Use specific details and develop notaries that create tension. In the Allan and Bacon text, (the authors) argue that a narrative qualifies as a story only when it depicts a series of connected events that create for the reader a sense of tension or conflict that is resolved through a new understanding or change in Status. Your goal for this assignment is to write a story about your life that fulfills these criteria. Not every memorable event in your life will lend itself well to this assignment.
The most common failing in faulty narratives is that the meaning of the event s clearer to the narrator than to the audience. Less the storyteller’s job to PUT THE READER THERE by providing enough detail and context to see why the event is significant. If an event didn’t lead to any significant insight, understanding, knowledge, change, or other kind of difference in your life, and if you really had to be there to appreciate its significance, then it’s a poor candidate for a self-reflective (personal) autobiographical narrative.
Consider the following ideas for choosing a plot: Moments of enlightenment or coming to knowledge: understanding a ample idea for the first time, recognizing what is meant by love or jealousy or justice, mastering a complex skill, seeing some truth about yourself or your family that you previously hadn’t seen Passages from one “realm” to the next: from innocence to experience, from outsider to insider or vice versa, from child to adult, from novice to expert, from what you once were to what you now are Confrontation with the unknown: with people or situations that challenged or threatened your old identity and values Moments of crisis or critical choice: moments that tested your mettle or your yester of values Major choices: about the company you keep (friends, love interests, cliques, larger social groups) and the effects of those choices on your integrity and the persona you projected to the world Problems with people: problems maintaining relationships without compromising your own growth or denying your own needs Problems accepting limitations and necessities: confronting the loss of dreams, the death of intimates, the failure to live up to ideals, or the difficulty of living with a chronic illness or disability Contrasts between common wisdom and your own unique knowledge or experience: Doing what people said couldn’t be done; failing at something others said was easy, finding value in something rejected by society, finding bad consequences of something widely valued More importantly than anything else, there should be a moment of insight, recognition, or resolution that would give your plot a climax. Also, the story should be significant enough to touch on larger human issues and concerns where your reader can relate to it in a successful manner.
Objectives/Evaluation Criteria: -?Creation of a narrative that tells about a significant and life changing event hat altered one or more perceptions about one’s own life that clearly uses the literary strategies of plot, character, and setting –A narrative that, through the use of contraries, creates tension that moves the story forward and gives it significance. –The narrative’s significance (thesis) is either explicit as a revelation or implied. -?Vivid language that appeals to the senses of sight, smell, sound, taste, and touch. -?Few grammatical errors; adherence to MEAL style. -?Sensitivity to audience, purpose, and genre –Awareness of angle of vision -Participation in peer editing sessions, which are evidenced by draft(s) and peer editing documentation stapled underneath the final draft Requirements and guidelines: All drafts and the final product must be typed, double-spaced, Times New Roman (or other acceptable 12 pet. Font).