Name: ____________________________
Beach Park
Essays 3
Objective:
In this lesson, you will write a narrative essay by completing the prewriting, writing, and
publishing stages of the writing process.
Before You Begin
You have had many opportunities to study and practice the prewriting, writing, and publishing
stages of the writing process in the lessons you have completed so far.
Let's first review some of the major points from those lessons, and then you will be ready to
write a narrative essay.
Prewriting includes selecting and narrowing a topic, identifying an audience, brainstorming the
topic, and completing the working outline. The writing stage focuses on writing the first draft,
revising, and editing. The last step is preparing the final draft for publication.
If you need to review any of these steps, refer to the Writing Process lessons. You may also want
to review the essay structure including the introduction, thesis sentence, body, and conclusion
in Essays 1.
Because you have now mastered all the individual parts, you are ready to put them all together
in an essay.
Writing a narrative essay is much the same as writing a narrative paragraph, except that the
writing will be extended to essay length.
Narrative Writing
Throughout most of human history, people have always had the urge to share their stories with
others. Narration, or telling a story, is the product of this urge. Narrative writing can entertain
and instruct. Fairy tales, short stories, novels, and movies are fictional narratives. A narrative
essay is true; however, it is similar to fiction because it has some of the same elements such as
characters and action. Both types of narratives tell a story about something that has happened.
Narration tells a story that focuses on an event or series of events organized in chronological or
time order, the order in which the events actually occurred. Because the narrative essay tells a
story for some purpose, it should have a focal point or thesis. What specific thing, idea, or event
do you want your reader to focus on in your narrative essay? As a writer, it is your job to
recapture the reality of the event in words. However, be careful not to get so caught up in
telling a story that you forget that an essay needs to make a point.
Now it's time for the real business of writing.
Select a significant experience or memory from your past and write a narrative essay about it.
The experience or memory should have had some effect on your life and may even have
changed your life.
Name: ____________________________
Beach Park
Essays 3
1. Brainstorm a list of significant past experiences and memories.
2. Identify the audience for your narrative essay.
3. Brainstorm the topic you have selected. Include as many details as possible.
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Essays 3
4. Using the list as a basis, prepare a working outline that includes an introduction, at least two
body paragraphs, and a conclusion.
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Essays 3
5. Using the information you generated during your prewriting activities, write a first draft of the
essay.
Don't forget that your essay should have a point and that the body paragraphs will be written in
chronological order. Again, don't hesitate to review any of the earlier lessons if you need to
refresh your memory concerning any area of the essay.
Name: ____________________________
Beach Park
Essays 3
6. Write your first draft here and revise as necessary. You may want to review Writing Process 6
to recall some of the areas of concern when you are revising.
If possible, print a copy of your revised draft. Let someone read it and make suggestions at this
point in the process. (To make a copy of your essay, simply copy and paste your work to any
word processing program and print the document.)
Name: ____________________________
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Essays 3
7. Copy your revised work below. Proofread your essay carefully. Writing Process 7 focused on
the areas of concern when proofreading a paper. Review it if necessary.
Begin writing here:
Name: ____________________________
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Essays 3
An Assignment for Your Student Writing Portfolio:
After revising and proofreading, prepare the final copy of your narrative essay following the
directions given by your teacher. Print a copy of your final draft and check it one more time
before submitting it to your audience.