Andreas Garza

College Writing R1A, Section 007

8 December 2017

Criteria for Amazing Personal Narratives

Taking someone into the depths of your memory can be an interesting and a very

powerful way for someone to get to know you. Sharing details, point of views, and lessons you

learned from these memories gives an insight into your life. For instance, sharing the memory of

your first pet, an amazing bike ride you had or even the time your best friend passed away can

open up newfound connections and aspects of your personality that cannot be expressed

otherwise between the narrator and reader. The type of literature that can create this intimate

connection is personal narrative writing. This genre takes you on a trip through the narrator eyes,

with the hope that the reader will gain a life lesson from it. At the very least, such narratives will

entertain the reader with the intention of imparting wisdom and taking the reader onto a journey

with the narrator, allowing them to experience similar, if not precise, emotions the narrator had

felt while writing.

The best narratives always come from authors who include precise and factual descriptive

details that emotionally impact the reader. As Judith Barrington explains, When you intersperse

good descriptive details throughout your writing, the reader becomes familiar with certain

characters through his own encounters with them [and ] your readers must, to some degree,

make their own acquaintances with the characters through the sensory details you provide

(112). Personal narrative writing that is filled with descriptive and genuine details allows for an

easier writing process and also provides the reader with more emotional engagement to the work.
This emotional attachment comes from imagery and meaningful details that allow the reader to

relate to the author in certain ways.

Michihiko Hachiya for example, in Hiroshima Diary recounts his memory of the

Hiroshima bombings. Moments after the initial explosion he finds himself walking around his

neighborhood deeply confused while seeing horrid sights. Through the use of very descriptive

and precise details an emotional connection is made between Hachiya and the reader. This

emotional relation stems from the reader being able to relate more closely with the author.

Hachiya takes us into a scene where he is assessing the extent of his injuries:

All over the right side of my body I was cut and bleeding. A large splinter was
protruding from a mangled wound in my thigh, and something warm trickled into my
mouth. My cheek was torn, I discovered as I felt it gingerly, with the lower lip laid wide
open. Embedded in my neck was a sizable fragment of glass which I matter-of-factly
dislodged, and with the detachment of one stunned and shocked I studied it and my
blood-stained hand. (30)

Hachiya effectively adds descriptive words like torn, dislodged, and mangled into his

writing, which lets him paint an image in the readers mind and utilize pathos. This

establishment of emotion grants for a closer and more effective read. When using very

descriptive and precise details like Hachiya, the reader can visualize the scene more vividly,

which consequently lets the reader experience the situation in a similar way the narrator did.

With the reader putting themselves in the narrators shoes, a more emotional connection emerges

between the two since the reader gains both insight and empathy of the narrators story.

All impressive narratives include some sort of conflict; without a conflict, a lesson cannot

be taught t. Kori Morgan explains that an exceptional narrative must contain something about

people dealing with problems. Whether theyre going on a quest to defeat evil or are stuck in a

bad relationship, the characters must face a conflict that needs a solution. Ensuring that there is

a conflict in a narrative will make for an interesting story, a foundation for a lesson to be taught,
and a base for a storyline. Not only must a narrative contain conflict, but it also must be resolved.

Barrington suggests, As a crafter of words you will want your story to have some sense of

resolution as will your reader (58). Without some sense of resolution, the reader will not fully

appreciate the lesson being portrayed.

Ayano Jeffers-Fabro in Dinner Is Served takes us through an emotional account of her

experience with physical abuse from her boyfriend. It begins with her boyfriend beating her and

afterwards apologizing. After receiving the beating, she cooks his meal and is torn with

indecision: to abandon her current situation and who she loves or to stay and receive more abuse.

Subconsciously she makes the decision to leave and never look back. Throughout this personal

narrative, the reader learns from the strength that Jeffers-Fabro had at the time of her abuse. This

is important to the original premise of a great narrative because an exceptional narrative will

always have a conflict, resolution, and a message for the readers. She states the resolution to the

conflict at the end when she says:

That night I left, never looking back. Until this day, the scar from the stove still
remains visible on my arm, reminding me of what I left behind that night. Sometimes I
look down at it when I cook and feel the same heat from the stove that I felt years ago.
And I am glad it is there, as a reminder of how strong I have become from that
experience. (2)

Giving the reader the inside scoop of her decision to leave and mentioning the scar allows the

reader to see what she has overcome to reach her final resolution. The final resolution was her

coming to the decision to leave the unhealthy environment she was in. After seeing her conflict

and resolution the reader gets the final message: regardless to what extent an individual loves his

or her significant other, fear, or any other factor, an individual should not stay in an abusive

relationship. Her scar serves as a reminder to live by this message, which she projects on her
reader. Her transformation helps the reader understand how Jeffers-Fabro grew from the abuse

and how she overcame it, which allows Jeffers-Fabro to convey her lesson.

Another instance where the conflict and resolution are structured like this is in Langston

Hughes Salvation. Hughes in this narrative shares his experience going through a big revival at

his aunts church. He takes us into the scene where he is kneeling in front of the congregation

and the pastor, hoping to eventually see Jesus. While everyone around him is praying, the last

child other than him decides to lie and say he saw Jesus just so the congregation accepts him. All

of the pressure is on Hughes, for he is the last child kneeling, as he debates whether or not to lie

that he also saw Jesus. This scene shows us what he decided was the best action plan:

Now it was really getting late. I began to be ashamed of myself, holding

everything up so long. I began to wonder what god thought about Westley, who certainly
hadnt seen Jesus either, but who was now sitting proudly on the platform. God had not
struck Westley dead for taking his name in vain or for lying in the temple. So, I decided
that maybe to save further trouble, Id better lie, too, and say that Jesus had come, and get
up and be saved. So, I got up. (148)

Hughes reveals more of his emotional conflict when he states That night, for the first time in my

life but one for I was a big boy twelve years old I cried. I cried, in bed alone. We, the

readers, see how when Hughes does not stay true to his morals and values, it affects him

detrimentally. Through Hughes crying and loss of faith, this narrative demonstrates that not

staying true to yourself, just to be accepted has repercussions. The consequence in Hughess case

is being not faithful anymore.

Having a strong resolution in a personal narrative will allow for the reader to get a sense

of conclusion and will make it easier to take a lesson from the narrative. For example, in

Salvation it states, I was really crying because I couldnt bear to tell her that I had lied, that I

had deceived everybody in the church, that I hadnt seen Jesus, and that now I didnt believe

there was a Jesus anymore, since he didnt come to help me (22). Giving the reader this
resolution, they can take the lesson that no matter what route an individual take, lying should

never be the option, for it ultimately complicates Hughes situation more.

The most essential component of an excellent personal narrative is character growth. In

any exciting personal narrative, the character must evolve as a result of their experiences. For

example, in Fast Food Drive Thru by Edgar Martinez, you can see how in the beginning the

narrator wants to quit his job due to the overwhelming stress and annoying customers. You can

see this when he states, I contemplated whether or not to quit my first job. I questioned why I

still put on a fake smile during my shift, why I still dealt with rudeness, why I still stuck with it

(2). Then throughout the story he has experiences with customers and talks with his parents who

influence him, which enlightens him that the job has more of a meaning that just any ordinary

job. He compares the small trials of his job to the suffering that his parents had to go through

while coming to the United States. At the end, we can see his growth when he states, Those

troubles and sacrifices my parents went through were for their children; I wasnt about to let

some simple job get the best of me (3). We see that through his experiences he grew as an

individual. Having character development throughout a narrative helps engage because they

develop an attachment with the characters better and relate with them more. Being able to grow

with a character or even start a companionship with a character will allow for the reader to learn

from the characters mistakes or achievements more closely. Character development will also

be able to provide a foundation for you to write an excellent narrative which has enticing events

and an interesting plot.

To be able to take someone in the past and write a recollection of an experience is no

easy task. Personal narrative writing should take you side by side with the narrator. The narrator

is able to do this by engaging the reader through the implementation of crucial details and
imagery, character growth, and a plot with both a conflict and resolution. Going on this

adventure with the narrator, the reader will learn from their mistakes, achievements, or sorrows,

and all the aspects of these aforementioned emotions. Personal narrative writing is not only

beneficial to the reader, since they are able to take away a concluding message, but also to the

narrator. Personal narrative writing can allow for a narrator to give praise to a loved one that

passed away, or even keep a collection of old memories.

 Works Cited

Morgan, Kori. What Makes an Effective Narrative? The Pen and The Pad, The Pen and The
Pad, penandthepad.com/effective-narrative-22378.html.

Barrington, Judith. Writing the Memoir. Portland,Or., Eighth Mountain Press, 2002.

Martinez, Edgar. Fast Food Drive Thru.

Jeffers-Fabro, Ayano. Dinner is Served.

Hughes, Langston. Salvation. The Writers Presence A pool of Readings, edited by Donald
McQuade and Robert Atwan, Bedford/ St. Martins, 2003, 146-148.

Hachiya, Michihiko, Hiroshima Diary.