Checklist – Narrative

Structure

Orientation: (first paragraph)

 * Where did the story take place?
* When did the story take place?
 * How did the story begin?
 * Who?
		
Complication or problem: a description/ explanation of the problem.
The problem usually involves the main character(s).		
Resolution: how the problem has been solved.		
Conclusion: a final concluding statement. 		
Characterisation: a description of the main characters.
What do they look like?		
Theme: a clear message.		

Language

Active verbs  are used (Instead of The old woman was in his way try The old woman barred his path).		
The first person (I, we)
or
the third person (he, she, they).		
The past tense is used.		
Conjunctions (linking words to do with time) are used.		
Specific nouns  (oak instead of tree).		
Adjectives  and adverbs  are used.		
Uses the senses:

    * What does it smell like?
    * What can be heard? What can be seen?
    * What does it taste like?
    * What does it feel like?
		
A variety of sentence beginnings are used.		
It has an impact on the reader. The personal voice of the writer comes through.		
Narratives often use:	
* Similes  (The sea looked as rumpled as a blue quilted dressing gown; The wind wrapped me up like a cloak).

 * Metaphors (She has a heart of stone; He is a stubborn mule; The man barked out the instructions).

* Onomatopoeia (crackle, splat, ooze, squish, boom. The tyres whirr on the road; The pitter-patter of soft rain; The mud oozed and squished through my toes).

* Personification (The steel beam clenched its muscles; Clouds limped across the sky; The pebbles on the path were grey with grief).		

Personal Experience Exemplars