Learning activity

Reading and Annotating Sample Place Narratives

Guide students in analyzing personal narratives, responding to prompts, and posting annotations to explore genre and writing techniques.

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Created by:

Maureen A. McHugh

University of Arizona

Pedagogy

Socratic method

Learning outcome

Prep time

Low (<10 min)

Activity type

Learning Activity

Why this learning activity?

Learning activities targeting high-order skills like this one can help you activate students more effectively. This learning activity will help you with:

Analyze sample narratives

Students will identify and interpret key elements, structure, and genre conventions in personal narratives to understand how authors communicate ideas and experiences.

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Respond thoughtfully to prompts

Students will answer instructor questions with specific examples from the texts, demonstrating close reading and critical engagement

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Annotate and reflect

Students will post detailed notes on each narrative, highlighting genre features, language use, and thematic connections, while considering insights from peers and course resources.

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Activity setup

Activity steps Activity goals Tools used In this activity

Reading and Annotating Sample Place Narratives

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Activity steps

Read instructions: Students go through the instructions to understand the activity requirements. ‍
Social Annotation: Students open the interactive document and answer the discussion threads embedded. Students will focus on identifying genre features and using critical thinking to analyze the texts in small groups

Learning Activities Used

Interactive Document

Student-Content engagement to stimulate student success

In this activity

The focus is analyzing the conventions and features of personal narrative writing, helping students understand structure, language, and thematic elements.
Two sample texts are provided: “Crying in H Mart” by Michelle Zauner (5 pages) and “Barestem larkspur (Delphinium scaposum)” by Scott Calhoun (2 pages). Instructors can substitute texts relevant to their course and adapt discussion prompts as needed.
Students post individually and can view the annotations and responses of other students in their small group, promoting peer learning and collaborative reflection. This setting can be adjusted depending on class size and interaction preferences.
A minimum number of annotations per text is recommended to ensure active engagement; students are encouraged to go beyond the minimum for richer discussion.
Anonymity is optional and can be enabled if instructors want students to provide more honest feedback without peer pressure.

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