11.4: Structuring a Narration

As always, it is important to start with a strong introduction to hook your reader into wanting to read more. Try opening the essay with an interesting event to introduce the story and get it going. Your paper’s thesis, of course, will help give it direction and remind you of what to spend your time discussing in the body paragraphs.

The body of your essay contains the bulk of your narrative. In a shorter essay, concentrate on the events and details that add to your purpose. Try not to linger on the set-up, but get to the conflict, the central problem that helps explain your theme. If your paper’s introduction and thesis promise the reader a narration about your family’s first trip to Disney World, don’t spend three paragraphs talking about how long the drive was from Wichita to Orlando and only one about the week you spent at Disney World itself. (In fact, if something like that were to happen, that may be a sign to you that the real story you want to tell is about the journey there and not the destination.)

Finally, your conclusion should help resolve the central conflict of the story and impress upon your reader the ultimate theme of the piece.

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