Narrative EssayYou will compose a 500-750 word essay (2-3 pages, typed and stapled, double-spaced, font TimesNew Roman 12) in which you explore an event or experience. Concentrate on creating a personalreflection that speaks to larger concepts likely to be shared by your readers. For instance, ratherthan simply recounting an embarrassing childhood moment, use that moment to explore issuesof insecurity, peer pressure or teacher/student relationships. As you work, be selective in theinformation you choose to include. You can use a single event or a limited number of events, butinclude episodes that illustrate larger themes. You will include details and the elements ofnarrative to engage the interest of your reader and bring the moment to life. Remember thatyou are writing the story of a significant moment in your life told from a mature, reflectivestandpoint.Just like any other essay, you don’t want your topic to be too broad. Some topics are toogeneral to be manageable, no matter how true they might be.Too general: My grandmother was a huge influence on me when I was growing up.You probably couldn’t sum up all of the reasons your grandmother had such an impact on yourlife in two to three pagesStill too general: My grandmother taught me the values of responsibility and patience.Without a specific moment of your grandmother in mind, the body of your essay will probablysound vague. Your essay will be much more effective if you explore, in detail, one significantexample of how the values of responsibility and patience were made clear to you. Take a lookat another thesis statement:Specific focus: My grandmother had a huge influence on me; even when she was showingme how to bake cookies as a child, she was teaching me responsibility and patience.If you use a thesis statement like the one above, the body of your memoir will almostautomatically include more specifics.Specific detail: The unpleasantly sweet smell of burnt cookies filled my grandmother’skitchen. Frustrated almost to the point of tears, I put on the familiar sunflower-patternedpotholders and opened the oven. The 425° heat blasted me in the face when I reached in andremoved the baking tray. As I placed it on the top of the stove and surveyed my latest cookingdisaster—the third batch I’d ruined that day—my grandmother patted my seven year-oldshoulder.“It’s all right, dear,” she said. “Next time, just remember to set the timer as soon as youput the cookies in the oven instead of waiting until after you set up the next batch on theother tray.”Just what does the second example have that the first one lacks? Well, we’re in a specific place(your grandmother’s kitchen) at a specific time (when you were seven). We smelled thecookies,saw the potholders, felt the heat from the oven, and heard your grandmother talking. The onlything we didn’t do was taste (and that would be a bad idea because the cookies were burnedanyway). We also have dialogue.Those specific details make your paper much more interesting to read. Most people could saytheir grandmothers are patient—only your grandmother said what she did after you burned thecookies three times.It is important that your reader be able to picture the scene. However, it is equally important toknow why you picked this particular moment at this particular time in your life. Consider thesequestions when approaching a topic for your narrative: Why does this moment continue to be important to you? What do you understand now that you didn’t then? How can you apply this new understanding to your life today?
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