Lesson on Personal Narratives

Read works by  Prof. Marsh

Objectives: Students will be able to reveal some element of culture that would have otherwise remained inaccessible or invisible through the lens of this one individual’s story.

Agenda

Do Now: Unpack the piece ” The Shadow Knows” by Beverly Lowry  or ” Finders Keepers: The Story of Joey Coyle” by Mark Bowden in a small group.

  • How does the story take shape based on what the author learns from your subject, rather than leading with his/her own assumptions?
  • How does the story “surprise” the author and reader?
  • What questions may have the author asked to gain the information or story that s/he needed to do the profile writing?
  • What element of culture do you believe the author tries to reveal through the narrative?

Teaching Point with Guided Practice

  • As author Beverly Lowry explains, literary journalism ventures deeper into complicated human material that the news may only touch upon; literary journalism “makes a stab at explanation.” How is your story an attempt to ” make a stab at explanation”?
  • Literary journalism (or new journalism) is defined in Tell It Slant as a form of creative nonfiction that “allow[s] writers the luxury of a first-person voice and the use of literary devices—scene, imagery, and so forth—in the service of reporting” (Miller & Paola 97)How does the story you are telling sound like it is your version not anyone else’s? 
  • Key points in “The Narrative Idea” by David Halberstam (PDF)
    1. Once you have an idea, it just flows out. Taking an idea, a central point, and pursuing it, turning it into a story that tells something about the way we live today, is the essence of narrative journalism.( 11)
    2. The more time, the more interviews you can do, the greater the density of your work.
    3. Telling a good story demands a great conception, a great idea for why the story works– for what it is and how it connects to the human conditions…you must be able to point to something larger.
    4. The more reporting- the more anecdotes, perception, and wisdom on a subject, the better. Ask: who else should I see? The more reporting you do, the more authority your voice has. The more views of any subject that you get, the better.
    5. Research and examine a good story. Figure out what the reporter did and how s/he controls the story and why it worked.

In Class Writing Exercise:

  • The writer must decide what larger meaning the story represents and lead the reader to that. What is the ” larger meaning” you are attempting to reveal?
  • If you had enough space to run with the full dialogue of your character, letting the truth of how people really speak, the truth what you saw? Select a dialogue and rewrite it to serve a specific purpose of whether it is to reveal a character or an issue or conflict.
  • Write our stories as natural story-tellers would. Don’t even stop for punctuation. Let the words fly. Based on the interviews you have conducted, tell the story within. Write non-stoppingly until the entire story is out. Don’t worry about punctuation.

Reflect: 

  • What is the sense of urgency or importance to your reporting?
  • Even though you are not the central focus, you will still be a peripheral presence in the story. How does your own subjectivity and positionality come into play in writing this piece?

Homework: Take some ideas from Deneen L. Brown’s “To Begin the Beginning” and start shaping the beginning of your narrative. “Begin with the specifics and then explain why; What’s the story about? What’s the theme? Where can I place a character quickly in a scene? How can I tempt the reader? How can I allow a reader to enter the subject’s thoughts, show her feelings? How do I use the beginning to establish a relationship with the reader? Beginning to read a story should feel life embarking on a journey, starting toward a destination.

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