vivid descriptions that recreate sensory experiences for the audience, and uses specific words and phrases that appeal to at least three of the senses, and paints a vivid picture in the audience s mind. The narrative provides insights into life or human nature through an underlying message or central idea that is developed through thoughts, feelings, and actions of the protagonist. The narrative is told through logical sequencing with paragraphs separating major events, dialogue is correctly punctuated, and it contains a title. The narrative is 800 words minimum. Narrative only provides some development of the reasons behind the actions of the characters as appropriate but the audience is left with a few questions. Student has written from first person POV but the writing is lifeless and does not include thoughts or emotions. The writing develops irony but it is difficult to determine and does not provide a stark contrast between what is expected to happen and what actually occurs OR The writing contains symbolism but it is not fully developed or explained, and hints at representing an important idea or trait beyond itself. The writing provides some details about the time and place in which the story occurs, but it is not fully developed how the setting influences the characters, creates conflict, and or serves as a symbol. The story has a confusing emotional atmosphere that does not match the intended mood outlined in the prewriting, and the student uses conflicting sensory details. Narrative contains vivid descriptions that paint a picture in the audience s mind but it only uses two senses to recreate the experience for the audience. The narrative demonstrates thoughts, feelings, and actions of the protagonist but the underlying message or central idea is unclear and confusing. The narrative is missing one of the three features outlined in the 5 category. The narrative is 400-799 words. Narrative only begins to provide some development of the reasons behind the actions of the characters as appropriate and the audience is left with a lot of questions. Student has written from third person point of view. The prewriting indicates the student intended for the writing to contain irony, but the concept is missed OR The student presents a symbol but it is not developed or explained. The narrative provides little to no details about the setting and the student does not develop the significance or importance of the roles of the setting. The story has a lackluster emotional atmosphere that does not use any sensory details and does or does not match the intended mood outlined in the prewriting. Narrative contains lackluster descriptions that neither paint a vivid picture in the audience s mind, and uses little to no sensory imagery. The narrative presents a message or central idea but the connection to the narrative is confusing because it is not revealed through the protagonist s thoughts, feelings, and actions. The narrative is missing two of the three features outlined in the 5 category. The narrative is less than 400 words. 5