Topic Proposal

Due Tuesday. One page, typed.

Write: Briefly describe the story you want to tell. Write a brief synopsis of the event, include any characters present, the setting, the dramatic action, etc.
Include any conclusions/reflections you think you can draw from this experience.

Read. Pages625-633; 50-53 in St. Martin's Guide

Remember:
A good narrative essay makes some attempt to find meaning in this event for the reader. It may represent a theme that is common to many people, thus highlighting what is important in this shared experience. However, Some essays share with the reader an experience few of us have lived through (ie going off to war, getting out of prison, parenting as a teen, skydiving, etc). These essays then present the "truth" of that experience to those of us who haven't lived through it.

Both styles attempt to transcend beyond the merely personal story in that they attempt to draw a conclusion about what it means to be human. In the Dillard piece she relates how some of the greatest moments of our life come when we throw ourselves fully into something (and the glory therein). While this in not monumental conclusion, it is an interesting and important idea.

PS here is the link to the story by John Updike, a great American writer who died this week.