Question: Prewriting and Outlining for the Narrative Essay

This week, you will be preparing for next week's essay: the narrative. Take a moment and review the directions for the Week 3 narrative essay. Once you have a topic you want to write your narrative about, you will complete this two part assignment: prewriting and outlining.

Part I: The first part of this assignment will help you "flesh out" your topic. Take 10-15 minutes to free write about your topic. Chapters 4 and 5 in your textbook can help you decide what kind of free writing you want to do, but don't feel restricted by one genre. Write down everything that pertains to your topic, including questions your readers might have. Don't worry about grammar or sentence structure; this is a brainstorming activity.

Part II: Next, create an outline as a preliminary structure for the narrative essay. Use several of the outlining rules on pp. 111-115 of The Writer's Way, but be sure to include the following:

- Outline in three to five parts only (rule no. 1)

- Don't describe; summarize (no. 5)

- Outline whole sentences only (no. 8)

You may use as many of the other rules as you feel necessary. The goal is to present a structure for how your final essay may look. As such, an outline is not a series of paragraphs or a rough draft.