To support your main point, you will present and explain the major events in the story and describe relevant details. As you write a narration, you will have decisions to make — what to include, what to leave out, and what perspective you will take on events. Your point of view determines how you will present the major events and details of the story and how you will support your main point.
The major events of a story are your primary support in narration, and they will usually become the topic sentences for the body paragraphs in your essay. Ask yourself what the major events are and what makes them important. To help your readers experience the events as you did, give supporting details that bring the experience to life.
For more on supporting a point, see Chapter 3.
For example, one student stated the main point of an event in the following thesis: The theft of my wallet this morning showed me how easy it is for criminals to deceive unsuspecting victims.
For more on listing, see Chapter 2.
The student then did some listing to come up with the major events and details about those events.
| MAJOR EVENTS (primary support) |
SUPPORTING DETAILS (secondary support) |
| Woman bumped into me | Light bump, but she dropped her folder of papers, and they scattered |
| I bent down to help her collect the papers. | Wind was blowing, so I had to work fast |
| A man stopped and asked if he could help. | I didn’t get a good look at him because I was trying to get the papers, but he stood close to me and hung around for a minute just watching us. Then, he just left without saying anything. |
| Woman thanked me, and I said no problem | She had her head down and walked off fast. |
| When I went to get coffee, I realized the wallet was gone. | I broke into a sweat at the café. and had that horrible panicked feeling. |
| I realized that the man and woman were working together. | Looking back on the details, it was clear how carefully they had planned the theft. |
For more on using quotation marks, see Chapter 18.
As you tell the story, you might want to include direct speech or dialogue, the words that you or other people said. If you report exactly what was said, use quotation marks.
The woman said, “Oh, I’m so sorry! I’ll never be able to get these papers before they blow away, and my boss will have a fit.”
Using direct speech can bring a narration alive.