Write a Personal Narrative Essay

When do we actually need to write personal narratives?  Sometimes college essays ask for them. Sometimes job applications or interview questions ask for personal narratives. Sometimes we need a personal example to help someone understand our point of view.  It can even help us reflect on life lessons, so we can move forward with lessons learned and a growth mindset. Learning how to write a personal narrative essay will help in all of these situations in life.

But what is a personal narrative? It is a story you write about yourself with an emphasis on a lesson you learned.  Even younger children can think of experiences when they learned a lesson: Don't cut your sister's hair. Don't draw on the walls. When you practice a lot, you get better. It's not a good idea to give the dog too many treats. 

To write an effective personal narrative, learners need to decide on a story to tell--and not just any story, but a story that is focused enough that they can tell it in detail. In this class, we will work with characters, setting, plot, conflict, dialogue, and description to create an interesting narrative that others can read and appreciate.

Each lesson will have a short recording for the learner to view. (The average viewing time for lesson videos is around 10 minutes.) The lessons will guide the learner through the writing process, and at the end of the course, they will have completed a final, polished draft of their personal narrative essay. 

After each video lesson, there will be a writing assignment to help them put into practice what they learned in the recording.  I will read and give feedback on each assignment to help your learner get the most out of the instruction and to take their narrative writing to the next level. Feedback will be given within 24-72 hours.  I am also available to answer any questions the learner may have while working through the writing assignments.

Each lesson assignment will be completed within a week, and the entire course can be completed within six weeks. However, your learner will continue to have access to the lesson videos for an entire year.

Assignments can be submitted on a google doc, pdf, or jpeg.