Do Your Own - Narrate - Assignment Key Words - Writing Projects

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Get your assignment in front of you, then follow the instructions below. Type your answers to each task in the box below it. When you have filled in all the boxes, click on the button at the bottom of the page and you will be well on your way with this project.

Step 1: Look at your narration assignment. What story are you being asked to tell? Explain in the box below:

All narratives have a basic structure: beginning, middle, end. Think of some of your favorite stories. Usually, the story can be stripped down to the bare bones:

Cinderella can't go.
She goes anyway.
Cinderella gets Prince.

Or,

Boy meets girl.
Boy loses girl.
Boy gets girl back.

Or,

Hero leaves home.
Hero has many adventures.
Hero returns home.

Step 2: Think about the story you need to tell for your assignment, and try to strip it down to the bare bones. In the box below, tell your story in three or four sentences:

Step 3: A compelling narrative will usually have strong details that connect events and draw your reader into the story. Look at your bare bones outline above and fill in one important detail. You may want to describe the setting or one of the characters in the story, or you may want to expand on a particular event that moved the story forward. Fill in one detail in the box below:

Step 4: You also want your story to move and come to life for your reader. One way we bring a story to life is by including conversations, or dialogue.

Think of an important conversation that happens in your narrative, and write the conversation in the box below. (We also have some tips on how to format dialogue.)

Are you curious about how other instructors ask for narratives? CUNY Assignments gives some examples.

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