...Writing Center Structure of a Personal Narrative Essay “Narrative” is a term more commonly known as “story.” Narratives written for college or personal narratives, tell a story, usually to some point, to illustrate some truth or insight. Following are some tools to help you structure your personal narrative, breaking it down into parts. The “Hook” Start your paper with a statement about your story that catches the reader’s attention, for example: a relevant quotation, question, fact, or definition. Introduction Set the Scene Provide the information the reader will need to understand the story: Who are the major characters? When and where is it taking place? Is it a story about something that happened to you, the writer, or is it fiction? Thesis Statement The thesis of a narrative essay plays a slightly different role than that of an argument or expository essay. A narrative thesis can begin the events of the story: “It was sunny and warm out when I started down the path”; offer a moral or lesson learned: “I’ll never hike alone again”; or identify a theme that connects the story to a universal experience: “Journeys bring both joy and hardship.” “Show, Don’t Tell” Good story telling includes details and descriptions that help the reader understand what the writer experienced. Think about using all five senses—not just the sense of sight—to add details about what you heard, saw, and felt during the event. For example, “My heart jumped as the dark shape...
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...CLRC Writing Center Structure of a Personal Narrative Essay “Narrative” is a term more commonly known as “story.” Narratives written for college or personal narratives, tell a story, usually to some point, to illustrate some truth or insight. Following are some tools to help you structure your personal narrative, breaking it down into parts. The “Hook” Start your paper with a statement about your story that catches the reader’s attention, for example: a relevant quotation, question, fact, or definition. Set the Scene Provide the information the reader will need to understand the story: Who are the major characters? When and where is it taking place? Is it a story about something that happened to you, the writer, or is it fiction? Thesis Statement The thesis of a narrative essay plays a slightly different role than that of an argument or expository essay. A narrative thesis can begin the events of the story: “It was sunny and warm out when I started down the path”; offer a moral or lesson learned: “I’ll never hike alone again”; or identify a theme that connects the story to a universal experience: “Journeys bring both joy and hardship.” “Show, Don’t Tell” Good story telling includes details and descriptions that help the reader understand what the writer experienced. Think about using all five senses—not just the sense of sight—to add details about what you heard, saw, and felt during the event. For example, “My heart jumped as the dark shape of the brown grizzly lurched...
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...erian novelJournal of Education and Practice ISSN 2222-1735 (Paper) ISSN 2222-288X (Online) Vol 2, No 4, 2011 www.iiste.org A Study on Gender Consciousness in Nigerian Autobiographical Narratives and Power of the Interview Ogunyemi, Christopher Babatunde Department of English, College of Humanities, Joseph Ayo Babalola University PMB 5006 Ilesa 233001 Osun State, Nigeria. bbcoguns2@yahoo.se Akindutire, Isaac Olusola Department of Physical and Health Education, Faculty of Education University of Ado Ekiti Ado Ekiti. Ekiti State, Nigeria ioakindutire@yahoo.com Adelakun, Ojo Johnson Department of Economics, Joseph Ayo Babalola University, PMB 5006 Ilesa 233001, Osun State, Nigeria joadelakun@yahoo.co.uk Abstract The study explores some self-created metaphors in male autobiographical writings in Nigeria. It visualizes the negation of female gender in art. The paper investigates the dichotomy of language, the use of irony and situational metaphors to displace conventional ones; it blends theories with critical evaluation of discourse. The research uses empirical methods in solving hypothetical questions with the use of extensive and relatively unstructured interviews. It examines the interviews of twenty five people independently, these people include: University lecturers, students, administrative and technical staff. The work analyzes concurrently their interview testimonies to search for congruence. Data analysis begins with a detailed microanalysis in which emergent concepts...
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...Africa through Theatre This paper sets out to explore how processes of theatre making employed by The Mothertongue project, provide spaces for women to remap their personal narratives. Mothertongue works from the premise that the development and subsequent performance of stories in theatrical processes affords women the opportunity to re-write and remap their personal narratives and in so doing insert their voices into the landscape of South African Theatre. In an attempt to redress the gender imbalances and androcentricism prevalent in post-apartheid theatre, this paper speaks to the relationship between theatre, liminality and communitas. I am interested in unpacking how collaborative processes of theatre-making provide spaces for women to remap their personal narratives. Remapping in this instance refers to processes of transforming lived experience through story. I address how, through engaging in ritual activities that are central to the stories performed, actors, audiences and the owners of the source stories are invited to physically participate in remapping and transforming lived experience. Linked to this is the choice of form(s) and how this affects or impacts on the performed stories as well as on the construction of performed rituals and ultimately on the processes of remapping personal narratives. I focus specifically on Mothertongue’s 2004 production, Uhambo: pieces of a dream. The production was an integration of theatre and visual art in the form of performances...
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...Lake” and Judy Brady’s “I want a wife”, both authors write on personal encounters they experienced. The author chooses two different methods of writing styles. E.B. White utilizes a nostalgic reflective descriptive piece, whereas Brady uses a more sarcastic narrative. Arguably both writers do a great job in their story telling skills. Both stories are respected and pleasing, yet similar but different at the same time. The authors’ choice of writing style is what gives one story more of an advantage to the other. Though descriptive and narrative essay have identical intent – to tell the reader a story- narratives are more effective in capturing the audience because the uses of different voices, they bring ideas into perspective and they are relatable. There are special components that both style of writing possesses. Narrative writing usually does not stress adjectives to give the physical details of characters, setting or events in the story. Nothing like descriptive writing, narrative writings are written in the first person in order to convey the author's attitudes, beliefs and memories. Narratives are conventional, while descriptive writings content often emphases on a single event, object or place. Occasionally, writers utilize narrative writing style to tell about the past or the future in broad terms. A narrative often reflects personal experience, clarifying what happened during some sort of incident. Narrative essay topics include recounting an experience where the learned...
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...and structure of narrative writing. 2. Recognize how to write a narrative essay. Rhetorical modes simply mean the ways in which we can effectively communicate through language. This chapter covers nine common rhetorical modes. As you read about these nine modes, keep in mind that the rhetorical mode a writer chooses depends on his or her purpose for writing. Sometimes writers incorporate a variety of modes in one essay. In covering the nine rhetorical modes, this chapter also emphasizes these as a set of tools that will allow you greater flexibility and effectiveness in communicating with your audience and expressing your ideas. rhetorical modes The ways in which we effectively communicate through language. 1.1 The Purpose of Narrative Writing Narration means the art of storytelling, and the purpose of narrative writing is to tell stories. Any time you tell a story to a friend or family member about an event or incident in your day, you engage in a form of narration. In addition, a narrative can be factual or fictional. A factual story is one that is based on, and tries to be faithful to, actual events as they unfolded in real life. A fictional story is a made-up, or imagined, story; the writer of a fictional story can create characters and events as he or she sees fit. However, the big distinction between factual and fictional narratives is based on a writer’s purpose. The writers of factual stories try to recount events as they actually happened, but writers of fictional stories...
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...University of Tennessee, Knoxville Trace: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange Doctoral Dissertations Graduate School 12-2009 Peeking Out: A Textual Analysis of Heteronormative Images in Prime-Time Television D. Renee Smith University of Tennessee - Knoxville, drsmith@utk.edu Recommended Citation Smith, D. Renee, "Peeking Out: A Textual Analysis of Heteronormative Images in Prime-Time Television. " PhD diss., University of Tennessee, 2009. http://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_graddiss/10 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at Trace: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. It has been accepted for inclusion in Doctoral Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Trace: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. For more information, please contact trace@utk.edu. To the Graduate Council: I am submitting herewith a dissertation written by D. Renee Smith entitled "Peeking Out: A Textual Analysis of Heteronormative Images in Prime-Time Television." I have examined the final electronic copy of this dissertation for form and content and recommend that it be accepted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, with a major in Communication and Information. Catherine A. Luther, Major Professor We have read this dissertation and recommend its acceptance: Michelle T. Violanti, Suzanne Kurth, Benjamin J. Bates Accepted for the Council: Carolyn R. Hodges Vice...
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...inner life and of human experience in general. It is indeed in the works of writers such as Marcel Proust or Jorge Luis Borges that the best exemplifications of the subjective experience of memory are to be found. However, from a strictly mnemonic point of view, literature provides more than a means of reflecting on memory: it is also the site of the rebirth and construction of individual and collective memories, which can then serve as a foundation for the writing of fictional works. Creative writing has a meiotic function and is as such a powerful tool capable of rescuing memories from oblivion and bringing them back to life, thus reconciling the past with the present. The present article seeks to bring to bear new perspectives on the relationship between a novelist’s personal memories, collective memory, and the fictional narratives partially inspired by these two types of memory. In the first section we briefly examine the distinction traditionally made between individual memory and collective memory, which we then try to reconcile so as to arrive at an approach to the mnemonic phenomenon that best fits the needs of literary scholars. In the second section we challenge the conventional distinction made between memory and fiction, showing instead how the two concepts are linked and focusing, among other things, on the theory of “memory plasticity,” which holds that imagination plays an important role in the formation and perpetuation of memories. Finally, we study the relationship...
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...achievement and how you were able to add value to your organization. — Johnson The goal in answering this kind of question is to analyze, rather than summarize, an achievement. This advice is particularly true if you're discussing an accomplishment that is listed elsewhere on the application. Your readers want to gain insight into your character, not read a factual summary of what occurred. Here are some guiding principles to use in constructing your answer: (1) Choose something that's meaningful to you. Some applicants feel obligated to choose the most objectively impressive accomplishments. You should write about something that has personal significance, even if you weren't formally recognized for it. What matters is that you write passionately and insightfully about your subject. Unless otherwise specified, you should feel free to draw on academic, personal, or professional successes. (2) Focus on details about the process. Show the reader through concrete details how you achieved what you did. If you want to discuss a grade you earned in a particularly challenging class, show us how you mastered the material. For example, describe creative strategies you used; don't rely on clichés like "I succeeded through hard work."http://www.free-essay-writing-topics.com/index.php?page=mba-application-accomplishment-questions...
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...Describe the genre of Slave Narrative in his essentials on the basis of an example. What was the role of the genre for the abolitionist movement? Anti-slavery literature was very important for the abolitionists` fight against slavery. The Slave Narratives took a special importance because of the fact that slaves reported from the personal perspective. They described autobiographically how the life in captivity looked like. Consequently, they disputed the description of slave keeper, which were played down and romanticized. Frederick Douglass, one of the former slaves, wrote his story on his own, whereas some who couldn´t write and read (who were illiterate), dictated their stories to abolitionists. Those wrote and published these stories. Moreover, the Slave Narratives always were authenticated in preface and epilogues from whiteness. In the following part, I will quote many a time from the autobiography of the mentioned Frederick Douglass‘ “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass“ “Master, however, was not a humane slaveholder. It required extraordinary barbarity on the part of an overseer to affect him. He was a cruel man, hardened by a long life of slaveholding. He would at times seem to take great pleasure in whipping a slave. I have often been awakened at the dawn of day by the most heart-rending shrieks of an own aunt of mine, whom he used to tie up to a joist, and whip upon her naked back till she was literally covered with blood. No words, no tears, no prayers...
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...Narrative Conventions in My Girragundji The novella My Girragundji, based on true experiences, tells a heart-warming story about a boy, who, in times of stress, turns to a little green tree frog for support. Narrative conventions are used to display the changes Girragundji, the frog, makes on the protagonist’s life and identity. The language, plot, and characters all have a big influence on the main protagonist’s life. The writers Meme Mcdonald and Boori Pryor use the narrative convention of language to show change in the boy’s life. At the beginning of the story, the boy’s language is pessimistic and scared. Quotes from the book confirm this statement. ‘I’m too scared a hand will come through and grab me in my sleep’ (Page 10) suggests that the boy is too scared to sleep with his head near the window as he thinks a quinkin (Referred to in the book as a ‘hairyman’) will grab him in his sleep. Another quote states ‘I wonder what’s the point of living’ tells the reader the main character is negative and possibly thinking suicidal thoughts. However, when Girragundji enters his life, all traces of negative thoughts are gone, and he is much more positive. ‘The bullies don’t seem so big anymore’ is a quote from when after the frog enters his...
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...alternative filmsMainstream films can best be defined as commercial films that are made by major entertainment studios or companies that are owned by international media conglomerates. Because of better financing, these films can afford more expensive actors, wide releases, and are sold at popular retail stores. This has become known as the studio system. Films made by major studios or companies that are not owned by a media conglomerate but are distributed by a company owned by a media conglomerate (see Lucasfilm) are also considered to be mainstream and are often referred to as mainstream independent films. Companies that are completely independent, such as Lionsgate, also produce mainstream films, from a cultural standpoint, but independent of the studio system. The alternative to mainstream films are sub genre films that appeal to a certain audience, such as African American films. Low budget films, art films, and experimental films are often the starting point for entertainers who wish to enter into the mainstream circuit or a sub genre circuit. Mainstream films are targeted for all cultures and audiences, with the dominating culture and audience being the primary marketing focus, while sub genre films are marketed towards only one specific culture and audience. Mainstream films often recruit talent from all film genres and backgrounds. Alternative media are media (newspapers, radio, television, magazines, movies, Internet, etc.) which provide alternative information to the...
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...The Narrative Art of The Great Gatsby Introduction The Great Gatsby was written in 1925. The author, Francis Scott Fitzgerald (1896-1940) is one of the most outstanding writers in America. As a member of the “lost generation”, Fitzgerald made the short life of Gatsby epitome of the rise, boom and decline of the “American Dream” in “Jazz Age”. This novel shows us unusually rich literary and aesthetic connotation is has by its unique narrative perspective, the ups and downs of plot, superb accurate language, various rhetorical devices and vivid character images. To some extent, the reason why The Great Gatsby can become a famous classic work is that the author uses extraordinary narrative techniques in it. All the techniques are employed skillfully by Fitzgerald. The study of narrative art in this work has been highlighted in the research area in these years. Zhang Jinfeng(2001) analyzes the role of Nick in the novel from the its structure, themes and other aspects. Cheng Xilin(2009) uses the spatial narrative theory to discussed the space narrative art in The Great Gatsby from three aspects: the geography space, social space and the text space. Xiao Dongbo(2009) starts with the analysis on author and characters and expound the connotation of "American dream" and profoundly reveals the historical process of the formation, development and burst of the "American dream". Shang Guanghui(2011) analyzes The Great Gatsby from the narrators of the role and argues that the communication...
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...Through the major female influence present in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, The Pearl Poet establishes women as powerful and essential. Lady Bercilak serves as a major plot component. In part four of the narrative, her husband tells Gawain “that belt you’re wearing… my wife gave it to you” (Sir Gawain and the Green Knight 2358-2359). While revealing his elaborate trick to Sir Gawain, Bercilak states that his wife gifted the green belt to Gawain. When he did not return the belt to Bercilak at the end of the third day, Lady Bercilak had succeeded in her job of tempting Gawain into choosing his own life over his code of chivalry. This revelation shows the cunning nature of Lady Bercilak. Although it seemed as though the lady had been simply...
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... which colonialism maintained power was by writing its own histories. These histories were conceived within grand narratives of progress, expansion and enlightenment. Inevitably, they both systematically and accidentally recast, ignored and silenced other competing histories from the places and cultures with which they came into contact. Post - colonial studies has consequently set itself the task of examining and challenging those narratives, developing other ways of telling histories, and re – evaluating other ways of remembering. If post- colonial literature means the interrogation of the subaltern to the “center”, no other book is representative of the post-colonial theory and practice as Amitav Ghosh’s The Glass Palace. The novel won the 2001 Frankfurt e – book Award of fifty thousand dollars Grand Prize for Fiction. Abreast of the contemporary academic debates about colonialism and culture, Ghosh is well-equipped in challenging the institutionalized perspectives of the colonial history. He is certain of his human and historical insights. He belongs to a nation that was once conquered and ruled by Imperial Britain. Ghosh in “The Anglophone Empire” (2003) says: “I am Indian and my history has been shaped as much by the institution of this empire as a long tradition of struggle against them”...
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