Mentor Texts for Personal Narratives

Using Graphic Novels as Mentor Texts for Personal Narratives

Personal narrative writing has long been a staple in the middle school English/Language Arts curriculum. What was once, “What did you do over summer break?” has now evolved into more sophisticated and meaningful writing prompts asked of our students at the beginning of each school year. The more we read, the better writers we become — so students need access to worthwhile mentor texts to help further their writing skills.

Comics Plus has a wide variety of multicultural graphic memoirs and first-person narratives available to students to aid in their knowledge of narrative works. By reading these stories, not only will students see excellent examples of the technical aspects of narrative writing — including structure, grammar, and vocabulary — but they will also get to read about the lives of other people. Sometimes students will be able to make connections to the authors of the stories because they see themselves in the graphic novels; other times, they will read about people who have led different lives, thus building empathy for others and cultural awareness.

Mentor Texts for Personal Narratives
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