Spring 03
ENGL 1010
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone
Wilson
Essay #2: Narrative (15% of Final Grade)
The narrative essay tests your grasp of various narrative skills: description, audience awareness,
plot, suspense and climax. You will be forced to consider details and to be sure that your
audience follows the path of your story. Through your readings in The St. Martin’s Guide, you
should already be familiar with many of the skills that you will need to complete this essay
assignment, i.e., Cueing the Reader (ch. 13), Narrating (ch. 14) and Describing (ch. 15).
ASSIGNMENT:
Group One
 Petunia Dursley
Group Two  Vernon Dursley
Group Three  Dudley Dursley
Rewrite chapters 3 & 4 of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone from the perspective of your
assigned member of the Dursley family. You must include all of the major events from these
chapters of J.K. Rowling’s book, but you may, within reason, show actions and events not
presented by her. You must remember that particular characters know certain information at
certain times, and you must never lose sight of your primary goal, which is to present Rowling’s
story from a different narrative perspective.
Specific Instructions:
 Your essay should be 5-8 pages, double-spaced and typed according to class standards
(see Handout – “Basic Requirements for Essay Assignments”).
 You must quote and properly document two (2) pieces of dialogue written by Rowling
and said by characters other than your narrator.
 Since you are assuming a character’s persona, you may use first-person pronouns (e.g., I
or we) in your essay.
 You need to be very aware of all the characters, especially your narrative persona. You
cannot recreate Rowling’s people; therefore you must follow her characterizations
closely. And remember, certain characters only know or learn particular information at
certain times/point in the plot—do not violate the internal logic of Rowling’s story.
Traps to Avoid:
 Don’t forget that you are retelling a story that has a beginning, middle and end. Also
don’t forget the need for suspense.
 Do not violate the integrity of your narrative persona by giving your character knowledge
or attributes that Rowling did not give to that person in her story.
 Do not lose the thread of Rowling’s story. Details are important, but try not to get so
bogged down with them that you do not move forward.
 Do not forget to pay attention to organization, especially temporal organization and
transition in time within the story that you are retelling.