Beginnings
Hamilton/Reis
Narrative Essay—Your Personal Story
DUE OCT. 11th(Draft)/OCT. 18th(Final)
BRING THREE COPIES OF YOUR DRAFT TO CLASS
Gathering: Essentially we started the gathering process for this paper with our first week when we
asked you to begin thinking about the topics in this class such as identity, culture, stories, and
communication. We asked you to construct a family and do an identity circle and share those
“representations” of your life. In reading LaRay Barna’s article on “Stumbling Blocks in Intercultural
Communication” we read how communication across differences can present challenges for an individual
or in a society. In Namesake, this fiction novel begins with the story of Gogol’s birth, but in the first
chapters we learn about his parents, their immigration to America, and something of their culture and
family background. In our next book, David Mura will add a focus on his journey as a Japanese
American man struggling with his race, identity, and sexuality. We are asking you to do a Cultural
Interview of a classmate to begin to bridge our possible differences and learn and listen more deeply to
each other. This paper will be one more “episode” of your learning and discovery to sustain you as a
student in our class and in life.
Pre-writing Techniques to Find Your Beginning: Find a tool for beginning to write that works for you.
Some suggestions are listing, brainstorming, looping, clustering, and free-writing techniques that can get
your started. We will have writing groups on your draft and you can use a tutor (online or in the LOFT) if
you are stumped for ideas. Don't be afraid of the "mess" of writing that includes false starts, thinking on
the page, writing a letter to yourself to get you going, and doing anything that is taking ideas, reflection,
experiences, details from your mind and making them into words on a page. You can’t write your
entire life story, but you can focus on an event or scene where you have strengthened your sense of
yourself, made choices, or enhanced your sense of your beginning as an individual who has particular
unique “spokes on the wheel” of identity.
Assignment for this Narrative/Personal Essay: WE ALL HAVE A STORY!
1. Write a personal narrative about an experience that has shaped your identity, values, and/or
understanding, specifically around the issues of race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, family
background or personal, social or historical location in the society, AND reflect on how this experience
has shaped your identity, values, and/or understanding of the world around you. Some questions to
consider might be: What family or cultural background form the beginnings of your own journey to who
you are today? In this experience, were you in the position of having or not having privilege in the social
world such as parental support, values, and opportunities? What social institutions—such as education or
religion-- shaped your experience? At what age and why did you learn more about the location of your
race, gender, sexual orientation, or social class in the wider world? What choices, if any, did you make to
reinforce or flea from these experiences?
Note: The experience need not be a large life-defining moment; it can be something as simple as your
first day at a new school. The important thing is that you reflect upon what you learned about your
identity from the experience. Also, don’t try to write an entire autobiography. Limit your narrative to
one experience and concentrate on setting up vivid and descriptive scenes that appeal to the readers’
senses of sight, hearing, taste, touch, and smell. Remember that a good narrative has all the elements of a
good story: clear sense of setting, interesting conflict (whether inner or situational), and some sort
of resolution.
Audience:
You should write thinking of our coordinated studies community as your audience. Don't
write about something that is too private to share with anyone in this class. The papers should be able to
be read publicly.
Style: You should write about your own life and experiences. This paper should be created out of your
explorations of the topics in the class. You are NOT being asked to write fiction—or a novel—this is
about your life as story. Your own writing style could be informal, use dialogue, use description, use
comparison, or use examples, but should primarily show rather than tell.
Process: In writing autobiographically, it is important to remember that writing is a process and you can
start one place and expect to revise and change the beginning, middle or end at any point in the process.
We expect you to bring a typed draft (4 copies) for feedback from classmates on October 11th. You
should continue to revise and edit the paper, incorporate the feedback that seems best, and turn in
the revised, edited paper on time on October 18th.
Resources on Carol’s blog: Student Paper (“Leaky Canteen”) and “Composing a Life” (Bateson)
Format:
Typed/word processed in plain type style, printed 12 point, double spaced with 1"
margin on all four sides of 81/2"x 11" paper. The final paper should have your name, course, and date in
the upper left corner, a centered title, indented paragraphs, double spacing, and be without folders or
report covers.
ESSAY RUBRIC
IDEAS AND CONTENT:
40 pts.
________
The ideas (both in the narrative and reflection aspect) should be clear, focused, fully developed, and
interesting. Ideas should be supported with relevant details rather than generalities. Insightful
connections between ideas should be evident.
ORGANIZATION:
20 pts.
_________
The paper should demonstrate a good sense of pacing. Introduction, conflict, climax, and resolution
should be well developed. Controlling idea should be easily identified, and tangents should be avoided.
The overall structure should flow smoothly with logical sequencing. Transitions should also be smooth.
STYLE:
20 pts.
__________
Imagery should be descriptive and strong and should appeal to the senses. Remember: show, don’t tell.
The writing should be clear and fluid. Verbs should be strong and active, vocabulary should be
sophisticated without being “wordy,” and sentence structure and length should be varied.
VOICE:
10 pts.
__________
The voice should be engaging and natural. The reader should be able to feel a sense of interaction with
the writer. Dialog (if used) should sound natural.
CONVENTIONS:
10 pts.
___________
Grammar and spelling should be standard and correct.
TOTAL ESSAY POINTS:
100 pts.
___________
Grade Scale: 90-100=3.5-4.0 or A; 80-89=3.4-2.5 or B; 70-79= 2.4-1.5 or C.
Note: This must be a new paper, not something previously submitted in another class.