Lesson One

LESSON ONE

Do you like to hear stories?  Do you like to tell stories?  Stories are all around us, and storytelling is a huge part of life.  From the tales that we tell our friends to the shows that we watch on television, someone is telling about an event or an action as it changes over time; someone is sharing a story.  To tell about an event or an action as it changes over time is called narrating.   

In this Unit, you will learn how to write a narrative paragraph.  A narrative paragraph is one that tells about changes in time, and the writing "keeps moving" as the reader follows the storyline.  

What causes sharks to attack?  What happened when the mountain climber got caught in the avalanche?  How is chocolate fondue made?  These are all questions that are answered by narration, which is "the act of giving an account describing incidents or a course of events; to tell about the acts of an occurrence (something that takes place) or event."  

You can use narration to tell about what happened (a story), to explain a process (how something works or how to do something), or to explain the causes and effects (results that were caused from one event). 

A BRIEF DISCUSSION OF AN AUTHOR’S POINT OF VIEW

A narrative paragraph is written by the author and is "told" in his/her way and from his/her point of view.  An author's point of view is her/his attitude about the topic.  It is the stance the author has taken.  An author's point of view can be determined by a writer's word choice, tone, guesses and assumptions, understanding, what details he includes, and what he leaves out. 

One of the most important decisions you will make in writing your paragraph is to choose which point of view to use.  The point of view from which you will write is called the author's point of view.  An author's point of view can be determined by the opinions and comments that he includes.  It can also be determined by the lack of opinions and comments because the author may choose to let the story tell itself on its own without the input from a "narrator."  (A narrator is someone who tells the story.)  

There are four types of authors' points of view.  In writing a narrative paragraph, you must decide from which point of view you will write and then relay your message through that point of view.  The four points of view are the following: 

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In the First-person point of view the narrator is a character in the story; and the story gets told through what he sees, hears, and observes.   

The narrator uses first-person pronouns such as I, me, mine, our, ours, we, my, ourselves. 

In the Third-person point of view the narrator is not a character in the story but is an observer of it. The narrator tells the story as if she/he were an outsider looking in.  Since the narrator is not a character in the story, nothing about him/her is identifiable -- not even whether the narrator is a male or female. The narrator tells the story by telling what the characters in the story say or do. The narrator is unable to look into anyone's mind; therefore, the reader only knows what the narrator is able to observe. 

In the Third-person limited point of view the narrator tells the story as if he/she were looking through the eyes of one character.  The story gets told by telling what the one character thinks, sees, feels, observes, and does. 

In the Third-person omniscient point of view the narrator knows and relays thoughts and actions of all the characters.  The thoughts, feelings, observations, and actions of every character are revealed to the reader.   

It is as if the narrator can see into the minds of all the main characters, and the story gets told by revealing what their inner-most thoughts are.

The four different types of authors' points of view will be discussed in detail in Lessons Two through Four. 

First, let's go over some important aspects of good narrative writing.  Be sure to use interesting dialogue when writing your narrative.  A dialogue is a conversation between two or more people.  Dialogue and quotations occur whenever you add a person’s conversation or actual words to your writing.  The words that someone actually speaks are placed within quotation marks.

Adding dialogue to your writing makes it more interesting, believable, and sharper.  See the poor and good examples below.  The poor examples do not use dialogue and quotations, are dull, and do not provide enough detail to support the main idea.  Therefore, the poor examples do not get the point across to the reader nor do they convince the reader to want to read more. The good examples encourage the reader to want to continue reading, and they give support to the author's main idea.  Besides that, the good examples are more exciting.

Poor example:  Dad said that he was tired. 

Good example:  Dad said, "I'm so dog-tired that I will drop soon if I don't take a nap." 

Poor example:  He thinks that I am a neat person. 

Good example:  "You are an incredible person!" he exclaimed. 

Poor example:  The mentor told his student to do his best. 

Good example:  "In all that you do," stated his mentor, "do the best that you can for your fellow man.  If you do this, you will in turn be blessed." 

Poor example:  She told us the mountains were beautiful. 

Good example:  "In the mountains, everywhere you turn is a picture-perfect view!"  she cried.  

Poor example:  I was told by my teacher to do the right thing.  

Good example:  "You must first do the right thing to others, and you will find yourself down-deep satisfied within yourself," my teacher commented. 

Learning these authors’ points of view will also help you when you read literary selections. 

It is very important to understand that there are four different types of authors' points of views.  It is also important for you to learn how to create interesting narrative dialogue in order to create interest. If you miss anything, be sure to go back and review. 

TIPS FOR NARRATIVE PARAGRAPH WRITING 

Narrative paragraph writing requires you to have characters in your paragraph.  A character is a "person portrayed in an artistic piece, such as a drama, a novel, a short story."  When you are writing about your characters, be sure to give them "character"!  A second definition of the word character is "The combination of qualities or features that distinguishes one person, group, or thing from another."  Be sure to list specific details and clear descriptions to reveal a person's inner character and not just his/her outward appearance. 

Another thing that you should know when writing a narrative paragraph is to convey a certain mood by choice of words - happy, morose, sad, mysterious, gleeful, melancholy, etc.  This will require you to select exact words.  There are many ways that you can add exact words -- by adding exact action words, by adding adjectives to modify nouns or pronouns, by using adverbs to modify verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs.  (Please review the Grade 6 Persuasive Writing Unit for much more detail on using various strategies such as exact words to add richness and depth to your writings.)   

Communicating a theme and focusing on some insight into the way humans think and act is crucial in narrative writing since you are trying to make the characters in your narrative paragraphs come to life for the reader.