“All the World in a Grain of Sand”
Overview
For this paper you will create narratives out of seemingly unrelated or disparate pieces of information. The purpose of your project will be to guide your reader from a “starting” point, through unfamiliar terrain, to a destination. In a standard narrative, the “starting” point is the beginning of a story and the destination the end. The end might be the reveal, or the punch line, or when the cat is finally rescued and everyone lives happily ever after.
The important thing to remember about narrative is that:
1) it’s not just for fictional stories;
2) you don’t have to follow the conventional path – so long as you never lose your reader in the forest;
3) a narrative never provides the whole story because it can’t, so you must be strategic about the details you include and the “sights” you show your reader. A good narrative appears to reveal the world or life to us, but in fact is only one small detail of something far bigger than we could ever hope to convey.
Instructions
Your project will consist of 1) your topic, 2) features, 3) creative technique as weve practiced in class. Your final essay will be 1700-2500 words. If you choose to make creative use of footnotes, those will be included in your word count. Your works cited page is not included in the word count.
Topics – Choose one. It will be your story line.
1) How you became you.
2) How you came to know an important person in your life.
3) How you once overcame difficult circumstances.
4) How you once completed a huge task or goal.
5) How you came to SJSU (to study what you study).
6) How something in your life didn’t turn out the way you expected at all.
7) The significance or value of one thing in your life (could be an object, person, pet, or something symbolic).
and yes,
8) How the coronavirus pandemic and unfolding economic crisis will push you into a new, unexpected chapter of your life. Where does your story go next?
Features – These are elements of you final project, or “sights” along your route. Your project should include all three of them.
1) A description of where we are when we start the essay.
The opening will look different for different storylines. You can start in the past, or in the present or future. You can start with background details, or with questions or reflection. Wherever you start, the important thing is to provide us sufficient description so we can picture where we are.
2) A guided tour through four “sights.”Sights are “in-between places” that we visit along the way from the starting point to the destination. The route between the sights should make sense to your reader. That is to say, your reader should know how we got from Point A to Points B and C and D.
A “background story” or a lengthy aside that elaborates on a detail in your narrative. You’re welcome to use techniques you practiced in the fact paper including creative use of footnotes.
Discussion of an artifact. This could be any item that appears in your narrative and is somehow relevant to your story, such as a movie, song, game, food, book, room or place, article of clothing, or any other object. The trick will be to make it clear how it is relevant to the story you’re telling.
A historical “footnote” that elaborates on an event in the story that is bigger than your own personal experience. For instance, if you are writing about immigrating to the U.S., you could elaborate on events happening in your home country, or changes in legislation happening here in the States.
A scientific “footnote” that explains how something in your story works. For instance, if you are writing about a special car, you would elaborate on a feature of the car and how it works. Or, if you are writing about a disease or a condition, you would provide information about it. Again, the trick is to make it relevant to your narrative.
A social scientific footnote that provides relevant context social issues in which we are embedded. For instance, you may see your experience as a woman in the united stated as being shaped by American cultural standards. You may identify your experience as a part of any minority group as shaped by the way media portrays your group(s).
3) A destination that we arrive at. This is what we call the conclusion in a conventional essay. In this case, the destination can take different forms depending on your topic and where you start your narrative. If you start in the present, you may end in the past, or vice versa. If you are telling us about a personal transformation, you might start with a “before” picture and end with an “after” picture (or vice versa).
