Narrative Essay

Name:Class:

A narrative essay tells a story. It uses descriptive language to tell the beginning, middle, and end of an event. It has
an introduction that engages the reader’s interest, details about the main event or action in the story, and aconclusion that describes the outcome.

Narrative Essay Organization
INTRODUCTION
Hook
Background

The hook gets the reader’s attention with an interesting or surprising fact.
The background tells the history or what happened before the action.
The thesis sentence prepares the reader for the main action of the story, but it
doesn’t tell the whole story (just a “hint” about the main action).

Thesis

BODY PARAGRAPHSThe body paragraphs tell the main story. They use a lot of details to bring the story to life.

Situation
Rising Action
ClimaxThe situation paragraph describes the when, where, what happens in the story,
and why the main event is happening, step by step. It often uses time order.
The rising action is the main events leading to the climax. It also uses timeorder and many details.
The climax is the main action, the surprise, or the height of the action.

CONCLUSION
The conclusion paragraph tells (1) what happened after the main event, (2) about a lesson thewriter learned, and (3) how the writer’s life is changed now.

ACTIVITY 1

Identifying Parts of a Narrative Essay

Match the parts of a narrative essay to the examples on the right.

1. Hook
2. Background
3. Thesis Sentence

a. I learned that many things in Japan look the same as in the U.K., but they
are truly Japanese, and we should appreciate them. Now, travelling ismore enjoyable.
b. Getting off the airplane, and walking the streets of Tokyo, Japan was very
exciting, but it also felt like home.
c. Japan is known as “Land of the Rising Sun.”

4. Situationd. When I was young, I always thought Japan was an exotic country withinteresting customs. I always wanted to go to Japan.

5. Rising Action

e. I didn’t know that I was going to learn an important lesson because of asimple pastry.

6. Climaxf.

7. Conclusion

g. I finally bit into the pastry and was shocked to find it was not strawberry.

I was hungry and I wanted something to eat. I found a bakery, and I saw astrawberry jam pastry.

Narrative Essay Organization: My First Japanese Pastry
Paragraph

1

INTRO

2
3

Hook

• Japan is known as “Land of the Rising Sun.”

Background• I always thought Japan was an exotic country withinteresting customs. I always wanted to go to Japan.

Thesis• Eating a pastry taught me an important lesson.

Situation

BODY

Rising Action
Climax4

Matthew Barbee, 2016

CONCLUSION• Getting off the airplane, and walking the streets of Tokyo,
Japan was very exciting, but it also felt the same as home.
• I was hungry and I wanted something cheap and delicious• I found a bakery.
• I saw a strawberry jam pastry like back home.
• I bit into the pastry and was surprised to find it was not
strawberry jam.
• I began to like sweet bean paste.
• I learned that many things in Japan look the same as in
the U.K., but they are truly Japanese, and we should
appreciate them.
• Now, travelling is more enjoyable.

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ACTIVITY 2

Reading a Student Essay

Read the essay. Respond to the essay by answering the following questions.

My First Foreign Friend
My first foreign friend broke my heart. However, before I could have a foreign friend, I needed totravel aboard first. I have always wanted to go abroad and make friends around the world. Last winter, I
was able to study abroad for four weeks in Toronto. While I was studying in Toronto, I met a Canadian
girl named Jem. She told me that she wanted to make Japanese friends, so I was happy to talk to her. I
was also happy to talk to her because she is so beautiful. Jem is half white and half Filipino, and I had
never seen anyone like her before. It is safe to say that I fell in love with her at first sight, but not
everything is meant to be. (115)
In the beginning of our friendship, I was able to meet Jem often because we were language
exchange partners. Jem helped me study English, and I helped her study Japanese. Gradually we became
more and more friendly, so I invited her to go out to eat dinner with me. We went to a restaurant with her
friends who also study Japanese. I talked a lot with her and her friends in English, and we ate katsudon. It
is very delicious. Having dinner together made me very happy, and I think that my language skill
improved. (100)One day, I went to watch an American football game with my Kwansei Gakuin friends. At thegame, I saw Jem with another student. I said hello, and I asked about her friend. She said “He is myboyfriend.” That is, she had a boyfriend. I was surprised, and I was disappointed in love. Furthermore,
her boyfriend was also Japanese and was studying abroad like me. I was sad because of that unbelievablefact. At that moment, I thought that my experience in other country was sad. (95)
At last, the day I went back to Japan, I heard from Jem by email. In her email, she wrote, “thankyou for being my friend. I want to meet you and speak in Japanese when I go to Japan this summer.’’ Heremail really made me smile. I forgot about my feelings at the football game and remembered all the greattimes I had in Toronto. Overall, I learned that life is made up of good and bad memories, but it is mostimportant to remember the good ones. (90)
Total Words: 400

1.

Why is the background information in the introduction important to the story?

2. How did the writer and Jem become friends? (What is the situation?)

3. What happened before the writer’s heart was broken? (What is the rising action?)

4.

What broke the writer’s heart? (What is the climax of the story?)

5. What did the writer learn? Was it a positive lesson or a negative lesson?

Matthew Barbee, 2016

3

ACTIVITY 3

Writing a Great Hook

The hook is the first sentence of your essay. The
purpose of a hook is to get the reader’s attention. There
are 5 types of hooks:

•
•
•
•
•

Shocking statement
Interesting fact
Statistic
Question
Quote

A. Below is the introduction to a narrative essay. Read the paragraph and then underline the hook.
I cannot live without pizza. If I go very long without eating a hot delicious slice of
pizza, I become sick. When I lived in the United States, I ate a whole pizza every week.
But when I started living in Japan, I forgot about eating pizza. I was happy eating
delicious Japanese foods at first, but I eventually began to crave a hot slice of bread,sauce, and cheese. After living in Japan for six months, I ordered Japanese pizza for the
first time.
1. What type of hook do you think is used? ____________________________________________
2. Why do you think a good hook is important?
______________________________________________________________________________

B. Look at the examples of different types of hooks below. Work together in a small group to write your own
hooks. The essay topic is “Japanese pizza.”

Hooks

Examples

Shocking
statement

I love pizza more than
my family.

Interesting
Fact

Pizza was firstinvented in Italy, butmodern pizza haschanged a lot.

Statistic

The average Americaneats 27 pizzas a year.

Question

What is your favorite
food in the world?
Mine is pizza.

Quote

Einstein once said,“Pizza is the mostperfect food.”

Matthew Barbee, 2016

Write your own:

4

ACTIVITY 4

Reading a Student Essay

Read the essay. Respond to the essay by answering the following questions.

My First Time Cooking
When I was ten years old, I almost died in the kitchen. One day, I was the only one home because
my parents went to an elementary school to teach, and my big sister was staying at her friend’s house. I
was bored, and I played video games a whole lot. In the early evening, I became hungry, but there wasnothing to eat. I looked in our refrigerator, but there was only some vegetables and medium spicy curryroux. When I saw that, I thought, “my mother can make curry easily, so I can make curry, too.” I decided
to make curry by myself, but it would be dangerous because I had never cooked anything until then. (115)
At first, I started to cook some rice. Second, I cut onions, but I couldn’t stop crying for 20
minutes. After I stopped crying, I cut carrots. I did well partway, but I cut my middle finger because I
didn’t fold my fingers away from the knife. I felt foolish. I almost gave up, but I continued to cook. Next,
I peeled potatoes with a peeler. I thought it was safe, but I was wrong. My nail was skinned a little by thepeeler. After the vegetables, I prepared a deep pot and started to fry vegetables and chicken. However,another problem happened. Before I fried them, I forgot to grease the bottom of the pot and it burned. I
moved them from the burned pot to another one, and I started to fry them again. There were a lot of
problems, but I completed making curry at last. (150)
After I made curry, I looked at my hand, and it was all cut up. There was some adhesive tape on
it, but my heart was full of accomplishment. When I ate MY curry, it was very tasty. Later, when mymother got home, she ate my curry and said, “this is so delicious.” She looked so happy, and I was so
happy, too. After that, my father came back home, and he ate my curry, too. He was surprised that I had
made curry by myself. My parents were happy, so I wanted to cook again. (95)
These days, I often cook curry and rice by myself. Now that I know how to make it properly, I
have become much better at it. I think it is good for us to try new things. Even if if we are not perfect atfirst, we can become better and better. As they say, “practice makes perfect.” In conclusion, while my firsttime cooking was terrible, it became an invaluable memory that I will never forget. (75)
Total Words: 435

1. Underline the hook? A. What type of hook is it? B. Write a new hook for the essay using a different type.
A.
B.
2. Why was the writer home alone? What is some other background information of the story?

3. How three problems did the writer have when making curry?

4. What was the climax of the story? (Why were the writer’s parent’s happy?)

5. What did the writer learn? Was it a positive lesson or a negative lesson?

Matthew Barbee, 2016

5

ACTIVITY 5

Time Adverbs

To sequence events in a narrative essay, we use time adverbs such as then, finally, eventually, after that, later, andthen. They usually appear at the beginning of the sentence and followed by a comma.
Then is an exception. It is not followed by a comma.
• Our train was running late. Finally, it arrived.
• We got on the train. Then we realized that we didn’t have money for the ticket.

Identifying Time Adverbs
Reread the student essays, My First Foreign Friend and My First Time Cooking. List time adverbs that you find:______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

ACTIVITY 6

Subordinating Conjunctions

We also use subordinating conjunctions to sequence events such as before, as soon as, after, when, and while incomplex sentences as connectors. Complex sentences contain a main clause (independent) and a dependent
clause. The dependent clauses give extra information about the main clause, for example, where or when it
happened.
Subordinating conjunctions tell when something happened. When a subordinating conjunction comes are thebeginning of the sentences, we use a comma. No comma is needed if it comes at the end.

Time Clause

After our parents left the house,
Before my brother was born,

Main Clause
We had a party
I was an only child

Main Clause
we had a party.
I was on only child.

Time Clauseafter our parents left the house.
before my brother was born.

Using Subordinating Conjunctions
Combine each pair of sentences into one complex sentence. Use the subordinating conjunctions in (parentheses) to clarify
the sentence.

1. People harvested apples. They cooked and stored them in glass jars. (after)_______________________________________________________________________________________
2. I ate the main course. I ate my salad. (before)_______________________________________________________________________________________
3. She applied for the job. She was accepted. (As soon as)_______________________________________________________________________________________
Matthew Barbee, 2016

6

Narrative Essay: First Draft

WRITING

Now its time to write your narrative essay. Use the following guidelines to help you write.

1. Write a narrative essay about something that you did for your first time in your life. Use many
details to make the story come alive for the reader.
2. Use an interesting hook. (Try to catch a huge fish!)
3. Be sure to tell the reader what you learned at the end of your story. How has your life changednow?
4. Your title should be: “My First _______________________” (Use Title Style)
5. Your essay must be 4 paragraphs (Intro, Body Paragraphs x 2, Conclusion). You can use the
Narrative Essay Planner below to help you write.
6. Word Count: 350 - 450 words.
7. Type your essay. Follow the teacher’s typing guide.
8. Don’t forget to write your name, student ID, class, and date at the top of your paper.

Narrative Essay Planner
Paragraph

Hook

1

INTRO

Background

Thesis2

Situation

BODY

3

RisingActionClimax

4

CONCLUSION

7

This paper belongs to:

PEER EDITINGThis paper is being checked by:

Exchange papers and answer the following questions about your classmate’s essay.

1. Underline the hook? A. What type of hook is it? If there is no hook or you think it could be better, what isyour suggestion?

2. What is the background information of the story? What happened before the beginning of the story?

3. Underline the thesis sentence. If there is no thesis or you think it could be better, what is your suggestion?

4. What happened at the beginning of the story? Where was the writer? What was the writer doing?

5. What transition words or time words does the author use? List them below. If they need more time words
for clarity, please make a memo on their paper.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

6. What was the climax of the story?

7.

What did the writer learn? How did the event change the writer’s life?

8.

Overall, how do you like the essay? Give a comment to the writer.

9.

How can the writer make it better? Make a suggestion here.

10. Grammar and Spelling. Work in a group to check the essay for mistakes. Underline and add a correction

symbol if you find any mistakes. Write a question mark (?) if you don’t understand something.

8

Typing Guide
All Margins: 30mm
Font: Times New Roman, 12 point
Heading: Top Right. Include name, student ID number, class name/number/teacher, date
Title: Centered, Bold. Use title style capitalization.
Line Style: Essay must be DOUBLE-SPECED (行間: 2.0). Use formatting icon, do not hit return between lines.
Indent: Use “tab” key. The first line of each paragraph must be indented.
Word Count: At the end of the paper.

9Name: _______________________________ SID#: _________________ Class: _______________

L Below Expectations L

0
Hook
Thesisstatement
Introduction(para 1)
Rising Action(para 2)
Climax(para 3)Conclusion

1

J Excellent J34o Hook captures the reader’sattention wello Missing thesis

o Present but does not effectively
introduce the contents of the essayo Introduces the essay effectively

o Few examples/detailso Contains information notconnected to the backgroundo Some examples/detailso Background info is present

o Many thorough and clear detailso Background info well prepares
the reader for the storyo Paragraph does not describe therising action wello Describes the rising actiono Introduces the climax too earlyo No climax presento Climax is present

o Describes rising action withmany details and leads into theclimaxo Climax is clear and effectivewith many detailso Concluding sentences missingo Short and not appropriateo Concluding sentences rephrases
the thesis statemento Missing informationo Some mistakes, but they don’t
impact the ability to understandthe paragraphClarity andOrganizationo There are several problems with
understanding and clarityo Ideas are not well organizedo Few transition wordso Concluding sentences tell what
the writer learned from thisexperienceo Few mistakes in grammar,
spelling, and punctuationo There are some problems witho High level of fluency and clarity
understanding but overall theo Natural and expressive English
meaning is clear
o Good organization and variedo Some transition words
transitions wordso Transition words are present, but
not all specific or variedo Writing is cut into many smaller paragraphso Writing is contained within 4 paragraphso No indenting first line of paragraphso Paragraphs are indentedo Missing title or heading informationo Appropriate title
o Typing guide not followedo Typing Guide followedo Less than 350 words totalo Total words: 350-400

o Total words: 400-450

Name: _______________________________ SID#: _________________ Class: _______________

L Below Expectations L

0
Hook
Thesisstatement
Introduction(para 1)
Rising Action(para 2)
Climax(para 3)Conclusion

1

2

3

/50

J Excellent J45o Hook is presento Hook captures the reader’sattention wello Missing thesis

o Present but does not effectively
introduce the contents of the essayo Introduces the essay effectively

o Few examples/detailso Contains information notconnected to the backgroundo Some examples/detailso Background info is present

o Many thorough and clear detailso Background info well prepares
the reader for the storyo Paragraph does not describe therising action wello Describes the rising actiono Introduces the climax too earlyo No climax presento Climax is present

o Describes rising action withmany details and leads into theclimaxo Climax is clear and effectivewith many detailso Concluding sentences missingo Short and not appropriateo Concluding sentences rephrases
the thesis statemento Missing informationo Some mistakes, but they don’t
impact the ability to understandthe paragrapho Many grammar and spelling
mistakes that make it difficult tounderstand the paragraphClarity andOrganizationo There are several problems with
understanding and clarityo Ideas are not well organizedo Few transition words

Word count

K Satisfactory K

Score:o Missing hook

Grammar andSpelling

Paragraphstyle

5o Hook is present

o Many grammar and spelling
mistakes that make it difficult tounderstand the paragraphWord count2/50

o Missing hook

Grammar andSpelling

Paragraph
style

K Satisfactory K

Score:o Concluding sentences tell what
the writer learned from thisexperienceo Few mistakes in grammar,
spelling, and punctuationo There are some problems witho High level of fluency and clarity
understanding but overall theo Natural and expressive English
meaning is clear
o Good organization and variedo Some transition words
transitions wordso Transition words are present, but
not all specific or variedo Writing is cut into many smaller paragraphso Writing is contained within 4 paragraphso No indenting first line of paragraphso Paragraphs are indentedo Missing title or heading informationo Appropriate title
o Typing guide not followedo Typing Guide followedo Less than 350 words totalo Total words: 350-400

o Total words: 400-45010