Prof. Anderson
ENC1101
Major Essay 1-Literacy Narrative
Objectives
For this assignment you will write a 1,000 word literacy narrative. A literacy narrative is a genre of college
writing written in open form prose. It should follow a clear plot and show thoughtful reflection on some part of your
life related to reading, writing, language, education, rhetoric, or culture. A successful literacy narrative will include
characters and settings and use concrete and figurative language.
To put it simply, your literacy narrative should draw on your past experiences to tell a story that says
something about who you are as a literate person. More information can be found on p. 181 of the A&B textbook.
Rhetorical Context
You are writing this essay with an intended audience of your university peers. As such, it should maintain a
polite tone and engage appropriate subject material. Your topic should be one that you feel comfortable having your
peers read and evaluate. The genre of a literacy narrative is open form, and it should have a clear plot with a
beginning, middle, and end.
Requirements
The following criteria must be met in order to receive full credit for your work. Failure to comply with any of
these requirements will penalize your grade:





Minimum 1,000 words
MLA Format with 12 pt Times New Roman font
Engage an appropriate topic
Final Draft due to Turnitin.com by 7-6 at midnight
Original Work
Scoring Criteria
Your essay will be evaluated on four different criteria that are described below. Each of these individual
scores are combined in order to determine your final grade. It is entirely possible to receive a high grade in one
category but fail another, so keep all of these aspects of your paper in mind as you begin to write.
A= Excellent quality work that surpasses the guidelines and expectations of the paper
B= High quality work that fulfills all guidelines and shows adequate effort
C= Lower quality work that meets most but perhaps not all guidelines or shows inadequate effort
D= Below average work that does not comply with essay requirements or shows little effort
F= Extremely below average work
Purpose:
The essay tells a story with a salient theme and presents something of value. It should
engage a relevant topic about language, literacy, education, rhetoric, or culture and show
thoughtful reflection about an element of your literary past.
Structure:
The essay follows conventions of open form prose and is structured around a coherent plot.
It should have scenes or events that follow a logical progression and not simply an “and
then” narrative. Ideas and paragraphs should flow smoothly with good transitions.
Open Form Prose Techniques:
The essay uses concrete, descriptive, and figurative language with attention to word choice.
It should have clear and vividly described characters and settings and have sufficient tension
to hold the reader’s interest. Figurative language and other literary techniques should be
used where appropriate.
Mechanics:
The final draft of the paper should show sufficient editing and revision. It should also utilize
college-level grammar and correctly follow MLA formatting conventions.
25%
25%
25%
25%