We have a greater familiarity with personal narratives than we would realize. When we were younger, our parents often told us stories from other children’s histories. Students must write personal narrative essays throughout high school and college, especially when asked to convey their perspectives on a specific circumstance, item, or personality.
According to an article published in psychology today, writers can experience and let go of their sorrows while also savoring times of strength and resiliency while writing personal tales. These kinds of feelings create a channel via which writers and readers may connect, promoting the healing of both parties. In our article below, we will discuss how to write personal narrative essays and look at some fantastic examples of personal narratives others have written.
What is a personal narrative essay?
Both within and outside of the academic world, people write personal narratives. Personal reactions to works of literature or events written by students may be included, as best-selling can memoirs were written by adults.
Personal narrative essay topics, introspection, and the acquisition of wisdom are central to personal narratives. They are expected not just because they are simple to comprehend but also because people are naturally empathetic animals.
When we hear narratives that put us in another person’s shoes and enable us to experience the world through their eyes, our capacity to comprehend the emotions and thoughts of others grows. Since our brains cannot differentiate between what is real and what is imagined, the author’s “I think” and “I feel” immediately become ours.
Lisa cron argues in her best-selling book wired for the story that the human brain is hard-wired via the process of evolution to learn what occurs next, which is why it has a voracious appetite for stories. We can intellectually and emotionally record the moral of the narrative since the brain cannot tell if the information being read is real or not.
Factors to consider when writing a personal narrative essay
A combination of subjectivity and objectivity is required while writing a personal essay. You’ll need to maintain a level of objectivity that allows you to evaluate the significance of a happening or circumstance so that you can research and write about it. Conversely, it would be best if you were sufficiently subjective to infuse personal ideas and emotions into the discussion to convey your argument.
When it comes to personal narratives, you are not only the subject but also the creator; you have a complete say over how your tale is relayed. However, like other forms of writing, it is accompanied by rules and regulations.
1. Invent a story to serve as your narrative
For it to be considered a narrative, it has to have a beginning, characters, a storyline, a location, a climax, an anti-climax (if there is one), and an ending. Another strategy may be used to structure it as an introduction, main body, and conclusion. While the essay’s body should center on the most crucial argument (or points) you wish to convey, and the introduction is where the tone should be established. In conclusion, you should share with the reader any important takeaways or insights you have gained from the tale you have just related.
2. Make a point of your narrative very clear
Your narrative essay should represent your viewpoint on life. This is a lot more difficult than it first seems. You must introduce your point of view, the essential points you want the reader to learn from the piece, and your general tone of voice. Before beginning to write, you must have a clear goal for the story you create.
Let’s imagine you want to publish an article on how you deal with depression without using any medication. If you isolate a purpose, it will be easier to concentrate on your writing and decide which narratives you want to convey. This might go in any number of different directions. Are you attempting to persuade others to take a holistic approach, or do you want to share your experience with those considering giving it a shot?
Having this emphasis will enable you to put your unique spin on what it was that changed you, what it was that you did (and didn’t do, if relevant), and the lessons you picked up along the road.
3. Don’t just say it—show it!
Since it is a narration, the events that took place should be shown to the reader rather than explained. In addition to telling the tale, the author should also take part in the action as one of the characters. When you are writing, keep this in mind since the way you form your viewpoint may significantly affect how the reader perceives the overall narrative of your story. Be careful not to fall into the trap of explaining everything that occurred just because it occurred to you. Show the reader what’s going on by using action.
4. Make use of “I,” but don’t rely on it too much
Because you, the author, are the one who claims ownership of the tale, the first-person pronoun “i” is used throughout. On the other hand, you must avoid using it excessively since doing so would cause it to appear too egotistical and repetitive.
You may also get assistance in this area from us at nursingpapersmarket.com. If you use “i” at the beginning of too many sentences, the style report will let you know and teach you how to add more variety to your writing.
5. Be aware of the various tenses
Tense is crucial to comprehend. Many writers opt to write in the past tense because personal narratives often describe the account of events that took place in the author’s life in the past. This helps differentiate between your present voice as the narrator and the voice of your former self who is describing the story. If you are writing in the present tense, you must maintain the same tense throughout the whole piece.
6. Make sure that your concluding statement is satisfying
Give your audience something they won’t forget by writing a scenario that closes up the story. The body of the narrative has to work its way up to the story’s conclusion. This doesn’t need to be an unbelievable or startling turn of events; it simply has to be something that helps provide an unusual perspective on the tale.
Refraining from lecturing while writing out the key takeaways or lessons gained is essential. Continue to demonstrate rather than explain whenever it is practicable. Narrate what you do differently today rather than what you learned and claim you did. This will assist the moral of your narrative to stand out without making it seem like you’re trying too hard to impart it.
Personal narrative essay examples
Below are several personal narrative samples:
Jane Yolen’s book owl moon
A girl and her father went owling in this beautiful tale by the 386-book author jane Yolen. Yolen urges readers to think about the significance of kindness and optimism rather than studying owls.
By Elie Wiesel, “night.”
When his family was sent to Auschwitz concentration camp in 1944, Elie Wiesel was a teenager. This holocaust testimony strongly suggests that such heinous acts should never be repeated.
The young girl’s diary of Anne frank
Both young and elderly must read this masterpiece. During the nazi takeover of the Netherlands in 1942, a 13-year-old Jewish girl hiding in a hidden annex of an old building kept a unique journal.
Joan Didion’s the year of magical thinking
This daring author, known for her clarity, passion, and honesty, has created a personal tale. Didion describes dealing with the severe sickness of her only daughter and losing her spouse of 40 years to a massive heart attack in December 2003. She discusses loss, memories, sickness, and optimism.
Tara Westover taught them
Tara Westover, an author, was brought up by survivalists. She didn’t start attending school until she was 17 and eventually attended Harvard and Cambridge. It’s a tale about the battle for knowledge and self-transformation.
More personal narrative essay ideas
A narrative essay is a kind of academic writing that conveys a tale that is either experiential, anecdotal, or personal. It allows the author to communicate their thoughts, emotions, ideas, and views originally and uniquely. The length of it might range from just a few paragraphs to dozens or even hundreds of pages.
The term “narrative journalism” refers to a subgenre of journalism or non-fiction publications based on human narratives and used outside the academic world. Personal accounts are included in parts of even the most famous newspapers, such as the new york times and time magazine. The new yorker is a magazine that focuses exclusively on this kind of writing.
The new york times sponsors competitions for essays in the form of personal narratives. The following qualities helped the judges choose the winners: a distinct narrative arc, which included a conflict and a primary character who evolved over the story. They struck a deft balance between the goings-on of the tale and introspection on the part of the author over what the story meant to them.
They experimented with many approaches to building a powerful voice, such as integrating dialogue or toying with punctuation, phrase structure, and word choice. And, perhaps most importantly, they avoided the common pitfall of attempting to condense the author’s whole life into a few hundred words by concentrating on a particular event or topic, such as a discussion, a trip to the mall, a speech competition, or a visit to the hospital.
A personal narrative may, in a nutshell, cover any introspective and pensive topic with a powerful voice and a unique viewpoint, including rare individual values. This is because a personal narrative is written in the first person. The narrative is told from the first-person point of view and focuses on an event that occurred at a particular time that is interesting enough to warrant debate.
Conclusion
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