I need you to talk about the injustice in the U.S taxes system where taxpayer’s money is used to supporting immigrants, etc.

Narrative Essay

A recap of the assignment in terms of the “rhetorical situation”:
• Genre: A personal narrative
• Purpose:
o To let you reflect on a past experience that is of significance for one of the
language, power and identity themes/an injustice we included in our
initial class list;
o to help me, as your teacher, and your classmates get a better sense of why
this particular theme/injustice is something that matters to you; and
o to help us all better understand that these themes/injustices are complex
and more nuanced than we might think.
• Audience: This assignment has two main audiences.
o First, you. Because this is a chance for you to reflect on your background,
and what matters to you, my hope is that you’ll realize new things about
yourself as you draft this paper.
o The second main audience is me and your classmates. This paper is a
chance for us to better understand each other’s perspectives as we create a
community this semester.
• Context: As you reflect on your past experiences and their significance in
shaping your current views and values, consider the larger situation going on
around you.
o For example, in Dr Swenson’s narrative, her experience is put into a larger
context of a long national trend of dialect speakers erroneously being put
in special education/being evaluated as underperforming in English
classrooms.
o Making the connection between your story and the larger context will be
an important in showing us why you care about the issue/theme you have
chosen.
• Stance: Whatever is appropriate for your story.
• Medium & Design: A written paper

Requirements
Technical requirements
• Minimum page length: 5 pages
• First person “I” allowed
• Outside sources required: none
• Formatting: 12 pt. Times New Roman font; double-spaced; 1-inch margins; engaging
title
• Visual representations: A photo/drawing or two may be included, as they are a
common feature of personal narratives. Please keep in mind that images do not count
towards page length.
Content requirements
• Focuses on one item/theme from the class list of injustices, imbalances of power,
and crises of identity in detail so that we can better understand the different
nuances that go along with this item/theme
• Explains why that issue matters to you
• Tells the story of how this issue came to matter to you/when you realized this issue was
important to you.
• Draws out the role of language in this issue
• Contains rich details and personal elements and describes how your feelings
about this issue developed to help us better understand why this issue matters to
you
• Makes an effective link between the author and the audience
• Has an organization that makes sense to the reader; reader can see a clear
structure [diagnosed via a reverse outline; see the reverse outline of the example
narrative essay]
Some notes as you begin
It is best if you can focus on one past experience as you think about why this
theme/issue matters to you. Don’t pick too large a frame of time because that may
necessitate you rushing through details…and personal narratives are all about the
details. Dwelling on the details can also help you better understand why this
issue/theme matters to you.
• Note: Dr Swenson’s literacy narrative covered a long time frame but was centered
on a single past event (her experience in 1st grade). The long time span came
from considering how that particular experience impacted her identity,
relationship with education and the larger course of her life.
• There may be some things you don’t feel comfortable sharing with the class. That
is ok. You don’t have to share anything you don’t feel comfortable sharing. Be
mindful of what you feel safe telling as you pick your experience and theme/issue.
Also, think about how you frame your narrative. For example, if you cared about
an issue/them because it has personally affected you but you don’t want to say
that directly or discuss the details, you might frame your narrative as an
experience about how the story from a friend, the media, a book/film, etc. caused

ENGL 2020 Fall 2022
you to care about that issue/theme.
In a narrative essay, it’s not enough to merely say “this happened.” A good narrative
goes beyond presenting a chronology of events to dwell and linger and reflect on an
event in the past and its significance. [Note also that the presentation that works best for
your story may be somewhat anachronistic…this was the case in Dr. Swenson’s narrative
when she talks about Dr. Zanuttini’s presentation]
In order to clarify the significance of your story, consider what your feelings were at the
moment it was taking place in the past and what they are now as you look back from
the perspective of the present. Think of your role as being both the participant and an
observer of the experience.
You may not yet know how language fits into the issue that matters to you—the process
of writing may help reveal this to you. Do your best in your initial essay. As you read
your peers’ papers thinking about ways in which language may be playing a role in the
various issues and come to class ready to brainstorm together.

Taxes have generally been around since the beginning of civilization or history (Efile, tax history). Almost every nation throughout history relied on taxes for its existence since taxes were necessary to maintain roads, fund the army, and build ports. Governments can also use taxes to control matters related to national security; for instance, taxes can be used for purchasing and storing certain seeds. Another example would be using taxes to support the agricultural sector in the country. However, this is not always the case,