This is a literacy narrative descriptive essay similar to the non-fiction narrative stories we read and discussed in class. It can be a personal story of success or failure. It can be a story about a mistake you made as a result of which you learned a lesson. Focus on one single story or one single incident. It can be an accident story, an encounter with a person story, learning to do something story, failure to finish a task or pass an interview story, a mistake or embarrassing moment story, etc. Organize your story in a sequence of several paragraphs. Suggestion:
In your introduction: Provide background or context for your narrative: maybe the opposite of what is expected, a question, or a dramatic opening. State your thesis statement. Give a plan of ideas. Describe the setting: the time, the place, and the people involved in your story. Explain the situation or the environment where the story happened.
In your body paragraphs: Describe in detail what happened, step by step. Use imagery, sensory words, similes, and metaphors to get your reader see, hear, smell, touch, feel, and experience what happened to you.
In your conclusion: Explain what you learned from what happened, and how that learning can be expanded to a bigger life lesson. As you write from your memory, shape a meaning about the story that sounds deep and wise. Also, you can look into the future. Make a recommendation or prediction. Or say how you will act in the future now that you have learned this lesson, etc.
In Works Cited: (Only if it is applicable) List the work/s you quoted in your essay in MLA format. For more info on MLA format check the Writing Assignments Rules on the syllabus or Diana Hackers writing manual.
