Language Arts Lesson 5, page 1

Writing Applications
Language Arts Lesson 5 (7th - 8th Grades)

Instruction 5-1

FICTIONAL AND AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL NARRATIVES
CA GR6 WOELC 1.1, CA GR7 W 2.1. CA GR8 W 2.1

In Lesson 3, you learned that there are two kinds of prose: exposition (informational material like textbooks, magazine articles and editorials) and narrative (literature). In our last Lesson, we talked about how to write the thesis/support essay, which is one form of expositional prose. In this Lesson, we'll talk about how to write other kinds of exposition: research reports, persuasive compositions and technical documents. But first we want to talk about fictional and autobiographical narratives.

As we said in Lesson 3, narrative prose tells a story. If it's about imaginary people, it's called fiction. If it's about a real person, it's called biography. If you write it about yourself, it's called autobiography. Sometimes it's hard to tell the difference between fiction and autobiography, since many authors pretend to be writing about other people when they're really writing about themselves. One key, however, is the word "I." If a story is written in the first person point of view, it may be an autobiography. Use this point of view when you write your own autobiographical narrative.

Writing an autobiographical narrative (essay) can be interesting and easy to do, since you're writing about a subject you know and, presumably, like: yourself. But there are still rules about how to do it.

First, remember that all stories are about conflict (person against person, person against society, person against nature, person against self). So when you select an event to write about, pick a moment of tension or conflict. Let your readers know how you feel about what happened. Get them interested right off with a strong lead; develop a middle that builds tension; and end with a conclusion that provides closure, satisfies your readers and lets them know what the story means.

To do this properly, you probably need to do an outline first (remember outlines from our last Instruction?).

A narrative essay has three main parts -- the Introduction, the Body and the Conclusion. Here's what you should do in each of them:

The Introduction

Grab your readers' attention. The first sentence is key. Open with a provocative statement, something mysterious, a bit of dialogue or a description. Snoopy, from the Peanuts comic strip, has been writing a story for years. It begins like this, "It was a dark and stormy night." That sentence has become a cliché for writers everywhere -- but it isn't a bad beginning. It sets the stage, tells what things were like when the story opens and hints at what's to come. Don't use it in your essay, though -- it's been done. Set your own stage -- time, place, environment and the attitudes of the people involved. Include some background material to tell what happened before the story begins. And give a hint about what the experience meant to you. But don't give the away the ending.

The Body

Write about what happened -- the event or events -- in chronological order, unless you have a strong reason to do otherwise. Bring the story to life by describing important sights, sounds, smells or tastes. Tell as much as you can about the people involved -- what they're like, what they're thinking or feeling. If you use dialogue, write it the way people actually talk --not in stilted "proper" sentences. Build tension as you work through the events toward your conclusion.

The Conclusion

Reveal the final outcome. Tell what happened as a result of your experience. Describe your thoughts and feelings about it. Tell how the experience changed you. And, if you can, tie it all up with an observation or statement about the human condition in general so that your readers can see how your experience relates to them.

As you may remember from Lesson 3, the main elements of literature are plot, theme, character and setting. These elements apply to autobiographical narratives as well as other kinds of stories. Before you begin to write, it might be a good idea to review them. The topics covered in Lesson 3 were Prose, Elements of Plot, Characterization, Relevance of Setting, Recurring Themes and Points of View.

For more information on how to write a good narrative, check out the following Student, Teacher and Parent web sites:

Links for Students, Parents and Teachers

Now let's do Practice Exercise 5-1 (top).

Next Page: Responses to Literature (top)