Narrative Essay Writing Assignment DUE IN 48 HOURS
DUE IN 48 HOURS
A narrative essay is a story written about a personal experience. Writing a narrative essay provides an opportunity to gain new insights about yourself or your experiences.
Topic Selections:
Write a narrative essay about an experience that proves appearances can be deceiving
Write a narrative essay about an experience that made you more appreciative ofyour life
Write a narrative essayabout an experience of a serious illness or death of a close friend or relative.
Write a narrative essay about an experience of a significant misunderstanding with an authority, such as parents, police, or instructor
Write a narrative essay about an experience of your first extended stay from home.
Write a narrative essay about an experience of a personal failure/success.
Requirements:
Develop at least a five paragraph essay (equivalent to 500 to 600 words).
Be sure to indent paragraphs and double space
Refer to the Rules/Guidelines for Writing for complete details regarding fonts, font size, format…
Submit youressay as a Microsoft Word file attachment
Student Sample: Narrative Essay
My College Education
The first class I went to in college was philosophy, and it changed my life forever. Our first assignment was to write a short response paper to the Albert Camus essay The Myth of Sisyphus. I was extremely nervous about the assignment as well as college. However, through all the confusion in philosophy class, many of my questions about life were answered.
I entered college intending to earn a degree in engineering. I always liked the way mathematics had right and wrong answers. I understood the logic and was very good at it. So when I received my first philosophy assignment that asked me to write my interpretation of the Camus essay, I was instantly confused. What is the right way to do this assignment, I wondered? I was nervous about writing an incorrect interpretation and did not want to get my first assignment wrong. Even more troubling was that the professor refused to give us any guidelines on what he was looking for; he gave us total freedom. He simply said, I want to see what you come up with.
Full of anxiety, I first set out to read Camuss essay several times to make sure I really knew what was it was about. I did my best to take careful notes. Yet even after I took all these notes and knew the essay inside and out, I still did not know the right answer. What was my interpretation? I could think of a million different ways to interpret the essay, but which one was my professor looking for? In math class, I was used to examples and explanations of solutions. This assignment gave me nothing; I was completely on my own to come up with my individual interpretation.
Next, when I sat down to write, the words just did not come to me. My notes and ideas were all present, but the words were lost. I decided to try every prewriting strategy I could find. I brainstormed, made idea maps, and even wrote an outline. Eventually, after a lot of stress, my ideas became more organized and the words fell on the page. I had my interpretation of The Myth of Sisyphus, and I had my main reasons for interpreting the essay. I remember being unsure of myself, wondering if what I was saying made sense, or if I was even on the right track. Through all the uncertainty, I continued writing the best I could. I finished the conclusion paragraph, had my spouse proofread it for errors, and turned it in the next day simply hoping for the best.
Then, a week or two later, came judgment day. The professor gave our papers back to us with grades and comments. I remember feeling simultaneously afraid and eager to get the paper back in my hands. It turned out, however, that I had nothing to worry about. The professor gave me an A on the paper, and his notes suggested that I wrote an effective essay overall. He wrote that my reading of the essay was very original and that my thoughts were well organized. My relief and newfound confidence upon reading his comments could not be overstated.
What I learned through this process extended well beyond how to write a college paper. I learned to be open to new challenges. I never expected to enjoy a philosophy class and always expected to be a math and science person. This class and assignment, however, gave me the self-confidence, critical-thinking skills, and courage to try a new career path. I left engineering and went on to study law and eventually became a lawyer. More important, that class and paper helped me understand education differently. Instead of seeing college as a direct stepping stone to a career, I learned to see college as a place to first learn and then seek a career or enhance an existing career. By giving me the space to express my own interpretation and to argue for my own values, my philosophy class taught me the importance of education for educations sake. That realization continues to pay dividends every day.
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Narrative Essay Sample.Authored by: Anonymous.Provided by: Anonymous.Located at:
http://www.saylor.org/site/textbooks/Writing%20for%20Success.pdf
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