How to Teach Narrative Writing

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By DLessem
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Students are usually raised on the 5-paragraph essay and its emphasis on formality and rigid structure, conventions that don't lend themselves to narrative essays. Teaching narrative writing requires equal parts examples and assignments. Students must see what a narrative essay looks like and what conventions it uses before they can learn to write one of their own.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Step 1

Have your students read several narrative essays. Many teachers try to teach essay writing without first exposing their students to well-written essays. This is the main reason that so many students dislike essays and are unable to write them well.
Step 2

Use the essays to introduce the structure of narrative writing. First allow your students to react to the essays informally and discuss the author's main point. Then show them the structure of a narrative essay using the readings as models.
Step 3

Assign a narrative writing assignment. If you want it to be imaginative, you could have them write about an event in a story from the point of view of one of the characters. If you want a more personal essay, you could have your students profile a person who inspired them.
Step 4

Give your students plenty of opportunities to practice narrative writing. Writing several short narrative essays will do more to help your students master the style than writing one or two long ones.

Tips & Warnings

Be sure to emphasize the personal, informal structure of narrative essays, particularly if you are teaching students who have already learned how to write persuasive essays. Most "school writing" must be in the third person and use formal language, but these conventions don't apply to narrative writing.
Be sure to use a clear rubric that lays out exactly what you are looking for. This will make your students more comfortable with exploring a new form of writing.
Give your students as many options for narrative topics as possible. Some students are not comfortable writing personal essays, while others have difficulty writing from the perspective of someone else, such as a historical figure or fictional character.

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