NARRATIVE WRITING

What is a narrative essay?

A narrative composition is a piece of writing about a story with a sequence of connected

events. It could be about a personal experience or an imagined event or events.

Features of a Narrative Composition

Plot The plot is the main event around which the story evolves.
Character(s) Who are the people in your story? If possible, give a short description of each
character.
Setting/Place(s) Decide where your story takes place. Does it take place in your
neighbourhood? The jungle? The city? A quiet village?
Events State the main events in the story
The outcome What happened in the end? Do not leave your story hanging.

Planning

How do I write a narrative essay for the exam?

1) When planning your narrative essay, remember to have a plot.

Climax

Beginning/Opening Ending/Closure

2) Plan your plots to be interesting and original. The purpose of a narrative

composition is to tell what happened in your story or account.

Characteristics of a narration

i. Tells a story
ii. Has a theme rather than a topic sentence
iii. Includes description
iv. Includes dialogue
v. Relies on sensory detail for impact
vi. Follows chronological organization

Prepared by: Sir Puru

A. PLANNING

1. Read the question carefully and underline important phrases. Pay particular
attention to the ending.

2. Brainstorm for ideas and jot down notes. For exam purposes, the simplest way
is to divide it into three parts:
 Use a flow map :

Beginning Climax Ending

3. Use Six Wise Men

How

Why Who

6 WISE
MEN

What Where

When

Ask these questions :

 Where did the events take place?
 Who are the characters?
 When did it happen?
 Why did it happen?
 How did you feel?
 What happened in the end?

Prepared by: Sir Puru

PRE-WRITING

STEP 1 : PLANNING THE NARRATION

- Read the question carefully as it has a few parts to consider:

Eg : Write a story that begins with 'I did not know what happiness was until...'
Write a story about a boy who lost his family years back.

a. the beginning/ ending sentence eg :

Write a story that begins with 'I did not know what happiness was until...'
Write a story about a boy who lost his family years back.

b. the setting such as time and place given eg:

: Write a story that begins with 'I did not know what happiness was until...'
Write a story about a boy who lost his family years back.

c. the character eg :
“ Write a story that begins with 'I did not know what happiness was until...'
Write a story about a boy who lost his family years back.

d. the situation eg :
“ Write a story that begins with 'I did not know what happiness was until...'
Write a story about a boy who lost his family years back.

- Ideas are normally personal experience or simply imagination. Inspiration could be gained
from reading story books or articles, watching tv programmes or simply cartoons, or
listening to other people’s stories.

- List all your brainstormed ideas

STEP 2 : PLANNING THE DETAILS

- Arrange the suitable ideas in chronological order

- It can include flashbacks

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Model Question and Answer

Your teacher has asked you to write a story for an essay-writing competition. The story must
include.
 A childhood memory
 Lessons learnt
Write your story in at least 200 – 250 words in an appropriate style.

STRUCTURE IMPORTANT
FEATURES
lt was 1990 and I was this stocky ten-year Ola girl in a
Opening
family of seven. Being an only girl with four older brothers, -Self-introduction
(the hook)
I was a bit of a tomboy. strategy

As a child, I used to follow the boys everywhere. We

played all sorts of games such as police and thief, skipping
Beginning ropes, bicycle racing and others. But our favourite place
was a river located in the rubber plantation just behind our
police barrack.

Remember, this is our secret place. Don’t tell anyone," -Use of the past
tense
Azmi reminded us many times.

Thrice a week, while our parents were sleeping in the

hot afternoons, we would be swimming in the river till late.
Middle
Fear was not in my vocabulary. This was my routine until -A variety of
something dreadful happened one day. sentences

One fateful afternoon while swimming, I slipped and fell

Climax into the deeper part of the river. The boys panicked but
-Precise
managed to pull me up. My knees were bleeding profusely
vocabulary
and the boys were very frightened to take me home. But it (underlined)
was getting dark and the boys had no choice. Azmi and
Zainal helped me all the way to my house where my
parents were waiting anxiously. After some stern warnings,
they hurriedly left my house.

I was grounded for a month and caned too. It was a -Moral lesson
pain to watch my friends play outside. But I learned my strategy
Ending
lesson not to cheat on my parents again. l soon recovered
although a deep gash remained on my left knee till today. -Lesson learnt

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 QUESTION 1
A Temporary Job

Write a story about a temporary job you had. Begin your story with :

“ Where is my order? I’ve been waiting for twenty minutes!” the big, burly man yelled…

Write a story in at least 200 – 250 words in an appropriate style.

 PRE-WRITING

Before answering Question 1, complete the following tasks to help you understand how to a
write a good story.

A.WHAT MAKES A GOOD STORY?

Match the narrative feature with its definition. Write your answer in the column provided.

NARRATIVE DEFINITION ANSWER

FEATURE
1.Point of view. (a) The verbal exchange between two characters in a story.
2.Plot (b) The conclusion or resolution of the story with a moral
lesson.
3.Opening (c) Who is telling the story first person, second person or
third person.
4.Dialogue (d) Time (when) and place (where) the story takes place.
5.Setting (e) A problem the character resolves, a moment of tension
he needs to overcome.
6.Conflict (f) A series of events in a story.
7.Character (g) A person or being (e.g. an animal) in a story and what
happens to them.
8.Middle (h) The start of a story that sets the scene introduces the
characters-the hook.
9.Ending (i) The events that lead to the buildup of the problem.
10.Tone (j) The feeling of the story - humorous, sad, serious etc.
11.Climax (k) The most interesting/exciting/suspenseful part of the
story.

B. 5 AWESOME HOOKS
(i) Can you match the following hooks/strategies below with the correct opening paragraphs?
Write your answer in the spaces provided.

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 c. Begin with a a. Ask a b. Describe the
dialogue question setting

e. Self-introduction
of main d. Use a famous
character saying

5. "Looks like it's going to be fine a day son. Get the fishing rods ready!" dad
shouted from the window.

4. Zuridah sat comfortably on the tree reading her favourite book. From the top,

3. Are the doughnuts o.k? Theepa wondered anxiously. Her guests would appear
any moment and this was her first attempt at making doughnuts.

2. I just turned 18 last week and I'm a professional skateboarder. My sister gave
me a Prolnline 44 rollerblade for my birthday and I was thrilled to bits. Extreme
sports keep me alive!

1. "Nothing is impossible" so the saying goes. Yasir believed this with all his
heart. His road to fame as the number one ping pong singles player was proof
that nothing was impossible

Check this out:

Beginning Strategies

(ii) Write an opening paragraph for the title below using the dialogue strategy.

“ Where is my order? I’ve been waiting for twenty minutes!” the big, burly man yelled…

Prepared by: Sir Puru

Prepared by: Sir Puru