...Writing Center Structure of a Personal Narrative Essay “Narrative” is a term more commonly known as “story.” Narratives written for college or personal narratives, tell a story, usually to some point, to illustrate some truth or insight. Following are some tools to help you structure your personal narrative, breaking it down into parts. The “Hook” Start your paper with a statement about your story that catches the reader’s attention, for example: a relevant quotation, question, fact, or definition. Introduction Set the Scene Provide the information the reader will need to understand the story: Who are the major characters? When and where is it taking place? Is it a story about something that happened to you, the writer, or is it fiction? Thesis Statement The thesis of a narrative essay plays a slightly different role than that of an argument or expository essay. A narrative thesis can begin the events of the story: “It was sunny and warm out when I started down the path”; offer a moral or lesson learned: “I’ll never hike alone again”; or identify a theme that connects the story to a universal experience: “Journeys bring both joy and hardship.” “Show, Don’t Tell” Good story telling includes details and descriptions that help the reader understand what the writer experienced. Think about using all five senses—not just the sense of sight—to add details about what you heard, saw, and felt during the event. For example, “My heart jumped as the dark shape...
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...CLRC Writing Center Structure of a Personal Narrative Essay “Narrative” is a term more commonly known as “story.” Narratives written for college or personal narratives, tell a story, usually to some point, to illustrate some truth or insight. Following are some tools to help you structure your personal narrative, breaking it down into parts. The “Hook” Start your paper with a statement about your story that catches the reader’s attention, for example: a relevant quotation, question, fact, or definition. Set the Scene Provide the information the reader will need to understand the story: Who are the major characters? When and where is it taking place? Is it a story about something that happened to you, the writer, or is it fiction? Thesis Statement The thesis of a narrative essay plays a slightly different role than that of an argument or expository essay. A narrative thesis can begin the events of the story: “It was sunny and warm out when I started down the path”; offer a moral or lesson learned: “I’ll never hike alone again”; or identify a theme that connects the story to a universal experience: “Journeys bring both joy and hardship.” “Show, Don’t Tell” Good story telling includes details and descriptions that help the reader understand what the writer experienced. Think about using all five senses—not just the sense of sight—to add details about what you heard, saw, and felt during the event. For example, “My heart jumped as the dark shape of the brown grizzly lurched...
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...Africa through Theatre This paper sets out to explore how processes of theatre making employed by The Mothertongue project, provide spaces for women to remap their personal narratives. Mothertongue works from the premise that the development and subsequent performance of stories in theatrical processes affords women the opportunity to re-write and remap their personal narratives and in so doing insert their voices into the landscape of South African Theatre. In an attempt to redress the gender imbalances and androcentricism prevalent in post-apartheid theatre, this paper speaks to the relationship between theatre, liminality and communitas. I am interested in unpacking how collaborative processes of theatre-making provide spaces for women to remap their personal narratives. Remapping in this instance refers to processes of transforming lived experience through story. I address how, through engaging in ritual activities that are central to the stories performed, actors, audiences and the owners of the source stories are invited to physically participate in remapping and transforming lived experience. Linked to this is the choice of form(s) and how this affects or impacts on the performed stories as well as on the construction of performed rituals and ultimately on the processes of remapping personal narratives. I focus specifically on Mothertongue’s 2004 production, Uhambo: pieces of a dream. The production was an integration of theatre and visual art in the form of performances...
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...Synthesis *Disclaimer: the views represented in the synthesis essay may not necessarily represent my personal opinions (I won’t write this disclaimer on the AP test). To live a meaningful life is awfully vague, for it can mean a life of happiness, of financial superiority, and of success. But the reason behind why the definition remains vague is clear: we become too obsessed with external factors and often forget ourselves--our character and our individuality. Thus, the prospect of a meaningful life continues to run away from us as we grow jealous of others who have more resources than we. To live a truly meaningful life that embraces both controllable and uncontrollable factors, we must resist trying to please others by avoiding the tendency...
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...which opportunities they'll pursue and which they'll decline, rather than simply reacting to emergencies, leaders can and do engage meaningfully with work, family, and community. They've discovered through hard experience that prospering in the senior ranks is a matter of carefully combining work and home so as not to lose themselves, their loved ones, or their foothold on success. Those who do this most effectively involve their families in work decisions and activities. They also vigilantly manage their own human capital, endeavoring to give both work and home their due over a period of years, not weeks or days. That's how the 21st century business leaders in our research said they reconcile their professional and personal lives. In this article we draw on five years’ worth of interviews with almost 4,000 executives worldwide, conducted by students at Harvard Business School, and a survey of 82 executives in an HBS leadership course. Deliberate choices don't guarantee complete control. Life sometimes takes over, whether it's a parent's dementia or a teenager's car accident. But many of the executives we've studied men and women alike have sustained their momentum during such challenges while staying connected to their families. Their stories and advice reflect five main themes: defining success for yourself, managing technology, building support networks at work and at home, traveling or relocating selectively, and collaborating with your...
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... Narrative Essay Unit 1, Assignment 1 Jeffrey Wayne Van Egeren ENGLISH 106 2 Document Contents This document contains the author’s narrative essay involving the topic chosen for a thesis statement. The thesis statement will be on the subject “A Family Reunion”. The final page holds an outline used to perform this essay. ENGLISH 106 3 A Family Reunion With this assignment, I have chosen “A Family Reunion” to incorporate within my thesis statement. I believe that this topic is best suited for me because my family has never had a happy or joyous reunion that I can remember. The disease of alcoholism runs very deep within the family history, and for that reason, I grew up in a very dysfunctional family setting. With that being stated, I will begin by saying, “Family Reunions are nothing but chaos, arguments, and showing off. Nothing enjoyable or happily memorable ever arises from having times put aside for this said occasion.” My parents were divorced when I was only 4 years old and to this day I still see the burnt images of their final argument instilled within my mind. My mother, rest her soul, had done what she could for our family, regardless of the fact that my father had given absolutely no support for the 9 children. I remember seeing my father, maybe twice, within the time of the divorce and my 12th birthday. My mother had serious health...
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...researchers believes that students, particularly secondary school student will be benefited from the findings of this study since the study provides basis for awareness and better understanding of how their current study habits affected their academic performance. Likewise gives them a more focused and clear perspective on how the specific behaviors related toothier studies influenced study habits. Narrative Report The National Teachers College Quiapo, Manila Nacorda, Rustienne P. Sat 7:00am-10:00am NSTP2 11/14/15 This day, before the class proceeded at the recruitment of each group’s clients. Mr. San Gregorio gave us the calendar of activities. Then after instructing us on what to do in the designated baranggay, our group started the recruitment. We have talked to their parents to see if they will allow their son/daughter to attend our weekly immersion. We now have 6 clients in our group. Rustienne P. Nacorda Narrative Report The National Teachers College Quiapo, Manila Nacorda, Rustienne P. Sat 7:00am-10:00am NSTP2...
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...The Ingenuity of Narrative in Memento Abstract: Narration, simply put, is telling stories. However, the way movies narrate tales is not like that of novels developing plot in words or drama unfolding in stage space, but has its own special method for narrative - moving images. In Memento, through its unique nonlinear narrative structure and intense structure contradiction, the motifs of memory, self-deception and revenge and the philosophical exploration of existential angst are demonstrated in an elaborate and subtle way. Key Words: Memento narrative structure narrative contradiction Memento recounts the story of Leonard Shelby, a man with anterograde amnesia, who distorts his own memory to deny the harsh reality in a both conscious and unconscious way. Living in a world full of lies fabricated by himself, the ill-fated protagonist makes the very principle of his life consist in the pursuit and systematic exercise of the revenge for his wife’s death which is actually caused by himself. In Memento, the splendid way of narration gives audience not only indelible psychological experience, but also a test on their ratiocination. Below is the analysis of narrative advantages in Memento from aspects of narrative structure and narrative impetus, compared with novels and dramas. I．Narrative Structure Narrative structure is the structural framework that underlies the order and manner in which a narrative is presented to a reader, listener, or viewer. Compared...
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...exaggeration in society's mind. Slave were treated like animals throughout the times of being attacked, beat on, and personal issues.Some of them were lack of education, and many broken families around slave communities. Night john gave more of a watered down more theater friendly version of these terrible years in the United States History.All of the hardships presented have been proven historically accurate due to supporting documents and how they corroborate to each other. Although Gary Paulsen's novel Nightjohn, is considered historical fiction, the description broken family structures, harsh restrictions, and cruel and unusual punishment can be corroborated with multiple sources provided by actual slaves at the...
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...Performance Appraisals A performance appraisal is very useful to a company and their employees. Performance appraisals are “the formal process through which employee performance is assessed, feedback is provided to the employee, and then corrective action plans are designed” (Youssef & Noon, 2012). For this assignment I am going to use my mother as an example. In this short paper I will be: describing the occasion in which she was being evaluated, describing the strengths and weaknesses of the evaluation process, and providing at least two strategies to improve the performance appraisal process. My mother works for my Aunt Jane. Jane owns affordable apartment buildings and only has a small staff of five (including herself). My mother is a secretary/inspection worker. She mainly does the secretary work, but once every six months she inspects the apartments (unless it is a problem apartment then it’s done monthly). Jane is pretty laid back when it comes to employer responsibilities. She does not give out yearly raises, evaluations, etc. Rather, Jane goes by a time based example. The ways she looks at it is for every five years she will give out raises if the employee deserves it. Since Jane works side-by-side with her employees, she is always evaluating them on how they do their work. Some strengths of doing the daily evaluations are that the work is always done when it is supposed to be done and it is done the way the boss (Jane) likes it. What Jane does would be considered...
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...In Maus: A Survivor’s Tale, Art Spiegelman presents not only his father’s Holocaust narrative but also his own personal narrative, especially with regards to his relationship with Vladek. Readers learn that Artie and Vladek do not always get along, and there is a palpable tension between them. Vladek seems frugal and argumentative, while Artie appears self-centered and uncaring. In both cases, the characters’ faults are not glossed over. They are portrayed realistically, with positive and negative traits on full display. These portrayals accomplish two different goals for Spiegelman: one, they emphasize Artie’s interest in accuracy as opposed to sentimentality, and two, they allow the audience to discover Artie’s own personal trauma—namely,...
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... By knowing your strengths and areas to develop, you can begin a plan to find out what you need to do to achieve your career goals. We encourage you to continue to reflect on the identified areas throughout the MBA program. If you feel a strength or development area is no longer relevant, you may add another to take its place. At any time, you may also add additional areas. Your Name: Shannan Weaver Date: 6/16/2015 Course Title: Financial Accounting Principles and analysis Professional Goal (3-5 years) from now: In three to five years from now I would like to be a manager at my current place of employment Strengths to Leverage Step 1: The most effective and satisfied people align their work with their natural strong points. Identify 3-5 of your key strengths (see Column 1 below); these could be a competency, skill, ability, knowledge area or personal characteristic. Think about how you can leverage those strengths to be effective in your work, achieve your professional goals, and become a leader in your profession. Step 2: At the beginning of...
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...because these factors contribute and influence an author’s point of view as well as each author’s unique voice and message depending on the time period. Harriet A. Jacobs’s Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, is a slave narrative. The literary conventions of the slave narrative define the work. Slave narratives echo biblical stories that often reflect persecuted groups attempting to escape to freedom. Jacobs’s piece details her struggle to escape her master from sexual abuse. Vivanco (2003), “The process from sin to rebirth in spiritual autobiographies is paralleled by the process from slavery to freedom in slave narratives. Slaves experience a change from chattel, enduring suffering, to man or woman living in the Promised Land, the North,” (para. 5). Further distinction of the slave narrative is how authors shape the story, often chronologically. Slave narratives illustrate an author’s personal experience though many share common themes of extreme violence/abuse and racial prejudice. Slave narratives are essentially autobiography, which offer an author’s own experience for readers to find meaning. Jacobs’s female voice sheds light on issues affecting slave women; sexual abuse and losing children to death or slave trade particularly. Jacobs’s narrative is a prime example of how different slave women were treated as opposed to men. Both...
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...Experience: Design Approach to Human-centered Jodi L. Forlizzi Submitted to the Department of Design, College of Fine Arts, Carnegie Mellon University, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Design in Interaction Design Abstract My thesis attempts to understand experience as it is relevant to interaction design. Based on the work of John Dewey, Mihalyi Csikszentmihalyi, and Richard Carlson, I identify two types of experience in user–product interactions: satisfying experiences and rich experiences. A satisfying experience is a process–driven act that is performed in a successful manner. A rich experience has a sense of immersive continuity and interaction, which may be made up of a series of satisfying experiences. Based on this definition, I identify a set of design principles with which to create products that evoke rich experiences. These principles are intended to encourage designers to think about how to create user–product interactions that suggest values and communicate meanings that enrich the quality of life. Narrative plays a key role in these design principles. Our series of life experiences form a narrative; the values that designers impart in an object form a narrative which is elaborated...
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...The Narrative Life of Fredrick Douglass an American Slave The tone of this book is cool and reserved yet enraged and overly emotional. How can he’s tone be both cool yet emotional? Overly emotional biographies are not usually considered reliable or accurate. However, since the author wants to convince us the readers, that what he’s saying is truth and accurate he tries to contain his anger about slavery, yet at the same time the reader knows that Douglass is really angry about slavery and he wants us to be angry as well. Though he mostly keeps in anger under control, every once in awhile he lets the reader know how he really feels In the book Douglass gives an emotional speech when he looks out at the Chesapeake Bay and wishes he could be as...
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