1. Personal Narrative Chenethia Brown 8 th Grade ELA

2. PREWRITING

3. What’s It All About? In a personal narrative, your main purpose is to express yourself. Is written in the first person (“I”) Includes vivid details of people, place, events, and things Tells the events of an experience in the order in which they happened Includes the writer’s thoughts and feelings during the experience.

4. Make It Real To get your readers involved in your narrative, you need to show them events as you experienced them. Details can include: Smaller events that were part of the experience you are retelling What you observed by using your senses (imagery- hearing, touch, smell, taste, and sight) Specific information about other people involved in the experience, including dialogue, or what people said The time and place the experience happened Your thoughts and feelings during the experience

5. Walk This Way Consider how you will arrange your details. Most narratives are written in chronological order. That is, events are told in the order in which they happened.

6. Use the 5W-How? Who? What? When? Where? Why? How? Answer questions such as: “What happened?” “Where were you?” “Who was involved?”

7. 5W-How? TimeEventDetail When my sister was three years old She received her Indian name Family lived in Wisconsin; medicine man gave name When I was three years old Grandfather diedAlready had his Anglo name, now his Indian name was available. A few months after my tenth birthday Father suggested that I receive my Indian name Has to be given by medicine person.

8. DRAFTING

9. Developing a Framework A writer’s framework usually consists of an introduction, a body, and a conclusion. A framework is also considered a graphic organizer.

10. Graphic Organizer

11. Introduction Refer to Writing Process Slideshow!

12. Thesis Statement Your thesis statement should be specific—it should cover only what you will discuss in your paper and should be supported with specific evidence. The thesis statement usually appears at the end of the first paragraph of a paper.

13. Introduction Example In every child’s life, they want to be accepted or acknowledged for the hard work they have done. I was no exception. I came from a family where education was definitely not valued but deep down inside, it really mattered to me. I always worked hard to be the best and now my hard work as paid off. Fourth grade was the turning point in my educational career. I will entertain you with the story of how my fourth grade awards ceremony changed my life forever.

14. Dialogue If you use dialogue in your personal narrative, it should reflect the way people really talk. For instance, even though you avoid using sentence fragments in formal writing, it might be natural to use them when you’re quoting someone.

15. Keep Point of View Consistent In a personal narrative you’ll use the first-person pronouns (I, me, my) to refer to yourself. Remember your tone reveals your attitude about your topic.

16. Body Arrange the events of your narrative and their details in the order in which they occurred. Start at the beginning and work your way to the end. Use details to elaborate on each event in the narrative. Include imagery, details about people who were involved, and dialogue. Most important, include just enough details about your feelings at the time to keep your audience in suspense. Save your explanation of the meaning of the experience until the very end.

17. Body: Topic and Details

18. Each paragraph must have a topic sentence and details to support the topic. Topic Details

19. Strategies for Elaboration Precise Words: presents specific ideas vividly. Examples: – “an old gym sock” instead of rag – “gaudy red lipstick” instead of makeup – “rat-like Chihuahua” instead of small dog – “pampered” his hair instead of combed

20. Strategies for Elaboration Figures of Speech: writers use figures of speech to help us see everyday things in new ways. Simile: “His bike gleamed like a handful of dimes.” Metaphor: “A paperboy with dollar signs in his eyes.”

21. Conclusion Restate your thesis statement at the beginning of your conclusion. Let your readers know the meaning of the experience for you – how it changed you or what it taught you.

22. Conclusion Example I have entertained you with the story of how my fourth grade awards ceremony changed my life forever. It taught me strength when I am presented with situations that I have no control over. It has also taught me how to persevere during hard times in my life. I will keep that encounter close to my heart always and forever.

23. ROUGH DRAFT

24. How to Create the Rough Draft?! 1.Combine all the elements from your graphic organizer. 2.Add transitional words, phrases, or sentences. 3.Skip a line after every sentence.

25. EVALUATING AND REVISING

26. Evaluation Questions Does your introduction grab the reader’s attention and set the scene? Are events in chronological order? Do the details make people, places, and events seem real? Have you included your thoughts and feelings? Does your conclusion reveal why the experience is meaningful?

27. Read Aloud When proofreading your piece, read it out loud to yourself. If helps you to catch mistakes that you would otherwise miss.

28. Pair-Share If you have another person proofread your narrative, you will be more likely to catch mistakes that can distract readers. Have your partner look for common mistakes, such as spelling, capitalization, and punctuation errors. One common error you might find in personal narratives involves punctuating dialogue.

29. Evaluation Criteria 1.Focuses on a single incident. 2.Is usually told in chronological order. 3.Includes information that helps readers follow events. 4.Includes sensory details that bring people, places, and events to life. 5.Uses dialogue to reveal character. 6.Makes clear what the experience means to the writer.