Download Autobiographical Narrative Essay or Literacy Narrative and more Slides Communication in PDF only on Docsity! Autobiographical Narrative Essay or Literacy Narrative ASSIGNMENT: Write an autobiographical narrative essay that develops a meaningful viewpoint, message or insight about an issue that you have firsthand experience dealing with. Coming up with a compelling issue to write your essay about – an issue that can sustain a good story and teach your readers something valuable – is the key to this assignment. To prepare for the assignment, you should read Chapter 6 in your textbook ("Writing an Autobiographical Narrative" - pp. 109 – 124). It will also be helpful to read Chapter 19 ("Composing and Revising Open-Form Prose" - pp. 619 – 639). As you consider ideas, think about the possibility of writing a "literacy narrative." This is a narrative essay that focuses on an issue related to writing, reading, education and so forth – in other words, language, learning and communication problems. Literacy narratives are especially relevant to writers and writing students. Your textbook discusses literacy narratives on pages 119 – 122. You will find excellent examples of some literacy narratives on pages 135 – 156 ("Additional Readings for Chapter 6"). The two excerpts from Charles Bukowski’s Ham on Rye (posted on the course web site) also deal with the issue of literacy in the writer's life. If you prefer, you have the option to base your essay on an issue drawn from other areas of your life, including relationships, jobs, your lifestyle or identity. In class, we’ll discuss these options, and approaches to generating and evaluating ideas for the essay. In addition to the readings noted above, we'll discuss two student essays in the textbook, “Masks” (p. 129) and “Berkeley Blues” (p. 620), as well as some student essays posted on the course web site. Brief Summary of Assignment Objectives – what the instructor wants students to get out of the assignment: • Exposure to narrative writing, an important feature of many kinds of writing tasks. • Exposure to applying the concepts of issue and view to an “open-form” essay. • Exposure to writing based on concrete details, description and dialogue, rather than abstract ideas and exposition (that is, writing that “shows” more than “tells”). • Exposure to writing drawn from firsthand knowledge and experience. • Exposure to writing in a “conversational” style – in other words, a style that conveys a writer's "voice" and prioritizes communicating with readers. Brief Summary of Grading Criteria – what your Instructor will be looking for: • A strong opening that presents the central issue in a real and compelling way, and makes readers want to read on.
