Narrative+Texts

Click on the widget below to see a presentation on narrative writing by Marc Carrabs and Chris Mangion.




 Narratives are written to entertain, amuse or inform.


 Narrative texts may include:

short stories poems songs myths / legends fairytales parables plays films advertisements tv shows novels


 Orientation Complication Evaluation Resolution


 Language of description:

Using adjectives, simile, metaphor and emotive words to help describe things enhances descriptive language,

eg. "The lake became a pale golden colour as the sun moved its warm hands across the landscape." "The kookaburras welcomed the morning with a chorus of deafening laughter."

Language to indicate time and sequence:

Use words that tell the reader when and in what order things occur,

eg. "Initially", "soon after", "then", "later", "finally" etc.

Figurative language:

Use figures of speech such as metaphor, simile, alliteration, assonance etc. to make your writing more entertaining and interesting for the reader,

eg. "The flames engulfer the bush like a glutton."


 - Cohesion, which means the text has to "flow". The reader should be able to understand the what is happening throughout the narrative. Use of pronouns to refer to characters/ narrator helps with cohesion, as do conjunctions.

- Subject/ verb agreement subject verb subject verb
 * “The story contains a suspenseful chase.”
 * “The stories contain suspenseful chases.”

- Descriptive Nouns

- Tense consistency, meaning that the story should always use the same tense verbs.
 * Michael laughed (past tense)
 * "I am so angry!" she cried. (past and present tense)

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