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The anecdote:
An example tied up in a miniature story

find anecdotes in a public library Speakers and writers often use an anecdote as an example of an important point. Anecdotes are very, very short stories told to make a point. The writers and speakers hope that associating their point with a memorable story will make the point memorable, too.

Anecdotes are usually true stories about real people. They can be personal stories told in first person by the person to whom they happened. Or they can be third-person stories told by someone who saw or read about the incident.

Anecdote characteristics

One of the best places to see an anecdote example is in the Reader's Digest joke columns such as "Humor in Uniform." Analysis of any one of items in those columns will reveal each anecdote has a setting, characters, and action (a plot) just as a novel does. Because the anecdote is so short, it cannot contains any detail that is not necessary to making the point.

The bare-bones nature of anecdotes makes them very useful tool for teaching correct use of narration. Writers are forced to select only the details relevant to their point.

Call for anecdotes

Most students are not naturally good storytellers and many wouldn't even think of using a story as an example or illustration without prompting.

You can prompt students to provide an anecdote example by incorporating that requirement within a writing prompt. However, you shouldn't require anything so fancy until your students are writing competently using the old standby expository paragraph formula.

Using an anecdote requires a greater degree of writing skill and creativity than following a formula. Most students can handle it only if they already have a good understanding how to develop paragraphs by traditional means.

How the requirement works

Requiring an anecdote example in the development of a traditional five-paragraph essay....

Having to write only one little story as part of a bigger project they know they can do provides students a sense of security at the same time it challenges them to try something new.

Anecdotes within compositions

Using anecdotes as one supporting point within an expository essay presents some challenges for inexperienced writers.

The first, of course, is choosing what to relate. The story cannot be so long it swamps the essay or so short it doesn't make its point clearly.

FYI: Students have much more difficulty relating personal anecdotes than relating third person narratives.

Another challenge is to draw out the significance of the anecdote without insulting the audience. Writers cannot just tell the story any more than they can just present a statistic and hope the readers figure out how it supports the thesis.

In teaching these writing skills, you cannot rely on a formula. Each situation is unique and demands a unique response.

What you can (and should) do is draw students' attention to how other writers use anecdotes. Make that part of your literacy coaching.

You could also have students read anecdotes and then write a sentence summarizing the point. Again the Reader's Digest anecdotes might make good practice material.

Another third major challenge, especially for students who crave the security of rules for writing, is how to paragraph the anecdote.

The rules of grammar may call for the anecdote to be a couple of short paragraphs. That can freak out students who believe a five paragraph essay has to have exactly five paragraphs each of which has exactly X sentences. Teaching the five paragraph essay as a way of thinking about a topic helps avoid that problem.

Using an anecdote is one of several alternatives to standard expository paragraph development writer can use. Others are:

Linda Aragoni writes about teaching writing

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Linda

Linda Aragoni

Comments by visitors to you-can-teach-writing.com

Struggling
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I have struggled so much with incorporating writing into our homeschool with oldest (8th grade). What I read so far on your website looks like it will be very useful.

I look forward to exploring your site more in the future.

~Jill

 

Photo Credit:
Public Library 1
by Danjaeger

 

Created 17-Apr-2009; updated 21-Dec-2011

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