Chapter#5 Narrative writing

Chapter#5 Narrative writing

By joseph martin

​Identifying how writers communicate ideas in stories.

​Story writers choose their words carefully to communicate their ideas and make the purpose of their writing clear.

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Open Ended

What adjectives from the box would use to describe it?

Terrible, beautiful, dark, gloomy, lifeless, impressive, sinister, sunny, scary, welcoming.

Begin your sentence like this:

The house looks ...

​Read the description. Two child evacuees have arrived at the house where they will be staying until the war has ended.

Cecily looked at the house, and held her little brother’s hand tightly. There was dark green, almost black, ivy growing over the front door, which had, once been white in color, but was now a pale, faded yellow, eaten up by woodworm. She felt that if she knocked on it, the whole thing would disintegrate into a plie of dust. The whole building looked like a wedding cake that had been left to go moldy for centuries.

‘Not like it,’ said Toby, pulling his sister’s hand as if to leave.

‘We don’t have any choice, ‘ said Cecily, as much to herself as to three year old Toby.

Suddenly, Cecily noticed a tatty piece of paper, tucked under the rusty door-knocker. She took it down, and unfolded it.

‘ Back at three. Wait by door. Ethel Peabody.’

Cecily sighed. What kind of person went out just as two young children, travelling from hundreds of miles away, arrived at their door?​

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Poll

Which of the following statements reflects Cecily’s view of Ethel Peabody’s house?

• a)It is welcoming and friendly

• b)It is mysterious and exciting

• c)It is unpleasant and unwelcoming

​Writers can tell a story using different narrative viewpoints: the first person or the third person. In the extract you read, Cecily’s story is told in the third person. The writer uses Cecily’s viewpoint to describe what Ethel Peabody’s house looks like, and to create tension and suspense in the story.

​Viewpoint: the character’s from whose perspective the reader experiences a story.

Tension: nervous excitement or anxiety

Suspense: tense uncertainty about future events​

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​Read the following passages from books. Tell what type of narration it is: first person or third person.

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Multiple Choice

1. At half-past nine, that night, Tom and Sid were sent to bed, as usual. They said their prayers, and Sid was soon asleep. Tom lay awake and waited, in restless impatience.(The Adventures of  Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain)

• First Person

• Thrid person

Multiple Choice

2. There were six young colts in the meadow besides me; they were older than I was; some were nearly as large as grown-up horses. I used to run with them, and had great fun; we used to gallop all together round and round the field as hard as we could go.  (Black Beauty by Anna Sewell)

• First person

• Third person

Multiple Choice

3. To begin my life with the beginning of my life, I record that I was born (as I have been informed and believe) on a Friday, at twelve o’clock at night. It was remarked that the clock began to strike, and I began to cry, simultaneously. (David Copperfield by Charles Dickens)

• First person

• Third person

Multiple Choice

4. Since his papa’s death, Cedric had found out that it was best not to talk to his mamma about him. When his father was ill, Cedric had been sent away, and when he had returned, everything was over... (Little Lord Fauntleroy by Frances Hodgson Burnett)

• First person

• Third person

​Look at the final two sentences of the extract. The writer has used a question, from Cecily’s viewpoint, to create suspense in the story. What kind of woman do you think Ethel Peabody will turn out to be?

​‘ Back at three. Wait by door. Ethel Peabody.’

Cecily sighed. What kind of person went out just as two young children, travelling from hundreds of miles away, arrived at their door?

Open Ended

‘ Back at three. Wait by door. Ethel Peabody.’

Cecily sighed. What kind of person went out just as two young children, travelling from hundreds of miles away, arrived at their door?

What kind of person will Ethle Peabody turn out to be?

​Read the description of Ethel Peabody.

From a distance, she looked like a thin, black stork. She was wearing a dusty black dress,, and had a long, starched neck in which a lump in her throat bumped up and own like a stuck marble. Every now and then she used her umbrella to swipe at any sparrows who had the nerve to look for crumbs on the withered lawn.​

​Write three sentences about the kind of things Miss Peabody might do in the story.

Open Ended

From a distance, she looked like a thin, black stork. She was wearing a dusty black dress,, and had a long, starched neck in which a lump in her throat bumped up and own like a stuck marble. Every now and then she used her umbrella to swipe at any sparrows who had the nerve to look for crumbs on the withered lawn.

Write three sentences about the kind of things Miss Peabody might do in the story.

​Write down the pronouns used to express each of the following narrative viewpoints.

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Open Ended

a) First person (I,she, you, they, we)

Open Ended

b) second person (I, she, you, they, we)

Open Ended

c) Third person (I, she, you, they, we)

​Complete the following sentences with a pronoun ending in '-self' or '-selves'.

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Fill in the Blanks

Try not to blame

. it was your fault.

Fill in the Blanks

My mother-in-law has just bought

a car.

Fill in the Blanks

I was just going to make

a cup of tea.

Fill in the Blanks

He wasn't very confident, but he surprised

by passing his driving test on his first try.

Fill in the Blanks

The first settler here grew food for