Narrative Text
Purpose
A narrative serves to entertain or inform readers by telling them a story.
Structure
A narrative has a number of parts:
Orientation – who, when, where
Complication – event that causes a complication; there may be more than one in a story. Descriptive words are used to give information about characters and events.
Evaluation – reaction by characters to the complication
Resolution – solution to the problem
Coda (optional) – lesson from the story
Language features of a narrative
Description of characters and places using:
- Adjectives to describe nouns – heavy, frosty, transparent, grumpy
- Adverbs – to describe verbs – quickly, secretly, quietly, energetically, suddenly
- Similes – to compare one thing with another, using like or as … as – as bright as the moon, the kiss felt like a butterfly’s wings against her cheek
Time words – Once upon a time, long ago, then, last week
Verbs indicating actions in the story – hid, ate, ran, whispered, looked