Prewriting for Narratives
The narrative portion of your narrative argument needs to accomplish two things: (1) share a real story about someone impacted by the topic of your argument and (2) include details that support your argument. These prewriting activities will help you identify a person and story connected to your topic, gather important details for the story, and organize your thoughts before you begin a first draft.
Prewriting to Select a Narrative Topic
You have several options for a narrative topic. You can choose an event that you yourself have exprienced, one involving someone you know personally, or the experience of someone you have never met but have learned about through your research. Consider people you encountered in the books, articles, videos, podcasts, and other sources you explored to create your argument essay.
Explore topic ideas.
Answer these questions to gather topic ideas for your narrative.
- What issue does my argument focus on?
- What experiences do I have related to the topic of my argument?
- What family members, friends, or other personal acquaintances have experiences directly related to the issue?
- What people in books, news stories, or other media have experiences related to the issue?
- Of the people identified in questions 2–4, whose experience best supports my argument?
Choose your topic.
Choose a person among the answers from the last activity. If more than one person has a story that supports your argument, rank the stories in terms of drama and impact. Whose story would most likely convince readers to support your position on the issue?
Prewriting for the 5 W's and H
Before you can share a story, you need to jot down the basics of what happened so that readers will have a clear sense of the important details. Asking and answering the 5 W’s and H will activate your memory if you are writing about your own experience or guide your research if you are writing about someone else's experience.
- Who was involved in the experience?
- What exactly happened? (the actions or events)
- Where did it happen?
- When did it happen?
- Why did it happen? (the background)
- How did the person change because of the experience?
Answer the 5 W's and H.
Use a 5 W’s and H chart to answer the key questions (who? what? where? when? why? and how?) about your topic.
Prewriting for Narrative Details
Rather than simply telling what happened in your story (first this, then this, finally this . . .), you can bring the experience to life for your readers through a combination of narrative details: action, dialogue, reflections, and descriptions. A gathering grid can help you collect these sorts of details.
First, jot down the main events in the left column. Then for each event, list as many different types of narrative details as you can. This step will likely require additional research if you are creating a story about someone else.
|
Main Events |
Action and Dialogue |
Sensory Details |
Reflective Details |
|
Cheering on the football team |
"When did the football field change from grass to field turf? Isn't that expensive?" |
Gleaming helmets, beautiful new red and white uniforms Tattered girls' volleyball uniforms |
Didn't they get new uniforms two years ago? The volleyball team still wears ancient ones. I realized boys and girls sports at our school are not equal. |
|
Getting shut down by friends |
Sharing my concerns about inequality with friends "You see the types of girls that play sports. I’m not getting judged like that." "Who cares? Boys sports are more popular anyway." |
  |
I was disappointed, but I wasn't going to give up. |
|
Running for student council president |
Creating a platform for equality in school sports "There goes Drama Jess again, making something out of nothing!" Giving my speech "What's up with your outfit?" Losing the vote :( |
Sparse claps |
Feeling embarrassed but full of resolve |
Teaching Tip
In most narratives, actions, dialogue, sensory details, and reflections intertwine. When students write their own narratives, they should draw on many different types of details but interlace them into a smooth, true-life story.
Gather narrative details.
Complete a gathering grid like the one above, listing as many different types of details as you can about the story you will share in your narrative. If you are writing about someone other than yourself, complete additional research to fill in as many parts of the chart as you can. If you can't find any details for a particular box, leave it blank.
Teaching Tip
Remind students that their narratives need to connect to their overall argument, so they should be particularly mindful of any narrative details that connect with their main claim or supporting reasons.