Narrative Essay

English 11 Honors

To make sure that you understand the key elements of a good narrative work, you will write a narrative essay of your own. The narrative essay should be grammatically correct, vibrant, and interesting to read. This information is reworded, if you would like to hear it again, on page 598 in the textbook. There is also an example essay on page 599 to help get you started.

Key ideas I’d like you to employ: Masterful style, exemplified by Douglass

o Good use of tone (word choice and extensive details)o Varied sentence patterns and structures that convey your purpose and are ideal for your

audience o Use of figurative languageo Use of dialogue

Provides an impression of a clearly identified person Organized well

o Intriguing introductiono Background information to form the main charactero Concludes by showing the significance of the main character

There are three ways you can do this assignment: Writing from your life

o Write a biographical narrative about a person who you believe is important or influential. Include anecdotes and details to help your reader visualize the person clearly. Make sure your reader understand why the person is important to you.

o Examples: a friend who taught you something important, a teacher who made a difference, a relative who helped you

Writing from literatureo Do some research and write a biographical narrative about one of the writers in this unit

whose life inspires or intrigues you.o Examples: Frederick Douglass, Abraham Lincoln, Sojourner Truth, Mary Chesnut

Writing for the Real Worldo Choose a person you admire, such as a world leader, sports hero, inventor, or historical

figure. Research your subject and then write a speech for an award ceremony, honoring the person for his or her contributions.

The Rubric for this assignment is on the back of this sheet.