Writing a Narrative Essay

Narrative essays are a favourite among students as it is easier to handle. This type of essay enables the writer to use and share his/her experiences with the reader.

 

Guidelines to remember when writing a narrative essay

• You have to decide whether to write your essay from your own perspective or someone else’s. The first person or third person singular is the most popular voice. If you choose to write from your own perspective then use the first person singular i.e. I. If you choose to write from someone else’s perspective use third person pronouns (he, she, it). Be consistent in your choice of pronouns. Do not switch perspectives mid-way through the essay.
• Engage your reader. Make the story real for him. Make him involved in your experience.
• Bring your characters to life. Make them real. Make them memorable. It is always more interesting to read about flawed characters.
• Have a simple plot. You will be better off using the chronological order. Flashbacks are a wonderful device where you merge the past with the present. But be careful. Only engage in this if you can carry it off.
• Use only the simple past tense if you cannot handle the past perfect tense.
• Use verbs and adjectives to enable your reader to see in his mind’s eye.
• You may use dialogue, but use it sparingly and effectively. Remember you are writing a narrative not a script.
• Avoid using informal language.
• Avoid using clichés.

 

 

 

Sample Essay

 

Write a story ending with “I never saw her again after that”

 

The gaunt figure that inched its way slowly towards the medicine counter looked old and haggard.  Her dreary looking outfit did nothing to conceal her bleak and depressing demeanour. Anyone who looked at her would have thought she carried the world’s burden on her shoulders. Quietly, she sat on one of the chairs and waited patiently, like the rest of us, for her number to be flashed on the digital screen. 

 

I was rattled. I knew I had seen her somewhere before – a younger, happier version. There was no way I could be wrong. Like an arrow released from its bow, the buried and forgotten memories pierced my heart with an unknown intensity. It had to be Mary Anne, my best friend in secondary school. Then again, this person looked old, much too old to be twenty-nine. Anyway, I summoned enough courage and went towards her. Hearing my footsteps, she looked up slowly. The flash of recognition in her eyes told me I was not wrong.

 

“It is you, Mary Anne Danker, is it not?”

 

She nodded her head silently as if embarrassed.

 

“Hello, John? You are looking good.”

 

Her remarks reminded me of how beautiful she had been once. Mary Anne had been the school beauty. Everyone had admired her for her looks, her brains and her beautiful character. Many had said, rather enviously, that God had worked overtime with her – making her one of his best masterpieces.

 

One day, Mary Anne had stopped coming to school. Devastated, I had gone to her house, only to find it all locked up. Checks with neighbours proved futile. No one knew where the Danker family had gone and why they had left so suddenly.

 

Taking a seat next to her, I wondered what had happened to the ravishing beauty I had once known.

 

“Why did you leave so suddenly, Mary Anne? Why?” 

 

She looked at me nervously while clasping and unclasping her hands in her lap. I could sense that she was rather reluctant to talk, reluctant to expose a part of her life which had probably caused her a great deal of pain and suffering. A prolonged silence ensued. Finally, she inhaled deeply and started telling me her story.

 

Her mother had been diagnosed with end-stage cancer and there was nothing the doctors could do. They said that she had only three months to live. Her father thought it best to return to their hometown, to let her live in peace in the surroundings she had grown up in. Her father, devastated by his wife’s death, started to neglect his own health and three months later, he too died of a broken heart, leaving Mary Anne in the care of relatives.

 

Tears rolled down Mary Anne’s cheeks as she related the difficult years with her aunt. The old widow treated her badly, forcing Mary Anne to quit school and to work as a dishwasher in a restaurant. The cruel old lady often beat her, and her cousins jealous of her beauty were more vicious than their mother.   

 

Now that the aunt was old and suffering from cancer, her five children had deserted her when they realised that she needed taking care of. Despite her aunt’s ghastly treatment of her, Mary Anne felt sorry for the pitiable state her aunt was in.

 

“I cannot leave her. She has no one else,” she said. “I have promised to take care of her till the end of her life.”

 

I looked at Mary Anne and saw her goodness. Instead of seeing a gaunt and weary figure, I saw an amazingly beautiful human being. My heart went out to her.

 

Just then her number was flashed on the screen. She got up, and collected the medicine, which I understood, was for her aunt. Never had I felt so helpless and wretched. Her story reminded me of something my late grandfather often used to say, “Life is like an onion: You peel it off one layer at a time, and sometimes you weep.”

 

Before leaving, she turned and smiled sadly at me. I never saw her again after that.

 

 

694 words

Let us first analyse the elements of the above story.

Simple plot

-          story revolves around Mary Anne, the main character, who leaves town when her mother is diagnosed with cancer. Both parents die and she is subjected to cruelty by her aunt

-          a chance encounter at a pharmacy reveals this to the narrator

Setting

-          most likely a pharmacy/clinic

-          a past event (no specific time mentioned0

Important characters

-          Mary Anne

-          narrator

-          the aunt

 

Let us take a look at how the above essay seeks to engage the reader.

 

 

Vivid portrayal of the character through the use of verbs, adjectives and adverbs

The gaunt figure that inched its way slowly towards the medicine counter looked old and haggard.  Her dreary looking outfit did nothing to conceal her bleak and depressing demeanour.

Quietly, she sat on one of the chairs and waited patiently, like the rest of us, for her number to be flashed on the digital screen

 Vivid reminder of what character had been like before

Mary Anne had been the school beauty. Everyone had admired her for her looks, her brains and her beautiful character

Focus shifts from loss of external beauty to internal beauty

Narrator sees her loss of physical beauty at first.

I wondered what had happened to the ravishing beauty I had once known.

Then again, this person looked old, much too old to be twenty-nine

Narrator’s realisation that she is still beautiful – on the inside

I looked at Mary Anne and saw her goodness. Instead of seeing a gaunt and weary figure, I saw an amazingly beautiful human being

 

Narrator’s thoughts and feelings

Anyone who looked at her would have thought she carried the world’s burden on her shoulders.

I was rattled.

I looked at Mary Anne and saw her goodness. Instead of seeing a gaunt and weary figure, I saw an amazingly beautiful human being. My heart went out to her, wrenched out of its seat of comfort.

 

 

 

Effective use of simple past tense and past perfect tense;

(Provides a shift in focus between the events at the pharmacy and the events before the chance encounter)

 

Her remarks reminded me of how beautiful she had been once. Mary Anne had been the school beauty. Everyone had admired her for her looks, her brains and her beautiful character. Many had said, rather enviously, that God had worked overtime with her – making her one of his best masterpieces

 

Touch of humour:

Many had said, rather enviously, that God had worked overtime with her – making her one of his best masterpieces.

 

Choice of words:

- precise/apt –  pitiable, wrenched,

- not repetitive, e.g. ‘treated her badly’, “ghastly treatment’

Inclusion of dialogue:

- gives voice to the narrator and Mary Anne

- breaks monotony of narration

Use of a variety of sentence structures

I was rattled (simple sentence)

Her mother had been diagnosed with end-stage cancer and there was nothing the doctors could do (compound sentence)

Now that the aunt was old and suffering from cancer, her five children had deserted her when they realised that she needed taking care of. (complex sentence)

Use of repetitive sentence structure for emphasis:

“Why did you leave so suddenly, Mary Anne? Why?” 

 

Unexpected ending

Mary Anne decides not to desert her horrible aunt in her time of need. The beauty of her character shines through.

 

Sometimes you can use a similar story and manipulate it to suit another topic. Why don’t you try to manipulate the above sample essay to suit the topic ‘Beauty’

General Guidelines for Continuous Writing

 

• Read and consider all the questions given.  Some students make the mistake of selecting  the first question that they read or a question which they think is manageable, only to realize, much later, that they could have handled another question with much more ease.
• Choose a topic you are familiar or comfortable with. Select a topic which is within your experience as you will not have to grapple much with content.
• Opt for a topic which is within your linguistic ability. Do not select a topic just because you think it is challenging. This is not the time for experimentation. As for weak students, it is always advisable to write a narrative.
• Plan your essay – the outline/organisation, points/ideas/thoughts, and supporting points (if you are writing an argumentative or factual essay).
• Write out your essay in neat and legible handwriting. There is nothing more annoying than small or untidy handwriting, or a combination of both as the reader has to spend valuable time deciphering what you have written.
• Write in paragraphs. You may leave a line between paragraphs as it is easy on the examiner’s eye.  
• Edit and revise language if necessary – allocate 10 minutes for this and make sure spelling and punctuation are accurate.

Sample answer 1 – The Pearl

Let’s take a look at a sample question.

‘In life a person sometimes faces problems.’

How is this shown in the novel you have read? Support your answer with close reference to the text.

 

To answer the above question you need to ask yourself the following questions:

* Who is the character who faces problems?

* What are these problems?

* How many points must I provide?

The answer to the last question is relative. Due to time constraints, I suggest you provide at least three to five points.

Kino, the main character in the novel The Pearl by John Steinbeck, is initially a contented man despite living in extreme poverty.  He is satisfied with life although he is only a poor pearl diver whose only material possessions are a canoe and a brush house. He is not concerned about his lack of material comforts. Life is difficult but he is happy. However, all this changes very soon and he is plagued with problems.

The first problem Kino faces is lack of money. This problem surfaces when his only son Coyotito is stung by a scorpion. Desperate to save the life of his child, he goes to the doctor’s house to seek treatment. Unfortunately, he is denied treatment simply because he has no money to pay the doctor. Until this moment, his poverty, or rather lack of money has not been a problem. Now, he realises that he needs money to save his child. This is when he goes pearl diving because he does not want  to take chances with his son’s life. Luckily, he finds a big pearl and he believes he will be able to solve his problem by selling the pearl.  Unfortunately, things do not get better for him. Instead other problems crop up.

The second problem Kino faces is insincerity on the part of people around him. People who were disinterested in his life suddenly turn up at his doorstep. The priest, who has never been concerned about Kino or his family, now hopes that Kino will donate money to the church. Likewise, the doctor who had turned him away now comes to the settlement on the pretext of treating the baby. He deliberately poisons the baby and then gives him an antidote just to gain Kino’s confidence. Kino, who had no worries before, is now suspicious of the people around him. He is unsure of who he can trust.  He even becomes suspicious of Juana who steals the pearl one night because she wants to get rid of the evil it has brought.

Another problem is Kino’s and his family’s safety.  He is attacked not once but thrice by unknown people who are out to steal the pearl from him. During the first two attacks he suffers slight injuries but in the third attack he accidentally kills a man. This leads to even bigger problems because he has no choice but to flee the village as no one will believe him that he killed the man in self defence. More problems surface when his brush house is burnt by people searching for the pearl. He knows that whoever is after him will not leave his family alone.  Worse still, his precious canoe is damaged to prevent him from escaping by sea. He is left with no choice but to flee the village. Unfortunately, Kino faces more problems when he flees the village. Even as he is fleeing, he is pursued by three trackers, two on foot and one on horseback. Kino has to go to extreme lengths to cover his tracks to ensure his family’s safety. He knows that the trackers will not spare his family even if they find the pearl.  Kino knows that he has no choice but to kill his trackers to safeguard his family. He takes a great risk by singlehandedly taking on his pursuers using only a knife as a weapon. Unfortunately, during the struggle with the three attackers, a bullet is accidentally fired from the rifle killing his beloved son. With the death of his son, Kino has nothing to look forward to. Finally, he returns to his village unafraid of the consequences.

It is clear from the evidence above that Kino faces many problems, with each problem getting worse than the one before it. Eventually, these problems have a terrible effect on him.