Narrative essay writing

• Engels
• Middelbare school

Narrative essay writing 

v4entl3, 21-12-2021

Contents of this lesson

- Definition 

- Narrative Elements 

1) characters 

2) the setting

3) plot 

4) point of view

5) dialogue 

- Up to you!

What do you think narrative writing is?

Definition 

A narrative is a story made up of real or imagined experiences.

You have two types of narrative essays: 

1) A personal narrative is an account of something you yourself have experienced.

2) A fictional narrative is a made up story 

Important narrative elements

- Characters (protagonist and antagonist)

- The setting (time and place)

- Plot

- Point of view 

- Dialogue 

Characters 

Protagonist: is the main character of a story. The protagonist makes key decisions that affect the plot, primarily influencing the story and propelling it forward and is often the character who faces the most significant obstacles.

Antagonist:  will provide obstacles and complications and create conflicts that test the protagonist, and revealing the strengths and weaknesses of the protagonist's character.

Protagonist

Antagonist

Setting 

The time, place, and circumstances in which a narrative takes place.

Example: A story about a young girl who experiences bullying at school is set in a suburb of Atlanta, in the 1980s

Plot

- The events that make up the storyline.

1) Exposition 

2) Inciting incident 

3) Rising action

4) Climax

5) Falling action 

6) Conclusion 

What is conflict? (1/2)

1. Conflict is the struggle between opposing forces.

2. Central Conflict - main character must fight against some force or make an important decision.

(two different types, internal conflict - external conflict)

What is conflict? (2/2)

a. Internal conflict - take place inside a person's mind. 

Example - a character is tom between risking his life to save someone else.

 

b. External conflict - takes place when a person or group struggles

against another person or group or against a non-human force such as a storm or a car that won't start.

Special plot techniques (1/2)

1. Suspense - feeling of excitement or tension the reader experiences as the plot unfolds. Writers create suspense by raising questions in the

reader's mind.

2. Foreshadowing - a hint or clue about an event that will occur later in the story.

Special plot techniques (2/2)

3. Flashback - a section of the story that is interrupted to tell about an earlier event.

4. Surprise ending - an ending that catches the reader off guard with something unexpected.

Introduces background

Builds toward point of greatest interest

sets central conflict in motion

Conflict or tension hits the highest point

Point after the climax

Wraps up the story

Exposition

Rising Action

Conclusion

Inciting Incident

Falling action

Climax

Point of view 

Usually you write your narrative essay from the first person perspective. 

First Person - Story told by the protagonist or a character who interacts closely with the protagonist or other characters; speaker uses the pronouns "I", "me", "we". Readers experiences the story through this person's eyes and only knows what he/she knows and feels.

Dialogue in Narrative Essays

There are two types of dialogue: direct and indirect

Direct dialogue is speech using the character’s exact words. In this case, quotation marks are used.

Indirect dialogue is a second-hand report of something that was said or written but NOT the exact words in their original form.

When writing a narrative essay, you are telling a story. That story can become confusing for the reader, though, when dialogue is added, unless it’s very clear who is doing the talking. Knowing how to quote someone in an essay can help your reader more easily follow the flow and action of the story.

Dialogue rule #1

There are some rules to follow when writing direct dialogue in your narratives:

Rule #1: Use quotation marks to indicate the words that are spoken by the characters.

Example: “Help me!” exclaimed the little girl.

Dialogue rule #2

Rule #2: Always begin a new paragraph when the speaker changes.

Example:

“I am coming home,” Sue announced. “I am really tired and can’t work anymore.”

“Okay, I think you should do that,” her husband agreed.

Dialogue rule #3

Rule #3: Make sure the reader knows who is doing the talking.

Dialogue rule #4

Rule #4: Use correct punctuation marks and capitalization.

Example:

“May I buy a new pair of shoes?” Lauren asked her mom.

Note that the quotation marks are outside the end punctuation of the quote; the rest of the sentence has its own end punctuation.

If the quote is not a question or exclamation, use a comma and not a period before the second quotation marks.

“I bought a new jacket yesterday,” Tammy said.

What have you learned about
narrative writing?

Up to you!

Work on the assignment on Itslearning -> Go to Its-learning -> planner 4vwo -> week 51 (bronnen) -> Narrative Writing assignment

Work in silence, you may ask your neighbour for help or me by raising your hand, but keep the volume low.

Hand in your assignment on Its-learning before 23-12-2021 17:00 in the homework map that you can find at activiteiten (week 51)

Write this down in your agenda!