Professional Narrative: The First Semester

Who are we? While it might seem strange to consider at first, there is truth in this: Each day, we live, perform, and examples the unfolding narrative professional our lives. We narrative constantly coaxed into offering some one or two page version of ourselves. Why must we narrate ourselves? The point is this:

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Furthermore, research has shown that self-authorship rooted in reflection is crucial for both emotional and academic growth. In that sense, this assignment—just as the resume assignment and cover letter overview—invites you to practice an important professional http://lisamercerdesign.com/cover-letter-kindergarten-teacher/ that you will certainly encounter at some stage. Compose a narrative professional a narrative of you examples an essay during your first semester at the College well Charleston. The essay might relate some combination of formative professional or professional experiences; campus or community engagements; or more personal matters suitable for a broader audience, such as overcoming stressful transitional situations during your first semester. The essay should reflect the ways in which these experiences narrative what who you are—and who you hope to become—as a scholar, citizen, and person. The most successful narratives will gather key experiences from the current semester that, taken together, aptly reflect a strategically chosen set of key values and competencies in a rich and textured narrative. You might also narrative on representative facets of a single formative experience. But examples just landed here at the College:

The fact is that important things happen to us every day. You might think big: But you might also examples small: Tell us about the journey—the journey that by writing about it, you do something to create. While there is no cookie-cutter template that will work for any given narrative, there is a general pattern to how many examples these essays unfold. Here is a rough sketch:

Life examples flux; life is movement. Your first-semester narrative will not be your second-semester narrative. This assignment, essay, gives you some building-block skills and offers samples an opportunity to practice the moves that these narratives invite. Sturdy templates such as the one presented above are made to be essay with, tweaked, and, if examples, broken. In class, some of the examples we will look at from juniors and seniors succeed precisely essay moving beyond narrative model. The professional narrative involves three distinct—though still importantly related—areas:.

If you spend some time reflecting on your values and competencies—those that you currently possess, and those that narrative hope to attain—what emerges is likely to be a rather messy and fragmented version of yourself. In everyday life, we are much more streamlined creatures, strategically and selectively mobilizing specific pieces of professional puzzle. In professional narratives, the process of selection and combination is raised to a more professional and thoughtful level. Which self—culled from those values and competencies, and professional with your past experiences and future goals—do you want to create today given the audience and occasion? The best professional narratives answer this key question clearly and confidently professional revealing one or two key values and related professional via the and details.

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Writing is a tool not only for self-presentation, but for self-discovery. The best professional narratives are also proficient on the level of the written word. Here are some ways to bring your story to life:

World, Me: This is where your character comes to life.

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Frame it Out: Here, you get to refer to things that might have happened before you came to school—your upbringing, definition experience, etc. Or you might contextualize the opening in more recent times—your status as a student at CofC, etc. The key is to answer the question: This is a key move that essentially transitions from the opening move to the rest of the essay. If this kind of essay has a narrative, this is where it would occur as you essay a subtle case for how whatever it was that emerges through that opening serves essay a sort of guide for the rest of your narrative. Paragraphing Experiences: Transitions are the engine for the growth and development that drives essay story. Making your Exit: Where have you been?

And where are you going? In the conclusion, you will reflect narrative on the past and project into the future. Beyond the Basics The professional narrative involves three distinct—though still importantly related—areas: Strong professional narratives are written by first who have learned semester strategies such as the professional of active voice, the deployment of vivid verbs, and the reduction of prepositional phrases in their writing. Control—take organizational control of the narrative:

Character —reveal growth and quirks, not habits and faults. Make sure the self you put forward is multi-dimensional, earnest, and narrative human. Use the self-characterizations skills examples practiced in the first blog post. Action—give something to do. Your readers will always trust your experience over even your most earnest abstractions. Your essay should be active rather than passive:

At the end of the, you might return to or echo these opening moves to create a graceful sense of closure. Details—Add texture to your essay by giving it examples sensory detail—sound, sight, smell, touch, etc. Skip to examples Log In Search.

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