English 1DI Summative Writing Assignment: Personal Narrative
SUMMATIVE TASK:
Learning Goal: I can write a Personal Narrative about a moment that has had an impact on my life.
Success Criteria
 Based on a real event that had an impact on you as person
 The action has a clear, beginning, middle, and end
 The beginning captures the reader’s attention
 The rising action builds to a climax
 Includes introspective statements by the writer
 The conclusion reveals a sentiment about life or lesson learned by the writer
 The writing is clear, organized, active, and descriptive; the reader experiences the moment
through the writer
 The writing contains interesting, grade appropriate vocabulary
 The writing is free of grammatical or mechanical errors
Format: Double space; include your name, my name, English1DI, and the due date in the top left corner
of the page. Include an interesting title to reflect the main idea of your narrative. Approximately 400 -500
words in length
Simpson 1
Homer Simpson
Mr. Mascarenhas
Eng 1DI
Due Date
Amen!
My knees were shaking, my heart was
racing, and my breathing was rapid. Why was I so
nervous! I have received plenty of awards, why
should this one be any different.
Process
Day 1: What does good personal narrative writing look like?
Day 2: Interesting Intros/ Revise two pieces
Day 3: Voice and Figurative Language
Day 4: Becoming and effective editor
Day 5: Self and Peer Editing
READABLE ROUGH DRAFT DUE: Wed MARCH 7th
FINAL DRAFT DUE DATE: Thurs. MARCH 8th
Submit: Final Draft, Rough Draft with evidence of editing, the editing checklist, the other personal
narratives you completed.
Evaluation Rubric
Personal Narrative Writing
Criteria
R
Level 1
limited
Level 2
some
Name:
Level 3
considerable
Level 4
high degree
Knowledge and Understanding
- clear beginning, middle, ending
- clear, meaningful message / purpose
Thinking and Inquiry
- selects a story appropriate for this task
- level of detail
- creativity – use of dialogue (if necessary),
voice and “you are there” quality
Communication
- clarity
- level of language
- flowing and varied sentences
- spelling, grammar, punctuation
Application
- applies skills for personal narrative writing
taught in class
- completed 2 different narratives
- showed evidence of writing process
- formats paper according to guidelines
- appropriate length
Evaluation Rubric
Personal Narrative Writing
Criteria
Knowledge and Understanding
- clear beginning, middle, ending
- clear, meaningful message / purpose
Thinking and Inquiry
- selects a story appropriate for this task
- level of detail
- creativity – use of dialogue (if necessary),
voice and “you are there” quality
Communication
- clarity
- level of language
- flowing and varied sentences
- spelling, grammar, punctuation
Application
- applies skills for personal narrative writing
taught in class
- completed 2 different narratives
- showed evidence of writing process
- formats paper according to guidelines
- appropriate length
R
Level 1
limited
Level 2
some
Name:
Level 3
considerable
Level 4
high degree
Editing and Revision Checklist
Personal Narrative
Writer:_____________
Task for the writer:
1. Review the criteria listed below – highlight key words and phrases
Success Criteria
 Based on a real event that had an impact on you as person
 The action has a clear, beginning, middle, and end
 The beginning captures the reader’s attention
 The rising action builds to a climax
 Includes introspective statements by the writer
 The conclusion reveals a sentiment about life or lesson learned by the writer
 The writing is clear, organized, active, and descriptive; the reader experiences the moment through
the writer
 The writing contains interesting, grade appropriate vocabulary
 The writing is free of grammatical or mechanical errors
2. Read your personal narrative one more time and respond to the following:
a) What I think are the main strengths of my personal narrative writing piece…
b) One or two areas I would like feedback on and why…
c) Based on the success criteria, I would give my writing a LEVEL ____ at this point.
Editor’s Name: __________
Task for the editor
E – excellent G – good S – satisfactory N – needs more attention
Criteria
The writer selects a story that is appropriate for this assignment
The introduction captures the attention of the reader (action, suspense, description)
The body of the story builds to a climax
In the conclusion, the writer reveals what they learned or discovered about themselves or the
world
The writer guides the reader through the story with transitions and appropriate
paragraphing
The writer uses description (adjectives, simile, metaphor etc.) effectively
The writer uses interesting vocabulary
Ideas are expressed with clarity
Sentence variety
Use of punctuation, spelling, grammar
The paper is formatted properly (see the assignment handout)
The story is the appropriate length (approximately 300 – 400 words)
My overall impression of this story
Main Strength
One Area to Improve
Editor
Personal Narrative
Success Criteria
 Based on a real event that had an impact
on you as person
 The action has a clear, beginning,
middle, and end
 The beginning captures the reader’s
attention
 The rising action builds to a climax
 Includes introspective statements (inside
voice) and action sentences (outside
voice)
 The conclusion reveals a sentiment about
life or lesson learned by the writer
 The writing is clear, organized, active,
and descriptive; the reader experiences
the moment through the writer
 The writing contains interesting, grade
appropriate vocabulary
 The writing is free of grammatical or
mechanical errors