Personal Narratives Part 1 It All Starts With An Idea!!!

Personal Narrative (personal means it’s about you, narrative means that you are writing in your voice) In a personal narrative, a writer tells about an experience in his or her life. The writer tells his/her feelings before, during and after the experience. The writer uses descriptive language to convey (tell) the reader exactly how he/she was feeling at that time. The reader should be able to feel all of the emotions that the writer felt.

What can I write about? Write about something that is personal to you. You can write about ANYTHING A special day you spent with a family member A birthday A day at school An afternoon with a friend A favorite holiday or family gathering An achievement of yours A family trip The idea is that it is a true experience from your life and you describe your feelings about it

How do we start???? Pick a topic. If you are not sure what you want to write about then pick a BROAD topic and start there.

Having trouble? Let’s start with this… Trips Too Broad! There are too many trips to write about. I have taken trips alone, with friends and with family. YIKES!!! Let’s give it more focus and narrow it down

Having trouble? Let’s narrow it down Trips Family Trips Still too broad a topic for me. I have taken a lot of family trips. Let’s give it just a little more focus.

Having trouble? Let’s narrow it down Trips Family Trips My trip to Mystic, Connecticut in August Ahhh..there we go! Now that’s specific!!!.

Now You Try

Okay…we have the topic but what now???? Now we move on to the fun part. We BRAINSTORM! What’s brainstorm? Well this is where we think about all the things surrounding our topic and we ask ourselves questions. What did I do? Where did I go? Who was I with? Each one of these questions can make us ask another question….don’t believe me? Let’s see….

What was this? A trip? A birthday? Whose birthday? Where did I go? What did I do? What was this? A trip? A birthday? Whose birthday? Where did I go? What was the setting? Was it far away? Have I been there before? What was the weather like? Who was I with? A friend? A family member? Alone? A group of people? And we also need to consider our feelings about this. Was I happy to go? How did I feel about the people I was with? Did my feelings change throughout the experience? And so on…..

Brainstorm

What do I want to write about? ________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ Who are the “characters” in my story? ___________________________________ What is the setting? _________________________________________________ What events do I remember? _________________________________________ How did I feel before? _______________________________________________ How did I feel during? _______________________________________________ How did I feel after? _______________________________________________

NOPE After all of this brainstorming…are we done? Now we get to make a rough draft of our writing. Here is where we work on getting our ideas down on paper. It won’t be pretty. Let me show you.

We drove up to mystic on a sunny Mondy and went right to our hotel We drove up to mystic on a sunny Mondy and went right to our hotel. I was really happi to be on vacation and could not wait to go to the museums and aquarium. We went to the mueums at the Mystic Seaport and walked around. I loved looking at all of the shops and exhibits. I watched people carve ship hulls, make candy and load cargo onto a ship. I felt like I was living back in the “olden days.” We drove home on Thursday and I have to admit I was sad but also a little happy I missed my house and all of my things! I wanted to slepp in my own bed. I went to the Aquarium My favrite part was when I saw the dolphins jump and reach the hopp. They were very flexible and shiny. We were able to touch stingrays, feed exotic birds and spy frogs and tadpoles in the water.

Personal Narratives Part 2 Elaboration And Sequence

Elaboration Or “Tell me more, tell me more” This is where you tell me more about your experience. Let’s remember “The Hot and Cold Summer” The author shows what happens when Derek returns from camp. She describes the events in the order in which they happen. She includes phrases such as “fifteen minutes later” to make the time clear. She uses specific details such as “Derek sat on the ground next to the lounge chair” so that readers can understand the setting.

Chronology or Sequencing This is where you write about the events in the ORDER THEY HAPPENED. Let’s remember we don’t start talking about our day by saying “First I put my pajamas on, then I went to school, finally I rode my bicycle” At least I hope that’s not the way it happened….. Use the chart to help you sequence your events…create the timeline (chronology) of what happened as best as you remember

Use Sequencing or Chronology of Events FIRST beginning MIDDLE What happened? LAST ending

Personal Narratives Part 3 Revise and Edit

A good writer always edits and revises This is where you fine tune your work. You check word usage, spelling, grammar, punctuation. You make sure your writing flows (sequencing) You polish it up to make it shine!

Personal Narrative Body Introduction Conclusion Middle End Beginning