Purpose:

Your personal narrative is an exercise in storytelling. It should consist of a 3 to 4-page narration of
an event, experience, or set of experiences that taught you something. Your narrative should thus be centered on an identifiable theme, lesson, or idea, and supported with specific evidence such as personal anecdotes, sensory details, and personal reflection. While the narrative is about you, the lesson, theme, or idea conveyed in the story should be relevant to your audience.

Key elements:

• The appeal of the narrative essay is the style of the writing and the personality of the narrator.
• The goal is to share an insight, usually one that uncovers a universal facet of the human
experience in order to bridge more overt differences.
• Readers must believe that the narrator is honest and someone who seeks a deeper level of understanding. As an author, you must consciously craft your narrator’s character.
• In personal narratives, narrators often exhibit vulnerability, which often involves sharing
his/her flaws with the reader, and ultimately attempt to assess or interrogate these flaws in order
to evolve past them.
• Narratives should explore the insights we can learn from examining everyday experiences.

Student Essay Models on the next page