The Story of My Life Activity A Imagine that you are writing a personal narrative. Choose two of the following incidents and write a short introduction in paragraph form for each.
1. helping to cook a meal for your family
2. overhearing a classmate saying something mean and untrue about you
3. going on a long road trip 4. playing in a championship game 5. moving because your mother got a new job
6. finding or losing something 7. meeting someone new
Helen Keller’s teacher, Anne Sullivan
Activity B Below are two introductions for personal narratives. Choose the less effective paragraph and rewrite it to make it stronger. 1. I woke up to the sounds of a scratchy weather report on the radio and my mom insisting I get up and get dressed. The winds outside were slapping gusts of rain against our house, and my dad was packing the car with food and blankets. You’d think I’d be used to participating in an abrupt exodus alongside my fellow Dade County residents during a hurricane. But the last serious one that hit our section of Florida happened when I was too young to remember. Even with all of my family’s preparations for this one, I was still in for quite a ride.
2. Ever since I learned to read, I’ve studied snakes, especially my favorite, the king cobra. When I was given the opportunity last year to go to India with a group from school, I hoped finally to see one up close. It was a long, tiring trip. The airplane food was bad, and I sat next to someone who talked during the whole flight. I never want to take such a long flight again.
LiNK
Someone was drawing water and my teacher placed my hand under the spout. As the cool stream gushed over one hand she spelled into the other the word water, first slowly, then rapidly. I stood still, my whole attention fixed upon the motions of her fingers. Suddenly I felt a misty consciousness as of something forgotten—a thrill of returning thought; and somehow the mystery of language was revealed to me. I knew then that “w-a-t-e-r” meant the wonderful cool something that was flowing over my hand . . . Helen Keller
Writer’s Corner Choose a topic and title from the list of possibilities you created on page 227. Write two introductions to begin your personal narrative. Be sure the first sentence of each entices your audience to continue reading. Later you can select your favorite introduction and revise it to
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Post your introductions on the class blog for peer review.
make it even more effective. Personal Narratives • 229