Personal Narrative

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PersonalNarrative
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Elements of a Personal Narrative

• Point of View
• Strong Lead
• Character and Setting
• Conflict
• Dialogue and Blocking
• Interior Monologue
• Show Dont Tell
• Strong Conclusion

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Point of View

• Personal narratives are written in first person
  point of view.
• The narrator is a character in the story.
• First person pronouns are used to indicate the
  writer is telling the story from his/her point of
  view.

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Strong Leads

• A strong lead immediately grabs the readers
  attention by being out of the ordinary and
  exceptionally interesting.
• Strong lead ideas
• Short, arresting sentence
• Astonishing or shocking statement or scenario
• Exciting direct quotations
• Flashback
• ANY COMBINATION OF THE ABOVE

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Character and SettingA good narrative develops
character and setting.

• Character Description
• Physical appearance
• Personality traits
• Directly stated
• Shown through actions and words
• Setting Description
• Elaborate description of place
• Sights, sounds, smells, tactile sensation, taste
• Time

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Conflict

• The problem around which the narrative revolves
  is called the conflict.
• A good personal narrative cleverly introduces the
  conflict, excitingly develops it, and
  meaningfully resolves the conflict in the end.

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Dialogue and Blocking

• Dialogue is when characters in the narrative
  speak aloud to one another.
• Dialogue should develop characters by giving
  clues about their personalities and feelings.
• There are specific rules for writing dialogue.
• Blocking is words that describe what the speaker
  is doing as he/she speaks.
• Stop! he shouted while angrily pounding his
  fists on the table.

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Interior Monologue

• Interior monologue tells what the character is
  thinking and feeling inside his/her head.
• It helps the reader discover more information
  about the character.
• It is often written in italics.

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Show Dont Tell

• A good narrative develops the conflict and story
  through the use of vivid, descriptive language.
• He was tall. (telling - how boring!)
  
• His shadow loomed over my head, covering me in
  darkness. (showing - yeah!)
• Figures of speech such as simile and metaphor are
  great ways to show not tell.

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Strong Conclusion

• A personal narrative ends with a personal
  revelation.
• A revelation is a big ideaan important or
  life-changing realization based on the narrative
  experience.
• This revelation is often stated directly, but can
  be cleverly alluded to.

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Analyzing Personal Narratives

• In the model narratives, find and analysis
  examples of
• Strong Leads
• Character and Setting Development
• Conflict
• Dialogue and Blocking
• Interior Monologue
• Showing Not Telling
• Strong Conclusions
• BE READY TO SHOW AND DISCUSS!

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PROMPT

• Write about a time of self-realization, a moment
  when you realized you were blind to a
  situation, realized how it really was, and
  learned something about the world and yourself.

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Prewriting Lets begin!

• Brainstorm a list of moments of
  blindness/realization that you might use (at
  least 5 possibilities).
• Choose one as your topic.
• Develop a list details about that event (at least
  25 details).