I am sorry that I can't be with you in person today. My two-year-old son is sick and running a fever. He's been up since 4 o'clock this morning. But thank you for your patience and understanding.
Descriptive writing is a stepping stone. Mastering that skill helps you add the details to you writing that gains and sustains your reader's interest and helps the readers see, feel and think the way that you do. To begin moving from a focus on descriptive writing to a more essay type writing, we need to do a few things. And here are your tasks to accomplish in class today and as homework, if you need to:
1. In your text book, the authors discuss the qualities of a good narrative essay. What are they and how are they the same and different from a descriptive one.
2. A good narrative essay has a central point. Literary types call it a theme. Here is a link for a short story:
http://www.courses.vcu.edu/ENG200-dwc/hughes.htm
Based on the information in the text, elements of a short story does he employ? What is the central point of the story? What details support that? Do you feel the story was effective or ineffective? Why?
3. Email this as an MS word attachment to cmcguire@pjc.edu: Below are ten (10) topics that will result in a narrative essay. Choose one (1) and write a 1-2 page narrative essay. Be sure to use sensory details, descriptions and dialog.
NARRATIVE ESSAY PROMPTS
1. [Being Unprepared] Because you have been sick, out of town, busy at work, or working on other homework, you didn't have as much time to study for an important test as you needed. Everyone going to school has been in this situation. Think of a specific test that you took that you felt unprepared for and narrate the events. Tell your readers about the preparation that you were able to do, the reasons that you didn't get to prepare as well as you wanted, taking the test, and any significant events that happened after you took the test. Your paper should help readers understand what it felt like to be unprepared.
2. [Lightbulb Moment] Think of an experience when you realized that you suddenly understood an idea, a skill, or a concept you had been struggling with -- it might be something related to a class that you took or a specific athletic skill you were trying to perfect. For instance, you might think about trying to understand how to identify iambic pentameter in a poem or how to complete a Taylor Series problem in your Calculus class. Or you might consider trying to perfect your free throws and suddenly understanding how your follow-through was affecting your success. Write a narrative that tells the story of your movement toward understanding. How did you finally come to understand? What changed your perceptions and gave you a new understanding? Your paper should help readers understand how you felt to struggle with the idea or skill and then to understand.
3. [Childhood Event] Choose a vivid time from your childhood -- You might think of the first time that you rode a school bus, of a time when you went to the principal's office, the first A you earned on a test or paper, earning money to buy something that you really wanted, and so on. Narrate the events related to the childhood memory that you've chosen so that your readers will understand why the event was important and memorable.
4. [Achieving a Goal] Think of a time when you achieved a personal goal -- you might have finally completed a marathon or triathlon, or you might have bettered your score on the SATs or another test, or you might have learned how to use a piece of software like Microsoft Word or Excel. Tell your readers about the story of how you met your goal. Be sure that your readers understand why the goal is important to you.
5. [The Good and the Bad] Think about an event in your life that seemed bad but turned out to be good. Maybe you got injured and while you were waiting for your broken leg to heal, you learned how to use a computer. What makes the event change from bad to good may be something that you learned as a result, something that you did differently as a result, or something that happened that wouldn't have occurred otherwise. Tell the story of the event that you experienced and help your readers understand how an event that seemed negative turned out to have valuable consequences.
6. [Being a Teacher] Teaching someone else how to do something can be rewarding. Think of a skill that you've taught someone else how to do. Perhaps you taught someone else how to swim, showed someone how to bake a souffle, or helped someone learn how to study more effectively. Think about the events that made up the process of teaching the skill, and narrate the story for your readers.
7. [Changing Places] Every place has things that change -- sometimes as the result of economics, sometimes because different people are involved, and sometimes for no clear reason that you know about. Think of a change to a place that you know well. Perhaps the local grocery store you grew up with as Smith and Bros. Grocery was bought out by a regional chain like Food Lion or Winn Dixie. Maybe the First National Bank of Smithburg suddenly becomes NationsBank. Perhaps the change was more personal -- an older sibling moves out of the house and your family changes the room to a guest room or an office. Think of a specific change and narrate the events that occurred. Readers should know the details of the change, and they should know how you feel about the changes that occurred.
8. [Personal Rituals] Describe a personal ritual that you, your friends, or your family have. Think about the personal steps that you always go through when you prepare for an exam. Do you sit at a desk, spread books and notes across your bed, or use the kitchen table? Do you have to have something to drink...soda, water, jolt? There are numerous things that we do for which we create our own personal rituals. Choose one event -- studying for a test, writing a paper, dressing and warming up before a game, or preparing and having a special family meal. Narrate the events that take place when you complete your ritual so that your readers understand the steps that the ritual includes and why you complete them.
9. [Standing Up] Choose a time when you did something that took a lot of nerve, a time when you didn't follow the crowd or a time when you stood up for your beliefs. Perhaps your friends were urging you to do something that you were uncomfortable with and you chose not to cave into peer pressure. Maybe you took a stance on a political issue that was important in your community, or you might have Whatever you choose, think about the details of the event and write a story that tells about what happened. Your narrative should show your readers why you decided to make a stand or try something that took nerve, give specifics on the events, and share how you felt after the event.
10. [Disagreeing] Think of a time when you disagreed with a decision that had been made and did something about it. The decision might have been made by someone you know personally -- your Biology teacher announced a new policy to grade for spelling and grammar on your quizzes and homework, or an older family member decides to cancel a subscription to a magazine that
you liked to read. You might have responded by discussing your concerns with your principal or dean, or you might have decided to get a part-time job to earn enough money to buy the magazine yourself. Or the decision could have been made by someone you never met -- perhaps your school board decided to change the lines in your school district so that you would have to go to a different school, or your state legislature has passed a bill that you disagreed with. Your response might have been to write a letter to the editor, to your state representative, or to the school board. Whatever happened, your job is to write a paper that narrates the events that occurred -- from the decision that was made to your response. Be sure that your paper gives enough details that your readers understand why you disagreed with the decision and why you felt that your response was appropriate.
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The qualities of a good narrative essay are being clear on what you are talking about so that your reader doesn’t get “lost” in your essay and have to read it over and over again to figure out what is going on. It is best to do this by starting off with a thesis statement to clearly state your subject and how you feel about it. When you write your essay you should keep it in an order that makes sense, it is best to do this in chronological order as if you were telling a story. Sometimes, writers will use dialogue, or their characters’ spoken words, to help make the story more personal. The difference between a descriptive essay and a narrative is that a narrative tries to explain something, while descriptive essays are just out to describe something in great depth. Narrative essays do have to use good descriptions but not in quite as much depth as descriptive essays.
My favorite essay is "Salvation" by Langston Hughes. In the short story the author does a very good job about describing the girls life and backs up the topic sentence. All of the essays do an ok job of telling a story. Some of the stories do not have as many details as others about the sequenc of events.
1. The qualities of a good narrative essay are knowing you purpose, present your main point clearly, follow a logical time sequence, use sensory details to hold a readers attention, create authentic characters, and use dialogue realistically. Overall the qualities of a narrative and a descriptive essay are quit the same with maybe a few differences , narrative essays your using a lot of dialogue with descriptive your not.
1. The qualities of a good narrative essay consist of knowing your purpose so you can accomplish exactly what is it you are trying to tell. You also need to present your main point clearly and follow a logical time sequence so the reader doesn’t get confused about the order in which certain events happened. Make sure you us sensory details to hold your reader’s interest so they continue to read yor writing. Creating authentic characters makes it easier for the reader to visualize the people, animals or things. And using dialogue realistically is very important.
A descriptive essay differs from a narrative, because descriptive essays are made to explain something down to the last detail so the reader can picture exactly what you are writing about. Narrative essays are made to explain even though you still need detail, you don’t need quite as much as you would for a descriptive essay.
2.
In this Langston Hughes’ short story he keeps his essay short and to the point. He didn’t include too many details to drag the paper out but he still included enough to show what was happening. The central point of the story is to not give in or lie to make others happy because in the end it won’t be good for you or make you happy. For instance, in this essay, as the young boy sat there waiting to “find” Jesus everyone was mourning because he hadn’t been saved and he was unhappy, but when he stood up and lied to make them happy and said he had found Jesus he was less happy then before because he had the burden of telling a lie on his mind. Not only did he not find Jesus, like he had wanted to, but he was in worse shape because he had told yet another lie and sinned again. I feel that the story was effective because it shows you that it is best to not lie and be honest. If he had just sat there and sat there until he found Jesus he would have been fine. He would have found Jesus and been saved and never would have had the burden of lying on his mind.
2. The central point of the story “Salvation,” is to not lie or hide what you truly see, hear, or feel to satisfy the want of others, because it’s your feelings that will matter most in the end. In this story, Langston lied to his Church and family to no longer inconvenience them, but he ended up hurting himself and loosing faith in Jesus because he never truly “saw” him. He stayed up crying all night because he lied and he didn’t feel the same. I think that the story was effective because if you do things to please others all the time you will never be truly happy unless your wants and dreams are always the same as others which is highly unlikely to happen your entire life.
1. The qualities of a good narrative essay are knowing you purpose, present your main point clearly, follow a logical time sequence, use sensory details to hold a readers attention, create authentic characters, and use dialogue realistically. Overall the qualities of a narrative and a descriptive essay are quit the same with maybe a few differences, narrative essays your using a lot of dialogue with descriptive your not.
2. The central point of the story is its better to tell the truth then to lie.the story was very effective because it let you know that it isn’t good to lie because having that burden on your shoulders could make you feel bad!
The qualities of a good narrative essay are:
Know your purpose, present your main point clearly, follow a logical time sequence, use sensory details to hold your readers' interest, create authentic characters, and use dialogue realistically.
The qualities are the same because you have to know your purpose and use good descriptive details but different because you are narrarating a story rather than describing someone or something.
The central point of the essay is that based on a misconception as a child, Langston changed his whole outlook on life. He thought that he would literally see Jesus face to face instead of simply pray for Jesus to enter into his life.
The writer portrayed all of the elements of a short story in his narrative, especially by using sensory details. He descibes the praying and preaching so well that you feel as if you are actually in the boy's shoes. He also did a very good job making his characters authentic because you can picture the boy clearly and relate to what he is feeling. The central point of the essay is the writer expressing his memories and feelings about being "saved" as a boy and how he was pressured into it. His first couple sentences actually state the main idea and the rest fluently supports it. I think the story was very effective because you know exactly the point he is trying to get across and you can relate to the boys feelings. I think the moral of the story is that important decisions take time to make and that we shouldn't pressure people into doing things they are not sure about.
The text book describes the qualities of a good narrative essay as:
-Knowing your purpose
-Presenting your main point clearly
-Following a logical time sequence
-Using sensory details to hold your readers' interest
-Creating authentic characters
-Using dialogue realistically
All of these qualities compared to a descriptive essay's qualities are fairly similar. Knowing your purpose and presenting your point clearly are universal qualities for every essay. Where the two start to differ is the details and characters. Of course you want to have description in a narrative essay but more in a descriptive essay. Same for characters, in a descriptive essay you can have character and interaction with people but in a narrative it's more like a story that you are telling about people. Besides those two points the essays are somewhat similar.
The short story "Salvation" was definitely a narrative essay. It had all of the qualities. The author knew his purpose; he presented his point clearly, and followed a time sequence. The author also used various sensory details such as hot, crowded church and jet-black faces and braided hair. The quality of authentic characters was a little lacking in this story. I had a hard time visualizing the main characters. The last quality was very well used. The dialogue was very realistic. Overall this story was a great example of a well thought out narrative essay.
The qualities of a good narrative story includes many things. First, you have your purpose, followed by your main point, all in a time sequence. The reader needs to be able to read and understand it clearly, while grasping all the descriptive words and be able to imagine what the writer is describing.
The qualities of a good narrative essay are knowing your purposes and being clear on what you are talking about. You have to list the main points in order so you don't lose the reader.
1) Traits of a good narrative essay are:
Staying focused on the topic
Writing the point out clearly for the reader.
Putting events in order of time.
Using details on scenory or details of the character to keep the reader's attention.
Give them reader some conversation that the character's have to keep the readers attention and tell them more about each character.
The traits that are the same as traits in a descriptive essay are using details in your writing to keep your reader's attention. Traits of narritve essays that are different from discriptive essays are using conversations in an essay. In descriptive essays you really don't need to have a conversation to describe or show anything.
2) Traits used in "Salvation!" were all of them. I liked how he included the thoughts of the boy.
In the short story of "Salvation!", was a boy going to church and wondering what it is like to be saved from God. Once then little boy had his chance to be saved, he didn't but instead faked it and feels guilty to lying to all of the church people. The boy kept on sitting on the mourner's beanch because he thought he was literally going to "see" God. Only got up because it was getting late and didn't want to be an inconveince to other people. Once he got home he cried about lying, felt anormously guilty for doing so.
"Salvation!" was definetly effective, it showed how lying to your friends, your elders, and God can make you feel guilty, how the guilt just took over his soul.
~Deona Hooker
The qualities of a narrative essay are as follows:know your purpose, present your main point clearly, follow a logical time sequence, use sensory details to hold your reader's interest, create authentic characters, and use dialogue realistically.Likewise, a descriptive essay uses sensory details and the author has to know his or her purpose. A narrative essay is used to explain something using chronological order. A descriptive essay explains something in great detail. The central point of Langston Hughe's "Salvation" is to not lie to please other people because it doesn't make things better it just makes you feel guilty. The fact that he cried in bed that night proves that he feels very bad about lying to the congregation. The story is very effective. It makes you think twice about lying for other people's benefit.
1) There are a few qualities of a good narrative essay such as, presenting your main point clearly, knowing your purpose, and useing sensory details to keep a readers attention,also create real authentic characters. The qualities of a narrative and a descriptive essay are almost the same with some differences. In narrative essays you use a lot of character, and dialogue in descriptive you don't so much.
2) The central point of the story is its better to tell the truth then to lie. Langston lied to his Church and family to no longer inconvenience them, but he ended up hurting himself and loosing faith in Jesus because he never truly “saw” him. He stayed up crying all night because he lied and he didn’t feel the same. I think that the story was effective because it lets you know not to lie even if it makes someone else feel good because you will end up hurting yourself in the long run.
1.) I believe that the qualities a narrative essay should possess to be considered good are purpose, clarity, details, and a good story line. You do not want to be boring and loose your readers interest but at the same time, you do not want to over exaggerate. Clarity is very important because you do not want to confuse your reader. The difference between narrative essays and descriptive essays are that narrative essays are more of telling a story in detail and a descriptive essay is all about describing something in great detail. Narrative essays contain detail but they are not as detailed as descriptive essays.
2.) In the short story written by Langston Hughes, I found that the central point of the story is to not lie just to make others happy because in the end it won’t be a "satisfying" thing for you and it will not make you happy. In the story, he discovers you can not compromise your beliefs or lie because if you do, you might loose all faith you once had in something.
1.The qualities of a good narrative essay include; knowing your purpose, presenting your main point,following a logical sequence, using sensory details,using dialog realisticallly and creating authentic characters. the qualities in a descriptive and narrative essay are closly related, but a narrative essay tells more of a story and has a time line.
2. The central point of the story "Salvation" is that it is better to tell the truth than to lie. The author defintly used dialog in this story but he did not give a good picture or use enough detail in describing the main character. I felt this story to be very effective because it did create a good mental picture of what was happaning.
A good narrative essay is kind of like a descriptive essay. You must appeal to your audience and make it sound logical and keep track of the purpose. it has to have a central point and some sensory details to again keep the audience interested. That short story had a good central point and purpose to it. it also taught us something about life.
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