The Personal Narrative, you will be writing a short essay (at least 3-4 pages in length) about a significant event in your own life. This event need not --and probably should not--be inherently, overly dramatic. Sometimes the most influential moments in our lives are smaller moments, events that we may not recognize as influential until years after the experience. In the personal narrative essay, you will want to tell the story as accurately as you can-search your deep memory-and tell the story from your own perspective. You will also want to exercise your selectivity as a writer, choosing to summarize background information/exposition, and really dramatize important scenes for the reader.