Personal narrative rough draft example3/25/2023 ![]() Lamott’s bravery in this piece, well, it’s almost unparalleled. But then, I had to press pause and bow down. I wanted to look away, to deny Lamott’s experience, to pretend I can’t relate. Mother Rage: Theory and Practice by Anne Lamott It boils down to this: Snow, even inside your house, can be quite beautiful. Equally important, nearly every woman who has been married to a romantic can find herself inside that story.Īdmittedly, while I read this essay, I was thinking more about my parents’ marriage than my own (my hubby’s gift-giving style is decidedly understated), but the point is, there are universal themes scattered throughout this essay. In any marriage, even the best marriage, there will come a day when you wonder why you married this person…This handsome, tuxedoed man is publicly binding his life to yours, and you think, ‘It would have to snow inside my house before I would ever feel anything but love for this man.’Ĭhupack’s writing is witty, concise and laugh-out-loud funny at times. The opening declares a truism that many are afraid to utter aloud: In fact, two of the essays I’m providing as samples appeared in The New York Times’ “Modern Love” column. ![]() And yes, there are many when it comes to Modern Love submissions. In Marriage, Beware of Big Boxes by Cindy Chupackįor me, this is a “Modern Love” column favorite. This is an essay you should experience in the moment with the author, just as I did the first time I read it. There are many other passages I yearn to share, but alas, I don’t want to give too much away. ![]() That is putting the reader in a scene with you. The pacing pulls the reader in to the point where it’s impossible to look away. In the paragraphs that follow, she describes her experience, quite literally blow by blow (and I typically avoid clichés you always should in your writing). I blink and the world turns sideways beneath me. I feel a slight weight, as if I am holding a kitten or a bird. I nod, making a chalice of my hands, and he reaches down into the plastic bucket and lifts my son’s heart and lungs out of the water. But Rebecca Gummere used metaphor beautifully, with passages like, “the multiplying cells begin a right-looping arc, developing in the form of a spiral, as would a rose, or a seashell, or a galaxy.” She also uses dialogue that provides just the right pacing, intermixed with those brilliant metaphors: This is an example of a powerful story - one that is truly unique - and that’s what kept me reading.Īdmittedly, when I read the first two paragraphs of the story, I glazed over. The Fateful Discovery a Woman Made After the Sudden Death of Her Infant Child by Rebecca Gummereįew essays have gutted me to the same degree as Gummere’s essay in O, The Oprah Magazine. Here are six must-read personal narrative essay examples. ![]() While there are fantastic examples of stellar essays lurking in nearly every corner of the internet - and I’m thinking beyond the usual suspects like The New York Times, Oprah and The Washington Post - when I teach my personal essay writing course, I frequently turn to the following examples for the reasons cited below. ![]() Now I Need a Place to Hide Away by Ann Hood 6 excellent personal narrative examples ![]()
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