Personal Reflective Narrative

As the title of this project suggests, your first writing assignment will be a reflective piece. Not unlike an autobiography, a reflective narrative is primarily situated in your own personal experience. Where reflection begins to differ from autobiography is in its direction. Reflective pieces are focused to make a very specific point. They rely on the experience of the writer as a means to make that point intelligible for readers, and (hopefully) allow a reader to be entertained, informed, persuaded, convinced, or otherwise agreeable to the ideas presented in the writing.
As a starting point for this work, consider a story or narrative moment in your life that matters to you, and ask yourself the question so what? What is it about this moment that matters, and how can you communicate that to someone who doesnt know the experience as intimately as you? Try to be truthful, but never sacrifice a good story for the truth. No outside research is needed or allowed for this assignment.
One final note: as this first project is a reflective essay, it will almost certainly involve a certain degree of sharing. As you put this project together, keep in mind that while this story is meaningful and important to you, it does have a public audience. Do not feel obligated to disclose deeply emotional or painful memories or reflections. Reflection does not carry a requirement of emotional scarring. In similar fashion, dont share anything that you are not willing to have critiqued, discussed, or asked questions about. Each of our writing projects will be peer reviewed, and, as such, they will receive a good measure of public attention. Make sure you are comfortable with that kind of scrutiny on your topic.
When the peer draft is due, you will bring a copy in for review. If you dont have a draft this day, you are unable to peer edit and will be unable to participate. The final draft of the paper must be doublespaced and typed, and use one-inch margins on all sides and a 12-point Times New Roman font. The paper should also follow the manuscript guidelines required by the MLA, but no title page or outline is required.
Length: 2-3 pages (500-750 words)

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