Free Essay

Sample Narrative Essay

In: English and Literature

Submitted By Oshawatt
Words 632
Pages 3
Sample Narrative Essay: Group Ice Bucket Challenge
Thesis: event + meaning
Part 1: Receive challenge; learn more about ALS; buy supplies – Allison, Breanne, and I were eating lunch in the cafeteria when Simon walked up with his phone. Hey!” Simon said, pulling out his smart phone. It was obvious he wanted to show us something. We said hi back, waiting for him to pull up what he wanted us to see. “You’ve been challenged on Facebook! Are you going to do it?” Breanne looked puzzled. “Do what?” she asked. “The ice bucket challenge!” Simon replied. People sitting at tables surrounding us all looked up and at us. One shouted, “Do it!” Allison said, “Well, we’ve been challenged, so we might as well.” She and I shrugged. Simon raised his arms in victory and walked away.
Part 2: Drive home; conversation – We all struggled to pay attention during class that day. All we could think about was the ice bucket challenge. How cold would the water be? Would it hurt? Who would record us taking the challenge? Whom would we nominate to take the challenge after us? We talked about all this after school, driving in Breanne’s car to Allison’s house, a cozy ranch house off Keebler Street. Along the way, Breanne surprised us by suddenly swerving into the parking lot of our local Food Lion. Allison said, “Why are we st…” but trailed off, figuring out mid-question that Breanne was buying the ice we needed. We only bought ice. “Ice bucket challenge?” the cashier said, ringing us up. We all nodded. “We can barely keep enough ice stocked from all these people dumping ice on themselves. Seems like a waste to me.” Allison explained it was for a good cause, but the cashier could not be bothered. We left with a two pound bag of ice.
Part 3: Arrive home; set up video camera – When we got to Allison’s house, we all went to the kitchen to look for something to hold the water and ice in. The buckets we found before going to the kitchen were ones used for cleaning and mopping. “No way,” Breanne said, looking at them in the closet. In the kitchen, we settled on Pyrex mixing bowls. While Breanne started filling the bowls, Allison found a pair of scissors and snipped open the ice bag. “Wait,” I said, “we need to find out about ALS before we do the challenge. We have to talk about it in the video after all.” Allison put the ice in the freezer and Breanne left the bowls with water on the kitchen counter. We watched a few ice bucket challenge videos on YouTube and Facebook, and agreed we had enough details.
Part 4: Ice bucket challenge – We finished prepping the ice water, went outside, and got my phone ready to video. Each of us did our own video, and we took turns passing off the phone. I went first, and Allison taped me. The cold water took my breath away and my back tightened up. It felt like diving into the ocean before summer sets in. Breanne went second, and Allison went third. We laughed at each other, but shared a pride in having completed this exercise.
Part 5: Talk about challenge; change clothes; etc. – We went inside to dry off. Allison realized she forgot to get towels, and Breanne and I realized that neither of us had a change of clothes. Luckily, Allison and I are the same size, so she loaned me a pair of her dry clothes. Breanne wrapped herself in another beach towel. Breanne and I had left our cars at Allison’s house to all ride together to school, so we all watched the videos on my phone again, laughed, and said goodbye for the day.

Similar Documents

Premium Essay

Sample Narrative Essay

...Sample Narrative Essay Granny As I glanced past the lit Christmas tree in the window, I could see endless rain pouring down and splashing into the large puddles that now filled the road outside my grandparents’ home. I shivered slightly and turned back to watch my grandmother sharpening her pencils with a razor blade and unpacking her watercolor paints and paintbrushes from their special travel box. She was wearing a loose lambswool cardigan that covered the top of her long, gently patterned skirt. Her lightly permed white hair was combed carefully across her head. I moved from the sofa to stand closer to her armchair and watched her rearrange the flower bouquet that she was commissioned to paint for her neighbor. I could smell a mix of the familiar waft of her Chanel N°5 perfume and the gentle but evident odor of her watercolors, but I couldn’t pick out any flowery smells. I looked at the painting, which was nearly complete, and saw her penciled signature at the bottom. It read “B.E. Cartwright” in beautiful printing. The “B.E.” stood for Barbara Eileen, although everyone called her Bobby. I moved back over to where I had been sitting, in front of the lightweight set of drawers that I was using as a hospital-on-wheels for my stuffed animals and dolls. Before settling down to her painting, Granny had cleared out the drawers for me and helped me wrap my little animals in the dry washcloths that I used as bandages and slings. I cradled my teddy bear, who suffered from a broken...

Words: 853 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

Education.Doc

...Middle Ages essay sample Foreign Direct Investments essay sample Sample essay about the plague Stress essay sample Archimedes essay writing tips Essay sample on marine degradation Casinos essay sample American dream essay topics How to revise a research paper What is over-quoting? Writing an argumentative essay Sample essay on 1984 'The Death And Life Of The Great American School System' sample book report Purchasing essays online Argumentative essay on capital punishment Structuring your essay Proofreading is vital Becoming a custom essay writer Buying customized essays Descriptive essay: basics Great essays to buy Child abuse paper sample A list of essay writing hints Selecting an unusual term paper topic Analysis essay on A&P MLA style essays Barn Burning summary example Narrative essay topic ideas Essay sample on GSCM How to be specific Essay writing tips Scottish curriculum essay sample Sample essay on mathematics and music Experienced paper writers Accounting essays Choosing a history essay topic How to order a customized essay Persuasive essay keynotes Cheap essay writing services Who can write your essay Expert essay assistance Creating outstanding 250 word essays Compare and contrast essay tips Write an essay in 48 hours Choosing a professional assistant IKEA essay sample 5 tips for writing an essay The End of The New World Order essay sample Essay example about children with ADHD What is a reflective essay? Help with...

Words: 522 - Pages: 3

Premium Essay

Yep This Is It

...About Us Samples FAQ Our Prices Order now Writers Contact Us We write: Essays Research Papers Coursework Thesis Dissertations Term Papers UK Essays # Count of pages: Number of words: Choose your academic level: Term: Discount Code (optional): Discount: 0% Price: $0 Official PayPal Seal website security Types of Essays A big problem that most students and new essay writers run into is “How to write an essay.” usually roughly all essays follow a common structure of writing which comprises of an introduction, the body, and the conclusion. Once the writers are lucid about the technique of writing an essay and how to write an essay outline, the next step that they face up to is how to move toward a particular research paper topic. And what type of writing works best? Students often complain about a certain type of essay they have been assigned with. It seems to them that writing within essay type boundaries doesn’t allow them to think out the box, limits their potential. But writing a paper without any directions could be even more confusing than the class assignment you got. Do not think about the limitations as of the prison walls, but as of the walls in your room where you feel free to paint murals or change nothing whatsoever, simply being in control of it, being yourself. Tweet Quick Navigation through the Types of Essays Page Basic Types: Narrative, Descriptive and Persuasive How Can We Help Personal...

Words: 2955 - Pages: 12

Free Essay

English1

...The Narrative Essay The narrative essay is simply a complete account of an incident or incidents contained in one cohesive essay. The narrative essay is useful when writing an incident report, such as an automobile accident or a criminal action. By far, one of the best uses of the narrative is when introducing the thesis for a longer work, i.e. a research paper. Your audience for this essay is your fellow classmates and the teacher. Assignment Write a narrative essay, the purpose of which is the serve as evidence for the position you have taken on an issue. The issue in the sample essay is how the writer lost his teeth. The essay must be a minimum of 380 words and no more than 400 words. You will superscript the number of the comma rule that justifies it over each comma. When you turn in your final draft, you must turn in a minimum 100-word, process paragraph expressing what you learned as a result of this assignment. Learning Objectives • To format documents correctly in accordance with MLA; • To understand the structure of a narrative paragraph; • To understand your own unique voice (syntax and tone); • To eliminate sentence fragments, run-ons, and comma splices; • To eliminate point of view errors; • To eliminate verb tense errors; • To eliminate punctuation errors – commas; • To have fun. The Narrative Structure A narrative is a story, and like a story has a definite underlying structure. The parts of a narrative are the situation, conflict...

Words: 2000 - Pages: 8

Free Essay

Economic Problem

...* About Us * Samples * FAQ * Our Prices * Order now * Writers * Contact Us We write: * Essays * Research Papers * Coursework * Thesis * Dissertations * Term Papers * UK Essays ------------------------------------------------- Top of Form Bottom of Form ------------------------------------------------- Top of Form Count of pages: Number of words: Choose your academic level: Term: Discount Code (optional): Discount: 0% Price: $0 Bottom of Form The page includes: Essay Paper on Economics Essay Paper on Economics Social polarization grows as the poor become worse off, but as the wealthy become better off. One of the reasons for that is the shocking fact that the poor often pay more taxes, relatively, than do the rich. In Britain, for example, “the tax burden of the top fifth of earners has fallen from 37 percent to 35 percent in the last twenty years. In contrast, the tax burden of the bottom fifth has risen from 31 percent to 38 percent.” The other reason for social inequality nationally is imperfect income distribution. Thus, whereas 23.5 percent of all American workers received only poverty level wages in 1973, this had risen to 28.6 percent by 1997. Looked at another way, real wages for relatively low-paid workers fell by 22 percent between 1973 and 1995, and 10 percent for middle-range workers. Low-paid jobs grew by 22 percent in New York City between 1993 and 2000—four...

Words: 866 - Pages: 4

Free Essay

English Essay Topics

...M. Kuroki English 1A Essay #4 (The Research Paper) Determining the Sources of Two “Isms”: Racism and Sexism (225 points) Due Dates: See Syllabus Submission Requirements: Please remember to submit a hard copy of your essay in class, attaching to it your peer reviews. Also submit an electronic copy through TurnItIn (see link on Canvas). Length: 7-10 pages (not including the Annotated Bibliography) Annotated Bibliography Component: Instead of a Works Cited, you will include an Annotated Bibliography with your research paper (worth 25 pts. of your total score). Readings: • “Sex and Temperament,” Margaret Mead • “Masculinity,” Germaine Greer • Selection from Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave • Any previously assigned reading relevant to your topic • Sample causal analysis essay (title TBA) Research Requirement: Please use at least seven (7) but no more than ten (10) secondary sources. You must use at least one of each of the following source types: a book, an article from a scholarly journal, a newspaper article, and a magazine article. You must use at least two relevant assigned World of Idea reading, which will count toward the 7-source minimum. Furthermore, while you may use more than one website, only one website will count toward the 7-source minimum. In other words, you must incorporate research from the following source types into your paper: 1. A book 2. A scholarly journal...

Words: 496 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

Happiness

...SAMPLE Unit 4 Happiness Assignment Template Student Name Kaplan University HU300 – section number Unit 4 assignment instructions This week, our writing assignment focuses on individual definitions of happiness. For this writing assignment, you will prepare and conduct interviews with two people about their definition of happiness, how they gained this view, and whether they feel happiness is achievable. Choose two people who vary in age and experience. Only one of the subjects can be someone you know well. This is an opportunity to learn about acquaintances and strangers as well. These should be face-to-face interviews. Introduce this assignment by introducing each subject one at a time. Who are they? What is the nature of your relationship? Next, ask a variety of questions to get them to consider not just their definition of happiness, but its origins and development. You can use these sample questions to get you started, but should add more questions or change the interview as it develops: Has your definition of happiness changed over time? What experiences have influenced your definition? Do you expect the definition to change again? Follow the Unit 4 template for this assignment in DocSharing. It includes submitting a transcript of your interviews, including your questions, so take notes or record the discussion. Finally, you should draw conclusions about the process and the answers that were given. Compare and contrast the results of the interviews. Discuss...

Words: 863 - Pages: 4

Free Essay

Sociology

...discusses the complexity of literary analysis and the implications of using fiction as a source of sociological data. This project infuses literary analysis with sociological imagination. Using a random sample of children’s novels published between 1930 and 1980, this article describes both a methodological approach to the analysis of children’s books and the subsequent development of two analytical categories of novels. The first category captures books whose narratives describe and support unequal social arrangements; the second category captures those whose narratives work instead to identify inequality and disrupt it. Building on Griswold’s methodological approach to literary fiction, this project examines how children’s novels describe, challenge, or even subvert systems of inequality. Through a sociological reading of three sampled texts – Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing, A Wrinkle in Time, and Hitty: Her First Hundred Years – readers learn how these analytical categories work and how the sociology of literature might be enriched by attention to structural forms of inequality within literary fiction. This essay investigates children’s books in order to reinvigorate the discussion and use of novels by sociologists. Keywords: childhood, fiction, gender, literary analysis, literary narrative, power relations, social inequalities, Sociology, Sociology of literature Acknowledgments: I...

Words: 8238 - Pages: 33

Premium Essay

What

...N I N G O B J E C T I V E S 10 1. Identify the purpose and structure of narrative writing. 2. Recognize how to write a narrative essay. Rhetorical modes simply mean the ways in which we can effectively communicate through language. This chapter covers nine common rhetorical modes. As you read about these nine modes, keep in mind that the rhetorical mode a writer chooses depends on his or her purpose for writing. Sometimes writers incorporate a variety of modes in one essay. In covering the nine rhetorical modes, this chapter also emphasizes these as a set of tools that will allow you greater flexibility and effectiveness in communicating with your audience and expressing your ideas. rhetorical modes The ways in which we effectively communicate through language. 1.1 The Purpose of Narrative Writing Narration means the art of storytelling, and the purpose of narrative writing is to tell stories. Any time you tell a story to a friend or family member about an event or incident in your day, you engage in a form of narration. In addition, a narrative can be factual or fictional. A factual story is one that is based on, and tries to be faithful to, actual events as they unfolded in real life. A fictional story is a made-up, or imagined, story; the writer of a fictional story can create characters and events as he or she sees fit. However, the big distinction between factual and fictional narratives is based on a writer’s purpose. The writers of factual stories try to recount...

Words: 14947 - Pages: 60

Premium Essay

Essay Writing Step by Step

...ESSAY WRITING STEP BY STEP “Write an essay? But I don’t know how!” If you are unnerved by the thought of writing a college essay, remember that this task can be accomplished in the same way as any other—one step at a time. An effective essay is the result of careful thinking, planning, writing, and revising. If you work hard on the first two steps, the last two will be much easier. Your goal is to produce an essay whose content is focused, well-developed, and clear. THINKING (Many decisions must be made before you actually write anything down.) 1. Consider purpose: The general purpose of your essay will usually be determined by your instructor. To be sure you know the specific purpose of your particular essay, complete this sentence: “The purpose of my essay is to ….” Example: General Purpose: Describe in detail an important characteristic of a person you know well. Specific purpose: The purpose of my essay is to describe my mother’s kindness toward her family, friends, and co-workers. 2. Consider audience: The identity of your audience will determine how much background information will be necessary and what terms need to be used or defined. For example, an essay written for nurses on care of the elderly will include less background and more technical information than an essay written for the general public on the same topic. Unless directed otherwise, you should write for an uninformed audience. Even if your...

Words: 1739 - Pages: 7

Free Essay

Summary of Chapter One the Power of Habit

...Essay One Suggested Length 4 pages Choose a personal habit that you’ve had for awhile that you wish you could stop, or perhaps a habit that you’ve recently broken, or a begin a new habit that you would like to continue. 1) Analyze your habit. How long have you done it? Why do you do it? Why don’t you like it? Have you tried to stop? Why can’t you stop? Don’t just go through these questions and answer them. Use these questions to develop an insightful narrative that would engage a reader and shed insight on your behavior. As we’ve discussed in class, the key is specific details. 2) Analyze your habit using the “habit loop” and other key ideas offered in Charles Duhigg’s book, The Power of Habit. Apply specific concepts from his book, to your own struggle with your habit, or use his concepts to describe and analyze your plan to change your habit (see Appendix for a specific plan). You may also want to compare your experience with one of the many anecdotes Duhigg offers in the book. Grading Criteria: * Specific, developed description to engage the reader and demonstrate the ideas. * Original and thoughtful analysis of your own behavior. * Strategic and thoughtful use of paraphrasing, summary and quotes from The Power of Habit. * Sophisticated balance of your own experience and Duhigg’s ideas both as texts to interpret. * Clear and error-free writing. * An effective and creative introduction and conclusion We will discuss...

Words: 273 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

Converations with the Clouds

...Thompson, Manny Dr. Hansen English 101 15 March, 2014 Writer checklist: With each essay submitted, a Writer checklist must be included. This checklist should be submitted in the same document as your essay. Writer’s Checklist for Writing a Narrative 1. Is my title and introduction enticing? Yes 2. Is my thesis effective? Yes 3. Have I included enough details so the reader can visualize my experience? Yes 4. Are the events presented in a logical sequence? Yes 5. Have I used transitions to help the sequence of events flow smoothly? Yes 6. Have I used dialogue (if appropriate)? Yes 7. Have I used a consistent point of view and verb tense? Yes 8. Is the point of my narrative evident? Yes 9. Have I ended the story satisfactorily? Yes 10. Have I proofread thoroughly? Yes 11.  Does my introduction clearly state my thesis and give the reader an indication of the direction my essay will take? Yes. 12. Are my topic sentences and body paragraphs clear and well developed? In paragraph number three, I would not start a topic sentence with because. Perhaps a simple reword would give a stronger statement. 13. Have I fully supported my thesis with ample supporting details and examples? In paragraph two, I would put a sentence before the quote, drawing the correlation between internal faith and the basis of drawing faith from multiple religious sources. 14. Have I used a sufficient...

Words: 1156 - Pages: 5

Premium Essay

Personal Narrative Essay

...Personal Narrative Essay Title: “For Sale” Everyone knows that phrase: “The grass is always greener on the other side”. But as a child it was a hollow statement for me. Until the day I perceived it as my philosophy of survival. This story is of my purest memories following my relentless battles. Simplistic flashbacks of virtuous kids. Full of laughter and play with nothing to be feared except for the day’s end. All before the moment where the innocence was dissolved away by the acidic misfortunes of life. [a series of sentence fragments] To illustrate, the first setting in this world was in the town called “Ocala”. It was in South-central Florida, a place where nature thrived and creatures of all walks of life roamed. The most business we had there was a prison thirty miles away, and a Wal-Mart 30 miles further down the same road. So one would say it was pretty rural. Just a quaint ole town, where the trees outnumbered the people. My best friend Samantha and I loved the fact that we had mother-nature as our playground. Spending most of our waking moments playing in the open forests, we’d sneak around concocting strategic methods on how to collect lizards and insects, then place them in small decorated cages. Once we obtained our new pets, we would examine and befriend each one, always setting them free later. However, our nights were different, pictures were taken, video games were played and even dress up was included from time to time. Videogames helped enable our...

Words: 1144 - Pages: 5

Free Essay

Manoying the Manoy

...DESCRIPTION is one of four rhetorical modes (also known as modes of discourse), along with exposition, argumentation, and narration. Each of the rhetorical modes is present in a variety of forms and each has its own purpose and conventions. Description is also the fiction-writing mode for transmitting a mental image of the particulars of a story. Description as a fiction-writing mode Fiction is a form of narrative, one of the four rhetorical modes of discourse. Fiction-writing also has distinct forms of expression, or modes, each with its own purposes and conventions. Agent and author Evan Marshall (agent) identifies five fiction-writing modes: action, summary, dialogue, feelings/thoughts, and background (Marshall 1988, pp. 143–165). Author and writing-instructor Jessica Page Morrell lists six delivery modes for fiction-writing: action, exposition, description, dialogue, summary, and transition (Morrell 2006, p. 127). Author Peter Selgin refers to methods, including action, dialogue, thoughts, summary, scene, and description (Selgin 2007, p. 38). Currently, there is no consensus within the writing community regarding the number and composition of fiction-writing modes and their uses. Description is the fiction-writing mode for transmitting a mental image of the particulars of a story. Together with dialogue, narration, exposition, and summarization, description is one of the most widely recognized of the fiction-writing modes. As stated in Writing from A to Z, edited by Kirk...

Words: 1898 - Pages: 8

Premium Essay

Ap Language Reflection

...think the most important thing I learned about myself this semester is that I am capable of writing at the college level. When I first started this course, I imagined myself receiving C’s or lower on my papers and how hard I was going to have to work to improve my essays, but after I got my first essay back I was shocked at the grade and I...

Words: 546 - Pages: 3