Writing the second half of the duel scene | Starter Quiz | Oak National Academy

Which person and tense does our narrative retelling of the duel scene in 'Romeo and Juliet' use?

• first person, present tense

• first person, past tense

• third person, past tense

• third person, present tense

Answer explanation

We are writing about events that have happened to someone else as if they have already finished.

Which narrative element is shown here? 'At that moment, Tybalt lunged forward and he landed a heavy blow on Mercutio’s chest.'

• action

• description

• dialogue

• emotion

Answer explanation

We can see that we still include descriptions like 'heavy blow' within action sections.

Which narrative elements are shown here? '“Are you hurt?” cried Benvolio, rushing towards his friend.'

• action

• description

• dialogue

• emotion

Answer explanation

The word 'cried' shows emotion. We can see that the narrative elements can be combined even within sentences.

Which cohesive devices are shown here? 'Suddenly, he rushed towards Mercutio and he pushed his dazzling rapier aside.'

• adverbial complex sentence

• relative complex sentence

• compound sentence

• fronted adverbial

Answer explanation

We can see it is sometimes possible to use two cohesive devices within one sentence. We should do this carefully so that our meaning doesn't become confused!

Which cohesive device is shown here? 'Letting out a soft groan, the wounded man fell to the ground.'

• adverbial complex sentence

• compound sentence

• non-finite (-ing) complex sentence

• relative complex sentence

Answer explanation

A non-finite (-ing) clause contains a subordinate clause that can start with verb in its -ing form.

Which pieces of dialogue are punctuated correctly with inverted commas?

• “A plague on both your houses” he rasped.

• He rasped “A plague on both your houses!”

• “A plague on both your houses!” he rasped.

• He rasped “a plague on both your houses!”

• He rasped, “A plague on both your houses!”

Answer explanation

There's always a comma after the reporting clause in a speech second sentence and there's always some punctuation before the closing inverted commas. We also need a capital letter to start the direct speech.