What is the Goal of the Paper?
Students are required to write a 825 word paper that relates a story about some aspect of their educational development, their experiences with reading and writing, (Literacy Narrative) or an event that happened in their social lives that they learned from, (Personal Narrative). The story should discuss a situation that the student is comfortable with sharing. The goal of the paper is to help the audience understand the writers current attitudes towards either reading and writing, or some other academic skill by sharing a story that showcases a situation where the writer had to transition from being unequipped to being proficient at said skill.
What are the Content Requirements?
A clear establishment of the setting of the story.
Some Indication of the story’s significance to the author.
A Clear and descriptive thesis statement.
A Logical and focused sequence of events for the story.
A well defined central conflict that drives the events of the story.
At least three lines of characteristic dialogue.
An appropriate balance of description and exposition.
A well explained climax and easily identifiable climax.
A conclusion that provides closure to the main story threads of the paper.
A clearly stated moral.
What are the Technical Specifications for the Paper?
The paper needs to have:
At least 5 lines of dialogue
Correct MLA Formatting, which includes:
Double spacing
12 Point Font that can be either Times New Roman or Calibri, but the font needs to be consistent throughout the paper.
A header – The student’s last name and page number in the top right hand corner of each page.
1 inch margins all around.
Correct grammar, spelling, and punctuation:
Students can lose up to ten points on their grading rubric for a paper that has excessive errors.
