Familial story and connections

Essay #1 will extend on our reading selections. After reading about Ben Franklins arrival in Philadelphia due to familial disagreements, Louisa May Alcotts familial blunders at Fruitlands, and Kate Chopins fictionalized American mystery regarding familial heritage, please think of your own family story. What is your familial story that connects you to your passions (Franklin), to your convictions (Alcott), or to your secret heritage (Chopin)? Please write an essay that conveys familial connections with a meaningful message. Pick ONE event from your life: Just ONE. DO NOT write a journal of ALL your lifes hardships pick ONE. Once you have that ONE event, write about it in great detail, putting readers in that time/place. Tell your story like the ones you read in this module/unit/chapter. When writing a narrative essay, one might think of it as telling a story. These essays are often anecdotal, experiential, and personal allowing you to express yourself in creative and, quite often, moving ways. Finally, make readers believe that this event changed you in a way that you now understand connections more meaningfully. Using the three stories due in this module/unit/chapter, make connections with their narrator/character/hero and your life. Use MLA to cite your direct quotation, paraphrase, and/or summary (See MLA module). Introduction: The introduction should set the tone for the audience. Let this essay be more creative and fluid but know your audience. The essay should be descriptive while you tell a story. You are trying to persuade readers that this ONE event brings meaning to your familial life, to your familial history, and/or to the way you connect with your heritage; your tone should be assertive and confident. This is about YOU. If there is no point in what you are narrating, why narrate it at all? Convince your readers that this event changed who you are as a person and forever altered how you connect with your family. Always begin with the hook. Prior to writing the thesis, the essay should start with an attention-grabber that moves the reader and invokes curiosity in the topic. In any college essay, students will want to avoid clichs. For the most part, clichs are signs of weak writing at the college level. In addition to avoid sounding ill-prepared, you should also avoid starting the essay with a direct quotation, a definition of a vocabulary word, or a Google says… Finally, end the introduction with a thesis statement; Because I failed fifth grade, my family dynamic shifted in a way that made us closer as a family, happier as kids, and accountable to each other. Body Paragraphs: Next, use your body paragraphs to develop the parts of your story that matter. Remember, this should not sound like a journal or a diary of your lifes major events. However, it should highlight ONE event that you feel is your story about connection. This means that you must include a detailed description of the actual event (Use 5 senses, Show, dont tell about the event), so readers can imagine it. In addition to that moment/event, you need to use the story/ies to support your assertion on how you view/perceive this event. Make references to at least one, if not all, our authors from this first unit/module/chapter. You may summarize their story as it aligns with yours; you may paraphrase one passage as it parallels with your event; you may use a direct quotation/phrase as it speaks to YOUR story. Whatever writer/s you use (ONLY from our course module #1), please provide a Works Cited page at the end of your essay where you provide the citation (see MLA folder on how to create a Works Cited page). Conclusion: Wrap it up talk about how this moment is about Connections in your life. Return to something you said in the introduction and repeat or use the basic concept to wrap up your essay. Points to remember: The essay should be written from a clear point of view. It is quite common for narrative essays to be written from the standpoint of the author; describe it in first person narration. Do not TELL the event, SHOW the event! Use clear and concise language throughout the essay. Much like the descriptive essay, narrative essays are effective when the language is carefully, particularly, and artfully chosen. Use specific language to evoke specific emotions and senses in the reader. If you are writing about death, words like grief, sadness, hurt, pain, sympathy, etc. Details matter! As always, be organized! Start from the beginning of your story by thinking of it as a 4-part process: State it, explain it, elaborate upon it, and finally, offer a new idea (SEEN). The audience should be in the moment with you, hearing, seeing, feeling it all. Writing Style is important. Topic sentences at the beginning of each body paragraph, transition sentences between paragraphs, and fully developed paragraphs (SEEN) are all important (see Grammar folder: on paragraphing). Using correct spelling, not using lowercase i like a text message, and proper use of punctuation (FANBOYS) is always important. Format meets MLA standard Please double space your essay. Use Times New Roman, 12-point font. Make sure only page one has a heading: Your name, my name (Dr. Elwood), course name (EN111 College Writing), date. Page numbers in top right-hand corner of each page thereafter. The must haves: A heading with your name in the top left-hand corner with a title for the essay centered before the essay starts. Double space, 12pt. font, Times New Roman, indent your paragraphs. Write between 1,000-1,500 words which equates to about 3-5 pgs. Please submit PDF or Microsoft Word-only. Do NOT use outside research. Please use at least ONE of the reading selections available in this module. MLA citation required (in-text AND Works Cited page). Works Cited Alcott, Louisa May. Transcendental Wild Oats: A Chapter from an Unwritten Romance. The Independent. 1873. www.gutenberg.org. Foundations of Writing and Literature edited by Dr. Elwood-Farber, Kendall Hunt Pub., 2025, pp. 14-24. Chopin, Kate. Dsires Baby. Bayou Folk. 1894. www.gutenberg.org. Foundations of Writing and Literature edited by Dr. Elwood-Farber, Kendall Hunt Pub., 2025, pp. 25-29. Franklin, Ben. Arrival in Philadelphia. Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. 1793. www.gutenberg.org. Foundations of Writing and Literature edited by Dr. Elwood-Farber, Kendall Hunt Pub., 2025, pp. 9-13. The Hidden Truth in Viola Davis Family Tree. Finding Your Roots written by Henry Louis Gates Jr., directed by Sabin Streeter, PBS, 2023.