PERSONAL NARRATIVE – 100 points
What is a personal narrative? A narrative is story, so a personal narrative is a story about
your personal experiences. You reflected on your Learning Philosophy and considered
how you have come to be at Purdue and what you hope to accomplish here. Now you
must mine your memories and write about a defining moment in your life that led you to
be the person you are today. Many students cite their family as the reason why they
attended Purdue. Why? Think of a representative moment with your family that shows
how important they are to you and why you wanted to follow in their footsteps to Purdue.
Other students cite the particular program of study as the reason why they attended
Purdue. Think about why you want to pursue a career in your field and a representative
moment from your life that illustrates that. When did that “Aha” moment happen and
why? But you need not write about how came to Purdue: perhaps you have an experience
that changed you as a person or know someone who went through an experience that
changed the way you think about your life. For this essay to be a success, it is imperative
that you make yourself and the other people in your life into fully-realized characters.
Think of your quirks, your families quirks, and all the things that make you, you.
You will need to use your skills of description and narration to pull your readers into your
story. Be sure to convey the significance of your story; make your readers care about
what you are saying. You never want your reader asking “So what?” when they finish the
last paragraph of your essay. You are writing this essay for several reasons. First and
foremost, you want to entertain your audience with a good story. So have fun with it!
Remember that the audience for this narrative will be both me and your classmates during
the peer review. Be yourself and trust your instincts. You will be investigating and
learning something about yourself as well. We learn unexpected and wonderful things
when we write, especially when we write things we don’t know that we know.
You will be exercising writing skills you already have: the muscles of narration,
description, focus, organization, structure, and so on. Like every good workout, writing
can be painful at the beginning, but if you stay focused and trust your instincts amazing
things will happen.
Length: 3 – 4 pages long. If the final draft is shorter than 3 full pages it will not be
considered a final draft.
Format: Like everything else in this class, this essay must be written in the MLA format.
Please consult the MLA section of the OWL Online. The paper must be double-spaced,
1-inch margins, 12 point Times New Roman font.
Hand in your project in this order with a binder clip or rubber band:
 Final Draft
 All prior drafts with Peer Review sheets
 The peer review you did electronically on someone else’s paper
 Your Pre-Writing and Planning (including any writing we do in class)
Your Reflection of the project will be handed in separately. It should be about a page and
a half to two pages long. In your Reflection, you will address the questions I have
provided for you. In addition, you’ll need to explain the significance of your narrative.
The parts of this project are due:
Tuesday, September 6th – First draft due. Bring in two hard copies for peer review
session.
Monday, September 12th – We will read a partner essay and peer review in class. Be
prepared to discuss your comments with your partner.
Monday, September 19th – Hand in final Personal Narrative project. Bring in project (as
described above) to class, ready to hand in at the beginning of the hour. I will not accept
the assignment at the end of the class period, please be at this class and be there on time.
Tuesday, September 20th – Hand in Reflection of the Personal Narrative. Bring in a hard
copy of the Reflection to class and hand it in at the beginning of the hour.
The Personal Narrative assignment is worth 100/1000 points and the Reflection will
be worth 50/1000.