Writing Prompt - Narrative Writing

Each of us has somebody in the family, possibly even yourself, who deserves an award. Hopefully, the award can be positive like "The Best Mom", The Greatest Dad", "The Top Helper", "Best Cook", "The Great Gardener" or the like. Of course, it could be somewhat negative like "The Royal Pain", "The Sloppiest Bedroom Award" or "The Always on the Telephone Award".

Your job is to write a five-paragraph essay about the award you would give to a deserving family member.

Think of an award that someone in your family really deserves. Often going with the idea that first came to your mind is often a good idea.

Use a planner.

Define the award. Think of the main reasons that you think support the giving of that award. Be specific. Write down those reasons.

Think about each of those subtopics specifically. Give distinct instances or facts that support each of those subtopics. Be sure that they truly bolster the topic. Do that for each of the three topics.

Now is the time to write the essay.

Begin by giving the relationship of the person and the award that you would give. Then support the giving of the award with the three main support ideas or subtopics. Remember to vary the sentence structure. Use your strongest reason first. Try to write in active voice throughout.

Use each of those subtopics as the topic of the supporting three paragraphs.

As you write the supporting details, be sure that you are not always using the same format for each sentence. Varying the structure creates interest and stops the paragraph from seeming like a grocery list of facts. Think about the transitions you will use between each paragraph so that the ideas smoothly flow from one to the next. Doing this makes for less revision in the end.

As you summarize in an original manner the first sentence of the essay, be sure that you define the award and the person receiving it. Do the same for the three main reasons you presented. This paragraph like the first must be strong as you are convincing the reader that your opinion is correct, and this is the award that they deserve.

Go back and check for spelling and grammar errors. Do you have any sentence fragments? If so, eliminate them. Did you change your sentence structure in each paragraph? If not, rewrite. Do all of your verbs agree with the subject? Are they in the same voice? Fix these and any other errors that you find.