For my third and final experiment I will attempt to do sort of a hybrid combination of a narrative essay and a research paper. My origin piece along with my first two experiments were much more focused in a creative style of writing, so I decided something a bit more research based for this experiment. According to Purdue Online Writing Lab, narrative essays “are often anecdotal, experiential, and personal”. I intend for this experiment to be written about the effects a breakup has on someone, and I believe including some of my personal experience will be essential. The combination of a narrative essay and a research paper will allow my experiment to be informative relating to a relevant topic among college students, yet still true to the personal nature of my origin piece. Since my origin piece is an original song I wrote about my experience with heartbreak/a breakup, I want the essay to maintain the emotion of the song without having to include much creative expression. I’m leaning towards using my second experiment as my final project, and I hope that exploring the emotional effects of a breakup in a research based context will contribute to the success of a creative piece.
Writing for Literacy Education Online, Judith Kilburn states that narrative essays are typically written in the first person, utilize sensory details that create a unified impression, and are sometimes formatted with the progression of a story. Combining these conventions with academic research will definitely change the way both of my “genres” are typically written. I want it to be a piece that uses research to get a point across with a personal voice. The personal voice will come from anecdotes from my own breakup, and the research will come from academic sources cited in MLA format.
Though the personal aspects of this experiment are what will make it original, the genre conventions of a personal narrative will not be used for the formatting/organization of the piece. Based on some samples of narrative essays that I’ve read, they are usually always organized as a story with a plot. I intend to format and organize this experiment like a research paper, just with a more free and personal style. Purdue Online Writing Lab discusses research papers being either argumentative or analytical, and I will definitely draw more from the analytical conventions. Instead of centering the writing around an argument one is trying to prove, an analytical approach to research papers focuses more on drawing some sort of conclusion based on research. My intent is not to convince my audience of anything, but to give them insight into the feelings associated with a breakup. Primary and secondary sources will be referenced and analyzed, all with the intention of the reader obtaining more knowledge of the topic informatively and emotionally.
https://leo.stcloudstate.edu/acadwrite/narrative.html
https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/general_writing/academic_writing/essay_writing/narrative_essays.html