2.7: Personal Narrative Generate ideas for personal narrative due towards end of course and revolving around the theme of the American Dream. We will now get started on your 2nd major paper in the course: a personal narrative. This style of paper goes by names as varied as the genre itself: personal essay, personal narrative, memoir, creative non-fiction, etc. I have chosen the term personal narrative because the word narrative effectively describes what you will be asked to accomplish in this paper: personally reflecting on, responding to, and creating your own narrative (story) and experience with the American Dream. In other words, you will write an essay about what and how the American Dream influences you. While the final or polished draft needs to be 4-6 pages double-spaced, you will be required to turn in all drafts/assignments as part of your final submission. Your first draft/assignment is more of a collection. You are to fill at least 4 pages single-spaced with stories and anecdotes that come to your mind as you think about the following prompt: What experiences and impressions have you had with what is called the American Dream? Record these stories in your first or collecting draft. Dont worry about putting the stories into a polished form or only recording stories that you think are appropriate to a pre-determined theme. A creative mind will make connections that werent obvious at first. Think creatively. In other words, dont censor yourself as you write and dont think the stories you record need to be fit easily into a bigger story. Fitting is a later assignment. Right now youre a butterfly collector of stories. Dont treat this as a rush-write, though. You probably wont (shouldnt) be able to finish this assignment in one or even two sittings. Think of this first draft as collecting over the period of several writing sessions. Collecting isnt just sitting down and writing. You should talk with others; look for stories or memories during your daily routine; write down things you overhear; collect interesting things that have anything to do with the American Dream, or just dreams or even nightmares or maybe sleep-walking or sleep-talking. What will likely happen as you collect stories is that you will be reminded of or find stories that are interesting but may not on the surface seem to be about the American Dream. That is a good thing. Record those experiences as well. At this point you do not know what the essays final form will be and the most obscure fact or story may end up being the crux of your essay. Collect, collect, collect! Before progressing further, Id like you to read a former students personal narrative; it began with the same prompt youve been given. The student has since used the narrative for scholarship essays, application essays and law-firm interviews. He has given permission to use the essay; read it as an excellent example of the sort of narrative you will write. Remember, it began as a collection of stories. Death of a Korean Boxer Korean Boxer is a beautifully written essay about one persons experience with the American dream. Did you notice how the essay explored and shaped the American Dream from the personal experience of a Korean family? As you tackle this first writing assignment, remember what John Donne famously said about no man [being] an island. A personal narrative is not only about you. You are part of a culture, a sub-culture, a family, an environment, your ancestors, and other stories. Almost every student Ive taught (including the student who wrote Death of a Korean Boxer) initially said, I have nothing interesting to write about. If you limit your essay to only yourself, you are probably right, but every person has a fascinating story when he or she realizes that they are not Donnes island, separate and alone. As you collect stories, ask people who are important in your life about dreams, about aspirations, about broken dreams, about how a family ended up living where it does, etc. If nothing else, Id say everyone has at least one eccentric aunt, uncle, or distant relation to begin writing about. The rest will come if you trust the process. The other thing Id like you to remember is specificity. You will be tempted, as you record your stories, to write them down in a very general way. Learn to be specific in your writing; generalities are meaningless while specifics are magic. For example, if I were trying to tell you about my mother, Id be tempted to be a lazy writer and say, my mother was an amazing and resourceful woman. That is meaningless to the reader isnt it? You have no picture or understanding of my mother because generalities are meaningless. How do I fix that? I could tell you that my mother raised 10 children in the Canadian bush without much money. A little better right? But still not specific enough. So, Ill tell you that on Christmas day when I was 4 years old, our family had no food in the house, but a yearling moose wandered into our yard along the paths my Dad had made through 10-foot snow drifts; my Dad shot the moose and hauled it into the attic (it was a like a freezer up there because we only had a wood stove on the main floor for heat), where my mother butchered the moose with a hacksaw. We lived through the rest of the winter on moose meat which Mom chiseled off the hanging carcass and would turn into steaks or sometimes soups/broths using the water she melted down from snow, since we didnt have plumbing either. All of a sudden, because I wrote specifics, you have a very clear picture of my mothers personality, her resourcefulness, her strength. True story, by the way. I dont know yet how or if I will work that story into an essay, but as you collect specific stories like this, your narrative will start to emerge. A final reminder before you get started: the process of writing is just as important as the essays final version or your grade. Please do not try to skip steps in the process or you will miss out on what will be one of the most influential writing experiences you will likely have. Here is a check list for this assignment: Collect stories, anecdotes. Write stories down as specifically as possible. Resist temptation to attach morals too quickly. Fill the equivalent of four pages single-spaced; keep your work as a first draft to be turned in later. The next step in the writing process will be assigned in lesson 3, but feel free to continue collecting as you move through this paper.

2.7: Personal Narrative Generate ideas for personal narrative due towards end of course and revolving around the theme of the American Dream. We will now get started on your 2nd major paper in the course: a personal narrative. This style of paper goes by names as varied as the genre itself: personal essay, personal narrative, memoir, creative non-fiction, etc. I have chosen the term personal narrative because the word narrative effectively describes what you will be asked to accomplish in this paper: personally reflecting on, responding to, and creating your own narrative (story) and experience with the American Dream. In other words, you will write an essay about what and how the American Dream influences you. While the final or polished draft needs to be 4-6 pages double-spaced, you will be required to turn in all drafts/assignments as part of your final submission. Your first draft/assignment is more of a collection. You are to fill at least 4 pages single-spaced with stories and anecdotes that come to your mind as you think about the following prompt: What experiences and impressions have you had with what is called the American Dream? Record these stories in your first or collecting draft. Dont worry about putting the stories into a polished form or only recording stories that you think are appropriate to a pre-determined theme. A creative mind will make connections that werent obvious at first. Think creatively. In other words, dont censor yourself as you write and dont think the stories you record need to be fit easily into a bigger story. Fitting is a later assignment. Right now youre a butterfly collector of stories. Dont treat this as a rush-write, though. You probably wont (shouldnt) be able to finish this assignment in one or even two sittings. Think of this first draft as collecting over the period of several writing sessions. Collecting isnt just sitting down and writing. You should talk with others; look for stories or memories during your daily routine; write down things you overhear; collect interesting things that have anything to do with the American Dream, or just dreams or even nightmares or maybe sleep-walking or sleep-talking. What will likely happen as you collect stories is that you will be reminded of or find stories that are interesting but may not on the surface seem to be about the American Dream. That is a good thing. Record those experiences as well. At this point you do not know what the essays final form will be and the most obscure fact or story may end up being the crux of your essay. Collect, collect, collect! Before progressing further, Id like you to read a former students personal narrative; it began with the same prompt youve been given. The student has since used the narrative for scholarship essays, application essays and law-firm interviews. He has given permission to use the essay; read it as an excellent example of the sort of narrative you will write. Remember, it began as a collection of stories. Death of a Korean Boxer Korean Boxer is a beautifully written essay about one persons experience with the American dream. Did you notice how the essay explored and shaped the American Dream from the personal experience of a Korean family? As you tackle this first writing assignment, remember what John Donne famously said about no man [being] an island. A personal narrative is not only about you. You are part of a culture, a sub-culture, a family, an environment, your ancestors, and other stories. Almost every student Ive taught (including the student who wrote Death of a Korean Boxer) initially said, I have nothing interesting to write about. If you limit your essay to only yourself, you are probably right, but every person has a fascinating story when he or she realizes that they are not Donnes island, separate and alone. As you collect stories, ask people who are important in your life about dreams, about aspirations, about broken dreams, about how a family ended up living where it does, etc. If nothing else, Id say everyone has at least one eccentric aunt, uncle, or distant relation to begin writing about. The rest will come if you trust the process. The other thing Id like you to remember is specificity. You will be tempted, as you record your stories, to write them down in a very general way. Learn to be specific in your writing; generalities are meaningless while specifics are magic. For example, if I were trying to tell you about my mother, Id be tempted to be a lazy writer and say, my mother was an amazing and resourceful woman. That is meaningless to the reader isnt it? You have no picture or understanding of my mother because generalities are meaningless. How do I fix that? I could tell you that my mother raised 10 children in the Canadian bush without much money. A little better right? But still not specific enough. So, Ill tell you that on Christmas day when I was 4 years old, our family had no food in the house, but a yearling moose wandered into our yard along the paths my Dad had made through 10-foot snow drifts; my Dad shot the moose and hauled it into the attic (it was a like a freezer up there because we only had a wood stove on the main floor for heat), where my mother butchered the moose with a hacksaw. We lived through the rest of the winter on moose meat which Mom chiseled off the hanging carcass and would turn into steaks or sometimes soups/broths using the water she melted down from snow, since we didnt have plumbing either. All of a sudden, because I wrote specifics, you have a very clear picture of my mothers personality, her resourcefulness, her strength. True story, by the way. I dont know yet how or if I will work that story into an essay, but as you collect specific stories like this, your narrative will start to emerge. A final reminder before you get started: the process of writing is just as important as the essays final version or your grade. Please do not try to skip steps in the process or you will miss out on what will be one of the most influential writing experiences you will likely have. Here is a check list for this assignment: Collect stories, anecdotes. Write stories down as specifically as possible. Resist temptation to attach morals too quickly. Fill the equivalent of four pages single-spaced; keep your work as a first draft to be turned in later. The next step in the writing process will be assigned in lesson 3, but feel free to continue collecting as you move through this paper.