This document provides guidance to students on writing a narrative essay. It instructs students to write about an important personal experience or event in their life. The essay should tell the story, while also making a clear point or thesis. Examples of potential topics are provided. The document then discusses key elements to include, such as setting, characters, and lessons learned. It emphasizes the importance of a thesis statement to communicate the point or significance of the story to the reader. Transitions and sample essays are referenced to help students structure their narrative essay.

1. Writing 1
Semester 2, 2015/1436
College of Languages and Translation
Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University
Tell Your Story: Narrative Essay
In a narrative essay you tell a story, but you also make a point. So, it is a story that you tell for a
reason.
Image taken from www.ge.com
Introduction
Everyonein the world,whether they are young or old, loves a story. This assignment gives
you the opportunity to tell your story—atleast a part of it—toreaders of your choosing. It
also gives youa chance to develop a confident writing persona, so feel free to use “I” in this
assignment.
Begin by thinking back on your life and identifying an interesting event that happened to
you. Itcan be a big event or a small event, a happy or a sad event (orboth). What matters is
that the event is important to you.
Youcould write about lots of topics including—
 a time when you were very scared
 a time when you were lost
 an exceptional vacation
 when you got a pet and what that taught you
 when you decided to be a translator
 when you learned an important lesson about friendship
 when you performed Haj
 when you met a challenge and overcame it
 a special birthday
 other?
TheProcess
Once you’veidentified an event in yourlife that you’d like to write about, think about stories
that you love--in books,in movies, in songs, on TV, in fairy tales. Spend some time thinking
about why the stories are so appealing to you. Is it because of—
 The setting—where the story takes place
 The people whoare part of the story
 The main point of the story or the lesson learned
 The way the writer describes specific details
Now read the story TheClimb: http://thewritesource.com/studentmodels/wi-theclimb.htm.
Discuss the thesis or main idea of TheClimb. Also discuss the writing techniques that the
writer uses that you could also use. Notice the first word of her essay: “I.”

2. Then start drafting yourstory. Youcan make notes at first or make an outline—whatever
gets youstarted. If youget stuck, ask your teacher, a friend/classmate, or someone in the
Writing Studio. Youare not alone.
Youressayshouldincludetheseelements—
 Title
 Introduction
 Body section that tells the story
 Closure
Important: Youressaymust containa thesisstatement
It’s important that yourpersonal story have a “point.” In other words,you want to make
sure that a reader understands why youare telling this story or what makes it important.
Let’s say youwrite: “I went shopping, then I had dinner, then I went home.” Noticethat the
importance of these events is not made clear to a reader. A reader might say: “Sowhat?
What’s so interesting about that?” A good story needs to answer the question “So what?”
That answer is the thesis.
Transitions
Youwill use transitions such as the followingto guide yourreader. Notice how the
transitions reveal that youare organizing events according to time
First. . .
Then . . .
Previously . . .
After that . . .
On the next day . . .
Finally . . .
See this YouTubevideo formore help with transitions:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7X2P6ou8D9Y
Specifications:
Final draft:word-processed, double-spaced, 12 pt. font, black(MLA style); stapled
First draft due:
Final draft due:
Additional resources:
 Refer to sections in your textbookthat give youtips and examples of narrative
stories.
 http://www.wikihow.com/Improve-Your-Writing-Skills
 http://www.betterstorytelling.net/blog/advanced-storytelling/
Samplenarrativeessays:
 http://thewritesource.com/studentmodels/wi-theclimb.htm
 http://www.factmonster.com/homework/writingskills4a.html
 http://examples.yourdictionary.com/narrative-essay-examples.html
Happy Writing!