Personal Narrative Essay

1. Personal Narrative Essay Introduction Paragraph

2. Sentence #1: Attention Grabber • Ask a question Have you ever climb a glaciers? • Anecdote or Quote Walt Disney said, “It’s quite fun to do the impossible.” • Startling Statement Alaska is estimated to have more than 100,000 glaciers.

3. Sentence #2: Lead-in • This sentence will connect your attention-grabber to your thesis statement (which states the main idea of your essay). Let’s see how we can build on each of the attention grabbers we have already written.

4. Example Lead-in Sentences • Have you ever climbed a glacier? Well, I did when I visited Alaska during the summer of 2011. • Walt Disney said, “It’s quite fun to do the impossible.” This quote is reflective of my experience during my Alaskan vacation. • Alaska is estimated to have more than 100,000 glaciers. This was just one of many interesting facts I learned when I visited Alaska.

5. Sentence #3: Thesis Statement • The thesis is one sentence that states the main idea of your essay. It tells what the essay will be about. Here is an example: • My trekking excursion in Alaska was adventurous and has forever influenced the way I look at tasks I think are difficult.

6. Complete Intro Paragraph #1 Have you ever climbed a glacier? Well, I did when I visited Alaska during the summer of 2011. My trekking excursion in Alaska was adventurous and has forever influenced the way I look at tasks I think are difficult.

7. Complete Intro Paragraph #2 Walt Disney said, “It’s quite fun to do the impossible.” This quote is reflective of my experience during my Alaskan vacation. My trekking excursion in Alaska was adventurous and has forever influenced the way I look at tasks I think are difficult.

8. Complete Intro paragraph #3 • Alaska is estimated to have more than 100,000 glaciers. This was just one of many interesting facts I learned on my Alaskan vacation. My trekking excursion in Alaska was adventurous and has forever influenced the way I look at tasks I think are difficult.

9. One More Time…. • Sentence #1: Attention Grabber • Sentence #2: Lead-in to Thesis • Sentence #3: Thesis (main idea) statement

10. Personal Narrative Essay Conclusion Paragraph

11. For this personal narrative you will write a reflective conclusion. The definition of reflection is looking back on an experience and determining the importance of that experience, what you learned; insightful, considered thoughts about a subject.​ This conclusion looks back over the story and draws a conclusion about the experience, sometimes sharing a lesson learned with the reader, other times simply offering some thoughts about the experience and how it has changed the writer’s life.​

12. The conclusion must wrap up the story, be reflective and include… • what you learned or realized from this experience. • It should be the logical ending to the story and be about three sentences long. • Never end a paper by saying “The End!” If the reader can not tell that the story is at an end, you need to rewrite the conclusion.

13. Intro: Have you ever climbed a glacier? Well, I did when I visited Alaska during the summer of 2011. My trekking excursion in Alaska was adventurous and has forever influenced the way I look at tasks I think are difficult. Conclusion: Trekking Mendenhall Glacier was an amazing once in a lifetime experience. At times this thrilling and strenuous experience did leave me with doubts about completing it; however, I am glad I pushed through. Now, anytime I am presented with a difficult task, I remind myself of this trek and the task turns into a challenge I know I can beat!