Narrative Essay - Scholastic Store

! C HAPTER 3 }
Narrative Essay
Background Information
he Personal
When the Department of Education instituted the Pennsylvania State
Writing Assessment, which includes narrative, informational, and
persuasive writing, I taught the narrative essay first. However, now I
begin with informational writing because of the unique structure inherent in personal
narratives. Rather than following the regular, definable patterns of the informational
or persuasive essay, a personal narrative tells a story about an individual experience,
situation, or event or a “proposed occurrence at a particular time in a particular
place.” (Pennsylvania Department of Education/Division of Evaluation and Reports,
2001–2002, p.8) Another reason that I used to begin with the personal narrative
rather than the informational essay is that initially I thought students would have an
easier time writing about themselves. Wrong! Surprisingly, many of their personal
accounts were dull, boring, and lifeless. Consequently, after I teach students about the
structure of the narrative essay, I engage them in revision activities similar to those
included in this chapter to help them add detail, color, and description to their writing.
Mini-Lesson Writing Personal Narrative Essays
Objective To model a personal narrative essay
To generate a list of the characteristics of the personal
narrative essay
To prewrite, draft, revise, and edit a five-paragraph personal
narrative essay
Time One to three 40-minute class periods
43