Personal narrative

Everyone has a story to tell—that is, everyone has lived through an experience others may benefit from reading about. For this assignment, tell the story of a specific incident from your past that has given you some kind of insight from which you believe others may gain. Be sure to (1) first tell the story—using narrative, description, and dialogue as needed; (2) then make clear for the reader just what you have learned and what they can learn from the experience. The experience you talk about can be serious, funny, or somewhere in between—the tone is up to you. Just be sure to focus on a specific incident that you can adequately cover in the space that you have. Avoid longer, overly general experiences like “my high school years,” “being in the Navy,” or “raising a child”—these are too large in scale for this assignment. Instead, focus on telling the story of something that took place over a shorter period of time–ideally, you should write about something that took place in a period that could have been as short as an instant up to something that took place over a few weeks or months.

Prepare your essay using a Microsoft Word (.docx) or rich-text (.rtf) digital file and save it on your computer–this will be crucial when you upload your submission for grading (see “Submission Instructions”).

Requirements:

Your essay must be typed and formatted in MLA style (see the assigned personal essay sample and video lectures that accompany this assignment for details). When you write it, make your essay look just like my sample. However, “using MLA style” for this essay only pertains to your heading, title, spacing, page numbering and layout style, It does not mean that this essay should not contain citations nor a bibliography–this is not a research paper.
Your essay must be at least 1200 words in length.
Your essay must demonstrate that you have studied and are attempting to incorporate the writing suggestions discussed in the video lectures for this assignment–particularly as they pertain to the use of narrative, description, dialogue, and an effective conclusion.
Because of certain policy obligations I have to the college to protect your privacy and safety, I ask that you do not write about overly-sensitive subjects like criminal activity, physical or sexual abuse. If you disclose specific information about such activities, depending on their nature I may be obligated to report them to SWCC administration. Otherwise, though, I will not share the content of your essay with anyone.
I suggest that you have me review a rough preliminary draft of your essay. However, I do not require it–the option is up to you. If you would like me to do this, just be sure to submit your draft to me for review, via email attachment as an MS Word (.docx) or rich-text (.rtf) file at least five days before the essay’s final due date. I will read your draft, insert my suggestions and/or corrections into your attachment, and email it back to you before the final due date.