Tell
Relate Narrate Remember Share
Narrative writing
Think
of a time when something really exciting happened to you. Maybe you won a basketball
game, or caught a big fish, or got an “A” on a tough test. Now imagine
telling a friend all about it. That’s what a “narrative” is
– a story about something that has happened. We all tell such stories at
one time or another.
Our lives also have stages, or phases. Each
phase serves a different purpose. In a phase autobiography, you tell about a
stage or phase in your own life and what effect it has had on you. Your goal
is to entertain your readers while showing them a little bit about who you are.
Guidelines:
Subject: a time of personal change
Form: phase autobiography
Purpose: To tell about a phase in your life
Audience:
you, teacher, others?
We all go through phases or stages. Sometimes
those stages are school related, like graduating from elementary school and beginning middle school. Other stages are more personal, like moving to a new town, learning to play chess, or making a new friend. A phase autobiography tells how events over a period of time affect a person.
You’ve been through many stages in you life, but which one should you write about? A life map can help you decide on a topic.
A life map begins at your birth and continues to the present. The pictures represent important events in your life, and the numbers or dates indicate
you age or the year for each event.
After your life map is completed, organize your memories
into groups/clusters/phases.
Then, Choose ONE story, or a group
of related memories to write about.
Brainstorm the details
(who, what, where, when, why is this story important to you?, How were you impacted/affected by this story?)
Begin the rough draft: (How to write a narrative)
P. 16
Worksheet: Beginning
Draws reader in and introduce the stages you are describing.
A.)Consider using of the following
strategies for your opening:
Start
with the first action – tell what began this stage in your life.
Start in the middle of the action – begin with action or dialogue to
draw the reader in quickly.
Start with a quote - let a person talk for themself or borrow some famous words from someone samous, "To be
or not to be...:
Start
with an interesting fact – find a fact that the reader might want to know. Did you know…?
B.) Then, you will need
a few detail/connection sentences to tie your attention getter to your thesis.
C.) Finally your thesis is a sentence that explains the chosen memory and WHY it impacted
who you are.
P. 18
Middle
lets your story unfold and bring it to a high point
Be selective – include events that keep the story moving along. Leave
out unneeded details.
Use sensory details – use sights, sounds, and other sensory details so that the reader
feels involved in the story
Use action and dialogue – show, don’t tell. Let your reader see
things happening and hear
what
is said. Don’t just tell about what happened.
Build to a high point – increase the
action to a point of excitement or tension. Make you
reader want to keep reading to find
out what happens next.
P. 21
Ending
describes how the stage ends. Consider using one of the following approaches
for you ending
Reveal why the stage was important. Make sure your reader understands the significance
of this stage.
Tell how the experience changed
you. Tell what you learned from the stage or how you
are different because of it.
