Writing Skills:

A Personal Narrative
GRADED PROJECT

Writing Skills: A Personal Narrative

GRADED PROJECT
98617000
Graded Project

Writing Skills:
A Personal Narrative

© PENN FOSTER, INC. 2016

 INTRODUCTION

CONTENTS

UNIT OBJECTIVE 2

OVERVIEW 3

WHAT IS A PERSONAL NARRATIVE? 4

WHY USE THE FIRST-PERSON POINT OF VIEW? 5

NOTHING TO WRITE ABOUT? 7

ESSENTIALS: THE PARTS OF AN ESSAY 8

REVIEW: USING THE WRITING PROCESS 11

RESOURCES: GRAMMAR AND MECHANICS 14

REVIEW: AVOIDING PLAGIARISM 15

ESSENTIALS: FORMATTING YOUR ESSAY 16

QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER BEFORE SUBMITTING 16

SUBMITTING YOUR PROJECT 17

SUMMARY 17

GRADING CRITERIA 18

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 INTRODUCTION

UNIT OBJECTIVES

What will you get from this graded project?

For your writing assignment, you’ll write a personal essay, which can also be referred to as
a personal narrative. The essay that you produce must be based solely on your first-hand
personal experience(s), told from the first-person point of view, and meet the given length
requirement of 750 to 2,500 words. Within this assignment, we’ll provide information to
help you effectively write from a first-person point of view. In short, this will be an essay
about you.

The essay that you write should tell a story that will represent who “you” are to your
audience—people who don’t know you personally. It should be completely original and
shouldn’t contain any type of research; your story should be told entirely from thoughts
and memories. Instead of relying on research to construct your essay, you’ll rely on your
own memory and awareness of people and surroundings. This will ensure that your writ-
ing is credible, ethical, and authentic.

Upon successful completion of this project, you’ll be able to:

1 Write an original first-person narrative

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GRADED PROJECT

WRITING SKILLS:
A PERSONAL NARRATIVE

OVERVIEW
This assignment is intended to assist you in composing a personal narrative, fulfilling
the requirements for the first graded writing assignment in your Written Communication
course. The assignment defines the personal narrative and describes what’s involved in
its construction. It defines the first-person point of view and explains why it’s necessary.
The assignment also offers several different ideas for essay topics, as many students
have trouble identifying appropriately focused topics.

This assignment reviews the essential parts of an essay, as well as the steps of the
writing process and the guidelines for defining and avoiding plagiarism. The assignment
offers resources to help you ensure mastery of grammar and mechanics. Finally, it offers
rules for formatting and provides questions to ask yourself about your document before
submitting it for grading. By the end of this assignment, you should be ready to submit
your essay for grading.

The Penn Foster instructional staff recognizes and appreciates the importance of writing
as a form of self-expression. That noted, please be aware that we are an educational
institution and, consequently, we are legally tasked with mandated reporting of criminal
activity. Should your writing contain a description of criminal activity of any kind (by you,
including you, or against you), we are obligated to contact and alert the proper authori-
ties. While you are certainly encouraged to express yourself in your writing, we want you
to be aware of our binding obligation to take action when information regarding criminal
behavior is relayed.

For your first writing assignment in this course, you’re being asked to write a personal
essay, which can also be referred to as a personal narrative. The essay that you produce
must be based solely on your first-hand personal experience(s), told from the first-person
point of view, and meet the given length requirement of 750 to 2,500 words. Within this
assignment, we’ll provide information to help you effectively write from a first-person point
of view. In short, this will be an essay about you.

The essay that you write should tell a story that will represent who you are to your
audience—people who don’t know you personally. It should be completely original and
shouldn’t contain any type of research; your story should be told entirely from thoughts
and memories. Instead of relying on research to construct your essay, you’ll rely on your
own memory and awareness of people and surroundings. This will ensure that your writ-
ing is credible, ethical, and authentic.

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WHAT IS A PERSONAL NARRATIVE?
A personal narrative is an essay about the author. In a very basic sense, all essays are
personal, in that it’s impossible to avoid a personal opinion, even in the most objective
writing. However, the personal narrative makes no effort to hide the author’s personal
connection to the text. It’s openly accepted and celebrated that the author is the subject.
The personal narrative not only accepts, but also demands the thoughts, feelings, ideas,
and personal input of the author.

The author of a personal narrative is telling a true

story from his or her life. The author isn’t making up
the story or writing fiction.

Personal narratives are essentially nonfiction stories. The essay should create a map
that takes the reader from point A to point B to point C of the narrative. Of course, things
aren’t always as straightforward as A-B-C. It’s your job, as the author, to pull together
all the necessary elements of your story so they can efficiently guide the reader through
your story, ending with the ever-important lesson learned or insight gained from your
experience.

The essay that you create should be completely unique to you. It must show your rea-
soning behind your opinions and must provide specific examples from your personal
experience, which will ultimately show your authority to write on your chosen topic. All
(or at least a great majority) of what you write must be based on what you already know
and have experienced directly yourself. By using specific examples of what happened to
you directly or of what you personally observed happening to friends or family members,
you’re providing your own unique, distinctive perspective on the topic.

First, you must decide on an original focus, or slant, by which to discuss your topic. For
example, if you write about a vacation, you should make it a point to show, as a part of
your introduction, your unique viewpoint on the experience in question. (For example,
instead of simply stating, “I went to Hawaii,” it would be much more specific and descrip-
tive to write, “My vacation to Hawaii was one of the most exciting times in my life.”) Next,
you should use that slant to guide you through choosing and organizing the details and
examples you’ll include in your essay. Avoid giving only a list of general information or a
diary account of what happened from the time you jumped out of bed, took a shower, and
ate breakfast. That type of catalog approach lacks reader appeal and doesn’t help you to
develop your personalized focus on the experience.

You should research aspects of the narrative only to verify facts or provide statistics
to support ideas. Keep in mind that factual information can’t be the main focus of your
essay; by merely restating or paraphrasing what you’ve learned through research, you’re
failing to provide your original thinking on the topic.

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Remember that using others’ opinions or ideas in your own words is also not appropriate,
even if you agree with them or feel that they best explain your own thoughts and feelings.
If you choose to include some information obtained from research, you should carefully
choose only one or two items that support your opinion or viewpoint, making certain that
your opinion or viewpoint (not the researched information) is the main focus. The vast
majority of your essay must come from your direct knowledge and experience.

WHY USE THE FIRST-PERSON POINT OF VIEW?

Point of view refers to the writer’s relation to the story being told. Writing from a
first-person point of view requires the frequent use of the pronouns I and we. The
narrative or story is told from the writer’s personal point of view. Some examples of work
written from a first-person point of view include personal essays, autobiographies, and
memoirs. When writing from the first-person point of view, you’re relaying your personal
thoughts, feelings, and experiences and speaking for yourself only. You can make obser-
vations regarding others, but you’re not able to speak for them or truly know what they’re
thinking.

Take a look at the following sentences to find out why point of view makes a difference.

The first day at a new job is difficult for everyone.

My first day at my new job was a difficult one.

These sentences may, in essence, serve the same purpose when used as the topic
sentence in a paragraph—setting up a story about the author’s first day at a new job.
However, there’s a difference between them in both voice and point of view. The first sen-
tence is a sweeping generalization (the author doesn’t have the authority to state that this
day is difficult for every person) with a noticeably absent narrative voice; the second sen-
tence reflects the author’s personal experience and uses the first-person point of view.
The second, more personal sentence is the type you should use in your essay.

Now take a look at the following introductory paragraphs. The first example is written from
a second-person point of view:

The first day at a new job is difficult for everyone. If you’re in a new city, you
may not have friends yet to help you adjust to the new job. Everyone at work is
unknown, and you might feel alone, especially because it might be a while before
you learn your way around the building. Coworkers may be curious and looking
for friendship, but every glance seems to be suspicious, like you’re both after
the same promotion. If you can meet a friend and establish a connection, it can
change everything.

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The second example is written from a first-person point of view. Your personal narrative
needs to be written from this point of view:

My first day at my first job was a difficult one. To start my career, I had moved
to a new city, without the familiar comfort of my friends and family. I hadn’t fin-
ished unpacking in my new apartment and didn’t even feel comfortable at home
yet. Everyone at work was older and more experienced than I was. With every
glance, I felt more and more out of place. Thankfully, that was the day I met
Olivia, who changed everything for me.

These introductory paragraphs essentially communicate the same basic point. However,
while the first paragraph conveys a second-person, generalized account of the author’s
first day on a new job, the second paragraph conveys a much more personal, first-person
account. Also, when the reader reaches the end of the first paragraph, there’s a sense of
completeness, as if the paragraph doesn’t need to connect to any other idea. When the
reader reaches the end of the second paragraph, there’s a desire to read more, to find
out more information about Olivia and how she “changed everything” for the author; this
is the effect your introductory paragraph should have. The reader should want to read
more, which is incredibly difficult to achieve using generalizations. All things considered,
the reader doesn’t want to hear about “everyone’s” first-day-of-work experience; he wants
to learn more about you, as the author.

 riting from a second-person point of view requires

W
telling a story from another individual’s point of
view. Pronouns such as you and yours are used
when writing from a second-person point of view.
It’s common to see second-person point of view
used in speeches and advertising.

If you’re still unsure how to approach your personal narrative,

here are two videos that may help:
OO Lesson—Personal Narratives
OO Writing the Personal Essay

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NOTHING TO WRITE ABOUT?
A personal narrative (or an essay in general) isn’t generally written for the sake of record-
ing an event or explaining a procedure. Instead, it’s used to explore generalizations,
recall experiences, or interpret experiences on a personal level. Besides relating a series
of events, a personal narrative may also

OO Reveal a personal insight or unique personal understanding about the experience

or the people involved

OO Expose a personal conflict or problem that may or may not be solved within the
confines of the essay itself

OO Reveal a personal change achieved through struggle, growth, or choice

Since you’ve lived to high school age, you surely have something to write about—a story
that others can relate to that you would be willing to tell. Whether or not it’s something
that you think is exciting or socially relevant may be another story altogether, but the fact
remains that you do have topics that you can write on. An excellent example is how and
why you’ve come to an online learning institution in pursuit of your high school diploma.

The key to this particular assignment is to choose a topic that interests you, one that
you feel comfortable sharing with an audience. Perhaps the following suggestions might
spark some ideas.

OO Some experiences may initially seem trivial and insignificant, but prove in time to be
important to your life’s journey or to the development of your personality. Present
one of these experiences from your life so that it gives the audience a sense of how
your life was changed.

OO First-time
experiences tend to be especially memorable. Think about the first time
you rode a bicycle, went skiing, went to an amusement park, went on a date,
attended school, went on vacation, and so on. What was special about this partic-
ular event that still stands out in your mind? What did you think? How did you feel?
Show your audience why this first-time experience was special enough to remain in
your memory.

OO Experiences that bring us extreme happiness or sadness remain in our memo-

ries. Consider the moments in your life that have made you happiest; consider the
moments in your life that have made you sad, angry, or even depressed. These
experiences may have something in common. Show your reader why these particu-
lar experiences merited the reactions they did. Also, you may want to examine what
your reaction says about you.

OO Many relationships throughout our lives help us to grow and mature; some are
positive and some are negative. Relay the details of such a relationship from your
life. Be sure to provide enough information so the audience has a sense of how you
were changed or impacted by the experience.

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 OO Childhood memories can be very powerful. Choose an event from your childhood
that still stands out in your memory. Relay the event to your audience, showing why
this event had meaning for you as a child, as well as why it still has meaning for
you today.

OO Each of us has a particular place that triggers memories, whether they’re positive
or negative. Show your audience, through descriptions of relevant events, why this
particular place holds meaning for you. Please keep in mind that your audience will
most likely not be familiar with the place in question, so you’ll need to make your
best effort to guide your readers as carefully as possible.

OO Theconcept and value of education are different for each individual. Examine what
education means to you. Show the reader how education has affected your life,
whether positively or negatively, and how your idea of education may have changed
over the years.

ESSENTIALS: THE PARTS OF AN ESSAY

To make a clear overall point, any story needs a beginning, a middle, and an end. In
short, an author must provide his or her readers with a sense that every event starts and
then, subsequently, finishes. However, no story can relate every detail of what happened
in a given situation. Therefore, each individual writer must choose details carefully and
use them to build a scene that reflects the chosen point or mood.

THE INTRODUCTION
There are many appropriate and interesting ways to begin an essay. Whatever method
you use, you must catch the readers’ attention and give your audience an idea of what
will follow. The first sentence (or even the first paragraph) should be like a store window;
it should make people (who might otherwise pass by) stop and enter the store. You can
choose to appeal to your readers’ curiosity or feelings to engage them. Your primary
objective is to hook the audience and get them interested in reading more.

Let’s take a look at what should happen in the introductory paragraph.

DEFINE THE TOPIC

You’ve been given an assignment to write an essay about one of your hobbies. How can
you get your reader interested in what you have to say? The simplest way is normally to
plunge right into your subject.

Let’s consider an example.

For hundreds of years, hunting was necessary in order to avoid starvation. Even
though it’s no longer a required activity to keep our families fed, some of us
still find the thrill of the hunt and the connection to nature intoxicating. Hunting
is absolutely my favorite hobby, one that I’m able to enjoy with my friends and
family.

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This paragraph has defined the subject, stated that there’s a difference of opinion about
it, and invited the reader to go on and read more. This is an example of a good, direct
beginning.

START WITH AN INCIDENT OR ANECDOTE

Plunging directly into the subject isn’t the only way to catch the readers’ attention. You
may also start with an incident, an anecdote, or some personal experience—something
that will appeal to the readers’ personal curiosity.

Let’s consider another example:

My grandfather took me into the Smoky Mountains for my very first hunting trip.
After years of listening to his stories, I looked forward to finally seeing him in
action. However, what I remember most about that weekend is the time we spent
together. He taught me lessons that I’ll never forget.

While this paragraph will require more information to be complete, the personal anecdote
provides an effective beginning.

START WITH A BANG

You can interest your reader in your subject with a startling, striking, or unexpected begin-
ning. To do so, you’ll need to make a special effort to find something surprising to relate
to your topic. If you can do it, it’s an excellent way to start.

Let’s consider a third example, one that incorporates a sense of mystery.

I heard the rustling sounds getting closer. My heart was pounding so hard that
I was sure I would be seen. I peered into the brush, and that was when I saw
him—a white-tailed buck. I raised my gun, set my sights, and pulled the trigger. It
was a successful kill shot.

You can also surprise the reader with the following:

Are you someone who would like to save money? An avid hunter living in an area
that allows year-round opportunities for game can provide food for his family and
avoid paying thousands of dollars in grocery bills.

Following the opening sentence, the introductory paragraph should solidify your topic and
your approach, setting the mood and tone for the remainder of the essay. Save the actual
story for the body paragraphs. Use your introduction to build suspense, interest your
reader, and establish an overview or preview of your writing.

Finally, aside from an interesting beginning, keep in mind that your essay needs to have
a strong thesis statement, one that will be supported by the essay as a whole. Your thesis
statement declares the main idea of the entire paper. It’s concise, summarizes your point
in one clear sentence, and states the reason you’re telling a particular story. It must be
present not only to help grab the readers’ attention, but also to inform the readers of the
approach you’re taking on a particular topic in your essay.

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 OO Your introduction doesn’t need to be written
first. Some writers find it helpful to write the
body of the essay first and then go back to
write the introduction later.
OO Your thesis statement is your main idea for the
essay. It functions the same way a topic sen-
tence does in a paragraph.

THE BODY
The body of your essay should consist of several fully developed paragraphs that
expand on the main points of your essay (mentioned in your introduction) according to
the approach defined in your thesis statement. The number of body paragraphs will vary
depending on the assignment. Often, short papers make use of the five-paragraph essay,
which refers to having one introductory paragraph, one summary paragraph, and three
body paragraphs for a total of five. This isn’t always an appropriate length, and for longer
assignments you must write five to seven body paragraphs.

Be sure that you include appropriate and logical transitions between ideas within para-
graphs as well as between the paragraphs themselves. One idea must logically follow
another as you lead your readers through your story.

Since the introduction sets up the content of the body paragraphs, there should be noth-
ing covered in the body of the essay that’s different from what’s promised in the introduc-
tory paragraph.

The body of your essay should contain your story

from beginning to end. Your story shouldn’t begin
in the introduction or end in the conclusion. Keep it
confined to the body paragraphs.

THE CONCLUSION
The conclusion paragraph should restate the content of the introduction, summarize the
main points covered in the body paragraphs, tie up any loose ends, and bring closure to
the essay. Be sure that your conclusion restates the overall message of your narrative, so
that your readers are left with your main point fresh in their minds. The best conclusions
are directly tied to the introduction and give closure to the work as a whole. This isn’t the
place to write the actual ending to your story or to introduce new information.

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 A conclusion and an ending aren’t the same. The
ending of your story should be contained in the body;
the conclusion paragraph has its own job to do.

VOICE
Personal narratives should be casual and are often emotional. If you’re writing about
something you feel very strongly about, your story should evoke emotions in your read-
ers: happiness, sadness, excitement, joy, anger, or something else. When you show your
audience how you feel about something and why, your readers can recognize your sin-
cerity. Your sincerity will, in turn, allow your readers to relate to you and/or your situation.

Be firm about your opinions, your feelings, and your views so that the reader may get a
clear picture of who you are and what you stand for. Use the voice and tone that come
most naturally to you, but keep in mind that this is an academic assignment. You’ll need
to use appropriate language and proper grammar.

It’s very important to use your own vocabulary; an essay in which the author has made
use of a thesaurus stands out, but not in a good way. When you honor your own voice
and use the words you know, your writing is easily viewed as authentic, and an audience
will recognize and appreciate this.

Begin by writing the way you speak. After you have

your story down, you can go back and correct
grammar, word choice, and sentence structure.

REVIEW: USING THE WRITING PROCESS

Earlier in this course, you learned about the writing process and its effectiveness. Now is
your chance to use that process to your advantage, as it will allow you to efficiently and
effectively draft your essay.

The stages of the writing process are reviewed below.

PREWRITING
The first thing to do during the prewriting stage is to determine your purpose, medium,
and audience. You should be aware by this point that your medium is the personal nar-
rative (the essay) and that your audience consists of a general and diverse population of
people who aren’t familiar with you, your life, or your work. What you need to establish,
for the purpose of beginning your essay, is your purpose. Your goal is to use one or more
of the five types of prewriting (brainstorming, freewriting, webbing, researching, and jour-
nal keeping) to find the specific idea you want to choose as your focus.

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Following are suggestions to help get you started on your prewriting.

OO Ifyou can’t think of anything to write down, just write something, anything. Eventu-
ally thoughts that are relevant and related will begin to come to you.

OO Don’tthink too much about it or apply too much pressure to yourself. Simply jot
down anything and everything you can think of.

OO Unless you’re relatively focused on a particular topic, do your prewriting exercises

on all different topics. If you’ve chosen a topic or a specific area of focus, try to
confine your prewriting exercises to that one topic or area.

OO You can use full sentences and paragraphs, or you may simply use words and
phrases. You may even use a combination of both. You should use whatever makes
you most comfortable and allows you to express your ideas.

OO Ifyou get stuck, try taking a different approach to some of the words, phrases, or
sentences you’ve already written down. Soon, new ideas will begin to surface.

OO Ifit doesn’t contribute to nervousness about the assignment, try to set a time limit
and write continuously during that time.

OO During the prewriting stage, don’t be concerned about how your writing sounds.
The idea in this stage of the writing process is to try to discover ideas that might not
otherwise occur to you.

When you finish your prewriting activities, don’t discard them. If you decide to change the
direction of your essay during the revision process, referring back to prewriting exercises
may help to make organizational decisions easier.

PLANNING
Once you’ve established an acceptable topic, you must decide which thoughts you wish
to include, organizing them in a logical order. Outlining and/or mapping may help you
make some difficult decisions. Keep in mind, however, that effective planning requires
you to already have a firm grasp on your purpose, method, and audience.

During the planning stage, you’ll be writing out your main ideas and organizing them in an
order that your audience will be able to understand. Doing so will set up a framework for
paragraph development in the next stage. Remember the order can always be changed;
getting your ideas down is the primary goal.

PREPARING THE FIRST DRAFT

Once you’ve established your purpose and decided on the points you would like to
include, you’re ready to begin writing your first draft. For your own well-being, don’t try to
perfect the first draft while you’re writing it. Don’t attempt to write, edit, and revise each
sentence and paragraph as you proceed. This method will only cause frustration and,
most likely, will trigger writer’s block. For the time being, you can simply fill in the para-
graphs indicated by your outline.

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REVISING/EDITING
Revision requires you to look at your essay as a member of your audience. Your concern
at this point is the overall message conveyed by your essay, or the “big picture.”

During revision, you need to ask yourself several questions:

OO Are my purpose and meaning clear? If not, you may need to reorganize your topics
or take a different approach to your essay as a whole.

OO Arethere sections of the essay that don’t contribute to my established purpose, or

thesis? If so, delete those sections.

OO Are
there sections of the essay that require more information to be clear? If so, add
more information as needed.

OO Are there sections of the essay that should be moved for the sake of clarification? If
so, try to determine where the information will make the most sense.

OO Arethere concepts/ideas that could be combined? If so, you may have to com-
bine concepts/ideas into single paragraphs. Remember details within a paragraph
should support the paragraph’s main idea or topic sentence. Your goal is to give the
reader a clear and concise explanation.

During editing, your goal is to establish a clear, concise writing style. Your focus should
be on grammar, sentence structure, word usage, punctuation, and spelling. Here are
some suggestions to use during this stage:

OO Vary sentence lengths

OO Look for and delete unnecessary words

OO Eliminate irrelevant information

OO Get rid of clichés

OO Use specific, concrete words

OO Replace generalities with specifics

OO Change negative messages to positive ones

OO Check and correct grammar usage

You may have to repeat the entire revising/editing stage several times. In fact, you can
continue to repeat these checks until you’re completely satisfied with what you’ve pro-
duced. It’s also helpful to have someone else read your paper, such as a friend or family
member. Often, we don’t know that we use certain words too frequently, or that we con-
sistently misapply a rule of grammar. Having someone else read your paper is a great
way to help spot small flaws in whatever you’re writing, and it helps you carry those les-
sons forward to become a better writer.

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PROOFREADING
In the proofreading stage, you’ll clean up your writing to make it presentable to the audi-
ence. Since typographical errors, as well as errors in spelling and punctuation, can inter-
fere with the clarity of your essay, you must eliminate them. Your final draft should be as
close to perfection as possible.

During this stage, check for the following elements:

OO Consistent paragraph indentation

OO Typographical and spelling errors

OO Correct punctuation

OO Correct capitalization

OO Grammar errors

OO Confused words, such as homonyms and homophones

OO Repeated words, sentences, and lines

OO Skipped lines, sentences, and paragraphs

While they’re not foolproof, spell-check and grammar-check programs will help you to
locate possible problems. Keep in mind, however, that these programs aren’t designed
to actually “read” your essay and can’t discern between meanings for different words. If
you have a word that’s spelled correctly, the spell-check feature won’t highlight it, even
if it’s the incorrect word for that particular sentence. The same holds true for the gram-
mar-check feature. Neither should be trusted; both should be used with caution during
the proofreading process.

PRESENTING
Presenting is the final stage of the writing process and, for most students, the most excit-
ing. During this stage, you’ll submit your essay for grading. Before you submit your essay,
take a final run through the steps of the writing process to ensure that you haven’t over-
looked anything. Your goal is to make your final draft as perfect as possible.

RESOURCES: GRAMMAR AND MECHANICS

You may certainly access your study units from Basic English and Practical English
(available upon request if you’ve received transfer credits) to assist you with grammatical
and mechanical questions. Also, there are many grammar resources available on the
Internet. Below are a few sites that our instructors prefer to use for reference purposes.

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 Online Resources

In the following links, you’ll find an array of helpful topics.

OO Daily Grammar
OO Strunk and White’s The Elements of Style
OO English rules from The Blue Book of Grammar and
Mechanics

REVIEW: AVOIDING PLAGIARISM

All work submitted to Penn Foster High School for grading must be entirely original.

According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, to plagiarize is “(a) to steal and pass off
(the ideas or words of another) as one’s own; to use (another’s production) without credit-
ing the source; (b) to commit literary theft; to present as new and original an idea or prod-
uct derived from an existing source.” While these definitions may seem harsh, plagiarism
is a very serious offense, and harsh punishment may result from commission of this act.

Blatant, direct copying of another’s words is plagiarism, but paraphrasing another’s ideas
is plagiarism as well. Plagiarism is the theft of words or ideas, often both. If you haven’t
constructed the logic of your essay by yourself, if you have “borrowed” wording that you
feel is well-done, or if you’re using another writer’s words and/or ideas to create your
own work, you’re likely committing plagiarism. The best way to avoid plagiarism is to start
from scratch using the writing process and, as tempting as it is, avoid doing any type of
research or seeking examples of how a personal essay should be written. Simply follow
the directions in the assignment and rely on your instructors to answer your questions.

This video clip provides information on specific types of

plagiarism.
OO 10 Types of Plagiarism

If any portion of your writing uses ideas, phrasing, or

wording from a source other than your own experi-
ence, you’ll earn a failing grade of 1% for the exam.

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When a Penn Foster High School exam is found to be plagiarized, the followings steps
are taken:

OO The exam in question is awarded a grade of 1%.

OO Upon posting of the grade, the student gains access to an instructor feedback file,
which indicates where the exam content was found, provides an explanation of
plagiarism, and issues a warning regarding possible disciplinary action.

OO The student is required to complete the retake assignment.

Please refer to the section on “Academic Integrity” in the Penn Foster High School
Student Catalog for more information.

ESSENTIALS: FORMATTING YOUR ESSAY

OO Please be sure to include your name, student number, and exam number on the
very first page of your essay. You may include this information in a header if you
wish to do so.

OO UsingMicrosoft Word, type your paper; it must be submitted in .doc, .docx, or .rtf
format for grading purposes.

OO Usedouble-spacing, standard one-inch margins, and a font no larger than the

equivalent of Times New Roman 12.

OO Your final draft should contain between 750 and 2,500 words.

OO Pleasesave your document using your student number, the appropriate exam
number, and your last name, all connected by underscore symbols. For example, if
John Smith’s student number is 23456789 and he has completed exam 007127, he
would save the file as 23456789_007127_Smith.

QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER BEFORE SUBMITTING

Ask yourself all of the following questions before you even consider submitting your
essay for grading.

OO Does my introduction attempt to “hook” the reader?

OO Does my essay have a clear and specific thesis statement?

OO Does my essay accurately tell my story?

OO Does my essay indicate why I’m telling my story?

OO Have I described only my own experiences?

OO Have I used the first-person point of view (the pronoun “I”) throughout the essay?

OO Have I clearly indicated where paragraphs begin and end?

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 OO Does each of my paragraphs support my thesis statement?

OO Does my conclusion summarize and give closure to my essay?

OO Have I effectively proofread my essay?

OO Have I met the length requirement?

OO Is my essay formatted according to the instructions?

If you’ve answered yes to every question, you’re ready to submit! If your answer to even
one of these questions is no, then you still have some work to do.

SUBMITTING YOUR PROJECT

Follow these steps to submit your exam:

1. Log on to the Student Portal.

2. Click on Take Exam next to the assignment you’ve completed.

3. Follow the instructions provided to submit your exam.

SUMMARY
You’ve received your first writing assignment for your Written Communication course in
its entirety, as well as the information needed to complete that assignment!

You’ve learned what a personal narrative is, as well as what first-person point of view is.
Several different topics have been offered, in the event that you can’t think of anything to
write about, any and all of which have the potential to lead to a quality personal narrative.

You’ve learned that the introduction, the body, the conclusion, and voice are essential
parts of any essay. You’ve reviewed the steps of the writing process, as well as the
guidelines for plagiarism. You’ve received resources to help you ensure mastery of
grammar and mechanics. Finally, you’ve learned the rules for formatting a Penn Foster
High School essay exam and been given questions to ask yourself about your document
before submitting it for grading.

If you haven’t already done so, it’s time to start writing!

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GRADING CRITERIA

Not Shown
Exemplary

Proficient
GRADING RUBRIC:

Poor
Fair
EXAM 986164

Introduction (10 points):

Establishes a specific topic and
approach and sets an appropri-
ate tone/mood for the rest of the
personal narrative. The author 10–9 8–7 6–5 4–1 0
engages the reader and creates
interest. There’s a clear, concise
thesis statement that declares the
point of the paper.

Coherence and Unity (25 points):

Ideas flow clearly and logically as
the personal narrative is devel-
oped. Each paragraph contains
one main idea (with enough detail
to develop that idea clearly and
logically) and a connection to the
ideas that precede and follow it. 25–22 21–18 17–14 13–1 0
The essay has one introductory
paragraph, one concluding para-
graph, and body paragraphs. Clear
transitions are present between
sentences as well as between
paragraphs. The author remains
focused on the topic.

Support for Ideas (20 points):

Adequate detail and accurate
support are provided for each idea
introduced. Ideas are introduced in
topic sentences in each paragraph. 20–18 17–14 13–10 9–1 0
Specific, accurate, and relevant
examples are used to show mean-
ing. The author doesn’t make
blanket claims without support.

(Continued)

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 Not Shown
Exemplary

Proficient
GRADING RUBRIC:

Poor
Fair
EXAM 986164

Sentence Structure (10 points):

Sentences are varied in both struc-
ture and length. Sentences are
10–9 8–7 6–5 4–1 0
complete, expressive, clear, and to
the point. No run-on sentences or
fragments are included.

Spelling and Word Choice

(10 points): Personal narrative is
free of spelling errors. Appropriate
language is chosen for each situ- 10–9 8–7 6–5 4–1 0
ation, fitting the mood/tone set in
the introduction. Clarity isn’t inhib-
ited by word choice complements.

Punctuation (10 points): Personal

narrative is free of errors such
as comma splices, misplaced
commas, and inappropriate end 10–9 8–7 6–5 4–1 0
punctuation. All punctuation is
used correctly so as not to inter-
fere with comprehension.

Grammar (10 points): The author

utilizes correct and consistent
verb tenses, subject-verb agree-
ment, clear pronoun-antecedent 10–9 8–7 6–5 4–1 0
agreement, and so on. Grammar
errors don’t interfere with
comprehension.

Conclusion (5 points): Conclusion

provides adequate closure by rein-
forcing the meaning/significance
5 4 3–2 1 0
established in the introduction. The
author effectively wraps up the
personal narrative.

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