WRTC 334: Introduction to Popular Writing
Second Essay Assignment: The Narrative Driven Essay – Storytelling Is What Makes Us Human
“Scene is based on action unreeling before us, as it would in a film. And it will draw on the same
techniques as fiction – dialogue, description, point of view, specificity, concrete detail”.
– Brenda Miller and Suzanne Paola
“Many times I have stood mesmerized by an aquarium tank, wondering, as I stared into the horizontal
pupils of an octopus’s large prominent eyes, if she was staring back at me – and if so, what was she
thinking?” – Sy Montgomery
“What you see in an eclipse is entirely different from what you know. It is especially different for those
of us whose grasp of astronomy is so frail that, given a flashlight, a grapefruit, two oranges, and fifteen
years, we still could not figure out which way to set the clocks for daylight savings time. Usually it’s a
bit of a trick to keep your knowledge from blinding you. But during an eclipse it is easy. What you see
is more convincing than any wild-eyed theory you may know.” – Annie Dillard
“Studying Norway’s ragged coast, with its hundreds of thousands of islands, is like studying the
country’s metaphorical DNA: it is unique, it is unendingly complex, it is the fingerprint of a nation.
Staring out the window, I could not help but slip into a quasi-profound reverie: I began to contemplate
the arbitrariness of islands, the phallic language of lighthouses, the band of sky-land-coast as a kind of
naturalized EKG readout.” – Reif Larsen
“People need maps to your dreams.” – Allen Gurganus
Writing Assignment Prompt:
For this assignment you are going to write a narrative driven essay. Using the techniques we’ve
discussed and observed in the reading assignments, tell a story. It can be a narrative that explores an
issue or event you have been following or it can be a story that explores a subject about which you are
curious. You may want to write about the natural world, or about the human world meeting the natural
world, or about a series of related or a series of seemingly unrelated facts, or about an event you
witnessed (or you are witnessing).
Begin with a scene. Include characters. Use concrete description and figurative language in order to
illuminate abstract ideas and to show the story. Make the experience of reading this essay cinematic. Use
your writing to make your audience care about your subject. Don’t tell your audience to care. Allow your
descriptive narrative do the work. This essay is an exercise in storytelling.
When you use outside sources, use either the Associated Press (AP) or the Modern Language Association
(MLA) style. When using a digital platform, you may use hyperlinks.
JMU’s Citations and Sources
http://www.jmu.edu/uwc/link-library/citation-sources/citation-reference-by-format.shtml
You will upload a docx. attachment onto Canvas by Noon on Sunday October 18th. I expect the
beginnings of your piece to be rough and unfinished. This is good. This is the beginning. The
purpose of the class workshop is to guide one another and to help one another find his or her
voice.
For the FINAL Revision: Word Count (ballpark) 1500 – 2500 words, typed, 1’ margins, Times New
Roman 12 pt. font, double-spaced, with a title; your name, date, and course number.
Reading Assignments to Use for Guidance and to Use as Models:
•
“The Basics of Writing in Any Form,” “Using Research to Expand Your Perspective,” “Writing
the Larger World,” and “Taking Place: Writing the Physical World” from Tell It Slant by
Brenda Miller and Suzanne Paola (print copies and/or Canvas).
•
Sy Montgomery’s “Deep Intellect” from Orion Magazine
https://orionmagazine.org/article/deep-intellect/
•
Part One from Rebecca Skloot’s The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks (print copy)
•
Elizabeth Kolbort’s “The Sixth Extinction: There have been five great die-offs in history. This
time, the cataclysm is us” from The New Yorker (Article grew into her book entitled, The Sixth
Extinction: An Unnatural History in 2014) http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2009/05/25/thesixth-extinction
•
Annie Dillard’s “Total Eclipse” from The Next American Essay (print copy)
•
Reif Larsen’s “Norway the Slow Way” from The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/09/19/travel/reif-larsen-norway.html?_r=0
Week 8
Oct 19
Class Workshop – Read and write comments on drafts written by students 1-5
Oct 21
Class Workshop – Read and write comments on drafts written by students 6-10
Week 9
Oct 26
Class Workshop – Read and write comments on drafts written by students 11-15
Oct 28
Class Workshop – Read and write comments on drafts written by students 16 –20