Paper: Narrative Essay

Length: Five paragraphs

Description:

You may choose the topic for this essay. If you are struggling to select a topic, use one of the suggested topics on page 501 in SIC. In this essay, you should narrate an event from your life, whether it happened to you or you observed it.

Requirements:

Use the following checklist to ensure you have completed each part of the assignment. Late essays and essays that do not contain all of the following will not be accepted and will receive a zero.

1. Introduction: This should set the scene for the story and include the thesis statement (put in bold) and introduces the reason why this story is being told.

2. Body: Should include the important details of the story and work us through the conflict by answering the reporter's questions: who, what, when, where and why? Each body paragraph should only represent one point, idea, day, incident, etc. Tell the story chronologically or through flashback. Also, make sure to follow the five paragraph structure.

3. Paragraph development: Is each body paragraph 8-10 sentences? Are the intro and conclusion a minimum of six sentences?

4. Topic sentences: Does it the clearly state what the rest of the paragraph is about? Remember: only one point, idea, day, incident, etc. per paragraph.

5. Transitions: Use appropriate transition to signal time order (see 492).

6. Conclusion: This should explain the importance of this story by answering one of the questions on p. 492. Note: The last body paragraph is where the story ends, NOT the conclusion. It's perfectly acceptable to use the conclusion to give an update on the story conflict, providing this update specifically answers one of the conclusion questions on p. 492.