20 Mar Third Person Narrative

IT NEEDS TO BE ABOUT SOMEONE YOU KNOW PERSONALLY.  SOMETHING CONFLICTING THAT HAS HAPPENED TO THEM OR THEY LIVED THROUGH A HUGE EVENT. LIKE A FAMILY MEMBER COMING TO AMERICA AS AN IMAGRANT, SOMEONE LIVING THROUGH POLIO, SOMEONE WHO LOST A CHILD.

Purpose: The profile is a standard of the narrative mode of writing. It allows writers to examine a subject, usually a person, to make a compelling, often implied statement about a contemporary topic. It also allows writers to examine the personal, more emotional qualities of a subject matter by relying on elements that humanize a topic. The purpose of this essay assignment is to help students develop a better understanding of the narrative, while at the same time examining an important subject for our time and coming closer to the conventions of academic writing. The profile allows writers to tell a narrative while avoiding first person usage, a challenging task for writers unfamiliar with the expectations of scholarly writing.

Tasks: For the narrative essay, you will find one person, any person you like, to profile. The profile should identify one singular, interesting quality in this person that is worth sharing with readers. Writers also should be able to describe in narrative format a sequence of events that have led to this interesting quality identified in the subject at hand.

While a narrative does not necessarily require an expressly stated thesis, I believe your essays will be stronger if you can identify in your subject one specific quality and explain it to readers in one clearly stated, umbrella sentence. This sentence should probably be in the first paragraph.

Consider crafting a statement that explains to readers quickly what makes this person unique, distinctive, interesting, intriguing, different, or noteworthy.

Consider the following questions:

• Person X is worth writing a profile about because____.
• Why am I interviewing this person?
• What makes this person interesting?
• What story can I recount that I have heard from the subject?
• How does that story justify the overarching intent of the profile?
• Have I asked my subject key vital information (name, age, hometown, education, family)

Submission and Formatting Instructions: 

• Include a clearly stated thesis and follow an organizational structure discussed in class.
• Type and double space your paper.
• Margins must be 1 inch.
• Use Times New Roman, 12-point font.
• Cite your sources according to MLA style.
• Include a Works Cited page.