In Writing Project One, you are tasked with telling a story from your own life. This narrative could develop in one of two ways: A. Someone fails to understand you or the idea that you hope to communicate due to a linguistic, cultural, or intellectual barrier; or B. You fail to understand someone else or an idea they hope to communicate due to a linguistic, cultural, or intellectual barrier.
As with any story, there should be a narrative arc. In general, a narrative arc involves three stages: 1. In the beginning of the story, you set the scene (i.e. the setting) and introduce the characters; 2. You introduce a conflict; and 3. The conflict is resolved (sometimes a resolution involves an acceptance of the fact that a resolution might not happen).
Be sure to include details. For instance, if your story involves explaining to your grandmother that the moon landing wasn’t on a Hollywood sound stage, you would need to describe your grandmother and her values and life experiences so that the reader can understand why she would believe that the moon landing was a hoax. Additionally, you would need to provide the setting and course of events during which she stated her belief in this conspiracy theory (how did the topic arise? Where were you? What were you talking about? How did you respond – both inwardly and outwardly?).
At the same time, focus the essay. Only provide details that are critical to your story. Don’t devolve into tangents or offering information beyond the scope of the narrative. For instance, your story might relate a miscommunication that you had with your mother. During that miscommunication, there were other people in the room – but were those other individuals important to the story? Ask yourself: does an additional character help the story move forward? Or does that character offer a diversion from the key idea that you want to develop?
While this is a narrative essay, it should still contain a thesis statement in the first paragraph of the essay. The thesis statement should allude to what you learned as a result of this failure in communication. In the conclusion, this essay should offer a full explanation of what you learned as a result of this failure in communication (i.e. offering the insight that you promise in the thesis). This lesson might offer insights into: you, another individual, the ways in which human brains work, the limitations of democracy, the difficulties of translation, or some other truth about the world.
The essay should have minimal grammatical, syntactical, and spelling errors. If you struggle with any of these, please make an appointment with a Writing Center tutor.
Length: 3-4 pages, double spaced, Times New Roman 12-point font
Submit: the essay via Blackboard, in either Word or PDF format
