14 Six Alternative Narrative Essay Ideas
If you are not interested in using the Multimodal Essay for your narrative assignment, there are some other great ideas for having students pursue their notions of community from other personal writing perspectives. Here are some other examples:
Digital storytelling can be used as a tool in participatory action research. An organization developed to enhance teaching and learning in high schools used this method as a way to collect narratives from the rural community it served. The staff and students who participated in digital storytelling became researchers focused on the personal narrative. Digital storytelling was used to give voice to community members and also to explain policy initiatives that directly affected the community. Digital storytelling was a way for the organization to engage its members in a way that would benefit all stakeholders.
Militello, M., & Guajardo, F. (2013). Virtually Speaking: How Digital Storytelling Can Facilitate Organizational Learning. Journal of Community Positive Practices, 2, 80–91.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
2. Short personal narratives published on Medium
Articles are free to publish; all is required is for users to sign up.
3. This I Believe Essay focused around community
Example from Studs Terkel
Example from Crystal from Orlando, Florida
4. Personal narratives focused around community
The following prompts were adapted from Jeff Mercado, a North Carolina teacher:
- The lessons we take from obstacles we encounter can be fundamental to later success. Recount a time when you faced a challenge, setback, or failure in a community to which you belonged. How did it affect you, and what did you learn from the experience?
- Reflect on a time when you questioned or challenged a belief or idea of a community to which you belonged. What was the community? What prompted your change in thinking? How did you address your changing beliefs/ideas? What was the outcome?
- As part of a particular community, discuss a talent, accomplishment, event, or realization that sparked a period of personal growth and a new understanding of yourself and this community to which you belonged.
5. Speech community essays
Wikipedia’s definition of speech community.
Sample essay on the gamer speech community.
6. Discourse community essays
The Concept of Discourse Community by John M. Swales
What Is a Discourse Community from Maryland Open Source Textbook Commons
Discourse and Discourse Community by Roger Williams University in Introduction to Professional and Public Writing
Sample essay on computer science discourse community.
