The Personal Narrative

What is a personal narrative essay?

One of the most widely used and recognized writing instruction sites on the internet is the Purdue University Online Writing Lab (the OWL.) Writing instructors and students from all around the country use the OWL as a reference site and guide. It includes a section on narrative essays.

So, what is a personal narrative essay? According to the OWL…

When writing a narrative essay, one might think of it as telling a story. These essays are often anecdotal, experiential, and personal—allowing students to express themselves in a creative and, quite often, moving ways.

Well, that clears it right up, doesn’t it? The OWL is right – a narrative is a story (which is why we call the person or character telling us the story the ‘narrator’) and it is often based on the writer’s personal experiences. So, if you’re assigned to write a personal narrative, you should think about it in those terms: a personal story based on your experience.

But, since this isn’t a creative writing course, you might not really understand what a “story” means, especially since a narrative is a special sort of story. It’s not the kind you sit around telling your friends about the crazy girl your friend invited to your New Year’s Eve party who took a confetti  bath in your tub or  the story of the time your grandmother forgot there was a candle burning on the table and she accidentally caught the cat’s tail on fire.

(Yes, I realize those are both very specific examples.)

A narrative is the kind of story that has a point and a purpose, both of which set it apart from the funny stories you share with family and friends. But what does that mean for you as a writer?

Point and Purpose

An essay has a thesis or, as it’s sometimes called, a thesis statement. It’s that sentence or two at the end of your introduction that tells the reader the point of your essay.  A personal narrative has a point, too – if it didn’t, then there’d be little reason for you to write about it – though it’s not usually as clearly laid out as an essay thesis is.  But even if you don’t spell it out in a single sentence, your reader should still be able to understand the point you were trying to make by the time they’re done reading your narrative.

Think about the sample narrative included in this book. By the time you finished reading it, did you have a good idea of what point the writer was trying to make? (If you haven’t read that yet, go do that now.) Was that point ever spelled out directly in a thesis statement? Or was it something you understood by the end of it?

Sometimes, the point and purpose of a personal narrative will be created by the assignment you’ve been given.  There are some common kinds of narrative assignments: the literacy narrative, the ethnography, the autobiography, the memoir. Sometimes, an instructor might provide a question or a set of questions/topics for you to choose from and whichever one you pick will provide you with the guidelines as to what your point/purpose should be.

The point or purpose of the narrative can come from many different places. Writer Chris Offutt wrote a piece called Trash Food after a friend asked him to give a presentation on it (he’d never heard of it before that day.) Professor Judith Claire Mitchell wrote a short narrative about her Jewish identity after a friend told her not to tell anyone in Iowa she was Jewish. Jimmy Santiago Baca wrote about discovering poetry and the power of words and language while in prison.

None of those were assigned narratives or something those writers did for a grade. They wrote them because of their experiences and a need to share those experiences. Those stories weren’t just stories; they were their stories, the ones that only they could tell. Above all else, that’s what your personal narrative should be: your story.

But What Else?

OK. As inspirational and moving as it would have been to end this chapter on “your story”, I’ve been doing this teaching thing long enough to know that there’s at least a few of you who want some more specifics – I need to know what I’m getting graded on, man! – about what should be in a narrative. So, here they are. A narrative should have the elements that make up a story:

• • • an introduction (beginning)
      • set the stage for the reader, show them where the story starts
    • plot (middle)
      • the events of the story, like the scenes of a movie
    • conclusion (end)
      • how did whatever story you’re telling end, even if only that particular moment
    • a clear point of view (first person, “I”)
      • if it’s your story, you should be the one telling it
    • dialogue and characters
      • who were the other people involved and what did they say?
    • details
      • share enough concrete detail with the reader that they can understand the story and your point

Some of those things are less important than others. For example, a good narrative doesn’t always include dialogue and many students avoid even attempting dialogue. Remember, though: you’re not a professional writer and this isn’t a creative writing course. No one is expecting you to write an entire script’s worth of dialogue. Take a look at this exchange from Trash Food: 

“Man,” I said, “that tree would bear. Big old peaches.”

He looked at me differently then, a serious expression. His earlier suspicion was gone.

“You know some things,” he said. “Yes you do.”

“I know one thing,” I said. “When I was a kid I wouldn’t eat those peaches.”

That’s dialogue. It’s simple and straightforward but it’s still dialogue which sets that particular piece apart from an “essay” and turns it into a story or a narrative. But even if you don’t include one line of dialogue, a story can still be a narrative as long as it is a story and it has a point and purpose.