Narrative Essay
Step 1: Narrow the Focus Way Down |
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Select an event that actually happened in real life. The event shouldn’t be too personal or inappropriate for school.
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The story you tell in your essay should cover no more than one hour of real life time. That means you won’t be able to tell a story about being pregnant because that takes nine months, but you can tell a story about rushing to the hospital and almost giving birth in a taxi cab—a twenty-minute drive. |
Examples:
The trick to a good narrative essay is to zoom way down to a narrow focus of less than 1 hour of real-life time; then, fill up the essay with sensory and action details.
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Step 2: Draft the Thesis Statement |
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Draft a thesis statement that provides, even subtly, the general time, location, and meaning of the event. For now just get something on paper; you can improve the statement later. This thesis statement won’t be like the list sentence you may be used to.
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Examples:
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