Examination of Narrative Argument Structure

Essay #1: Narrative Argument Essay Write a narrative essay about an incident that took place in your life. As with all essay formats, this essay will have a beginning, middle, and end. Your essay will include the following: A description of events leading up to a specific incident that occurred at a specific time in your life. Use concrete and sensory detail, description, and dialogue to engage the reader. A turning point where something happened that shifted your perspective or changed your ideas about the world. A reflection of that incident and the turning point. How did it affect you then and how does it affect your life now? How did it change you and what did you realize or learn through the experience? This assignment should be written in the first person (“I”) and in the past tense (“I was walking down the street” instead of “I am walking down the street”). You will most likely include the present tense when you are reflecting on the incident (“Now I understand what happened that morning”). Recommended Length: Three to five pages Professionalism: your paper should follow MLA style guidelines and should be carefully proofread. Your paper must meet the following MLA specifications: Typed and double-spaced 1″ margins (top, bottom, left, and right) Name, instructor’s name, course title, and date in the upper left-hand corner of each page Last name and page number in the upper right-hand corner of each page Font size: Times New Roman, 12 point Essay #1 Topic Guidelines: The topic of your narrative is up to you to decide. However, it cannot be the same narrative or topic that you wrote for your Artist’s Autobiography. This assignment is a narrative argument. You will be required to link Essays #2 and #3 back to the topic of Essay 1, so choose your topic carefully. Link between Essays #1, #2, and #3: Your three major writing assignments this semester must be linked by the same general topic. For example, in Essay #2 (the Evaluation Argument), you will be asked to evaluate a problem that links back to the topic of your Narrative Assignment. In Essay #3 (the Proposal Argument), you will be asked to write a proposal on a topic linked to Essays #1 and #2. Here’s an example of a sequence of writing assignments with linked topics: Student A chose to write his narrative assignment about an incident in which he was harassed about his sexual preference by a group of heterosexual males as he was walking through downtown Lake Tahoe arm in arm with his boyfriend. For Essay #2, Student A chose to write an evaluation argument on the lack of recognition of same-sex marriage under federal law. For Essay #3, this same student wrote a proposal argument for the recognition of same-sex marriage throughout the United States. A second example: Student B chose to write her narrative assignment about her addiction to video games in high school. For Essay #2, Student B chose to write an evaluation argument on the shortcomings of the rating systems for video games. For Essay #3, she wrote a proposal argument for the need to change the video game rating systems. A third example: Student C chose to write his narrative assignment about his early love of architecture, his decision to pursue interior design, and his parents’ negative reaction to this decision. For Essay #2, Student C chose to write an evaluation argument on the harmful environmental impacts of certain materials used in interior design. For Essay #3, this same student wrote a proposal argument for regulations of sustainable design. Purpose The purpose of this assignment is to learn how to effectively use narration to imply a claim about a larger social issue through the lens of your personal experience. You will establish a topic that you will further explore in two other assignments to be completed throughout the semester.