Writing a Biographical
Narrative Cornell Notes
Page 61 of your notebook
Bellwork October 1st:
Make a list of five memorable
events in your life. Write a
sentence for each event
talking about why it was
memorable to you.
The Purpose
 To share and explain
 CA State Standards:
 WS 1.1: Organization and Focus: demonstrate an
understanding of the elements of discourse (e.g., purpose,
speaker, audience, form) when completing narrative, expository,
persuasive, or descriptive writing assignments
 WS 1.2: Organization and Focus: use precise language,
action verbs, sensory details, appropriate modifiers, and active
rather than the passive voice
 WS1.9: Evaluation and Revision: revise writing to improve
the logic and coherence of the organization and controlling
perspective, the precision of word choice, and the tone by
taking into consideration the audience, purpose, and formality
of the context
Prewriting
 Begin by choosing an incident you will write about.
 You will write about an event that you witnessed but did
not participate in.
 The incident needs to be significant to you in some way.
(Learned a life lesson, memorable).
Drafting
 Get your memory down on paper
 It doesn’t matter how it comes out. You can make
improvements later.
 If you find yourself loosing interest in the incident or
having trouble telling it, choose another memory.
Drafting (continued)
 Consider the following:
 Use the story elements
 Plot
 Character
 Setting
 Include any background information the reader needs to know
 Use dialogue when you can
 Use language that appeals to the senses (imagery)
 Organize your incident
 Chronological order
Structure
 Beginning:
 Introduces the incident, the people and the setting
 Middle:
 Re-creates the incident, using descriptive details
 Makes the significance of the incident clear
 Use vivid imagery, details and dialogue
 Conclusion:
 Reflecting on the outcome and the significance
Example
 As we read, pay attention to how the example follows
the correct format for a biographical narrative.
Summarize
 Summarize your notes for today. Talk about what you
learned and what you still have questions about.
Bellwork October 2nd :
Choose one event from the list
you made yesterday.
Summarize what happened in
7-10 sentences in Your point of
view. ( use the word “I”)
Time to Start Planning…
 Take out a sheet of paper and begin constructing a tree
map listing the people, places and things that happened
during the event your are writing about.
Planning Continued…
 Take out another sheet of paper and create a flow map
sequencing the events in chronological order.
Helpful Hints
 Your writing will have more of an impact if the tone is
the same throughout. (i.e. humorous, serious, etc.)
 Your incident will have more impact if you vary the
sentences you use to tell about it.
 To avoid too many short, choppy sentences, combine
ideas into one sentence with two or more clauses or
punctuation.
Start Writing
 Write a rough draft of the events. Follow the format you
took notes on with the correct beginning, middle, and
end.