This document outlines the basic structure for telling a story, including an introduction, beginning, main story events, end, and moral. It recommends introducing the type of story, providing background on the setting and time, then describing the main events in order. Storytellers can use transition words to link ideas and indicate interruptions or simultaneous events. The ending should explain how things changed or are now, and the moral can share lessons learned. Effective storytelling also connects events through cause and effect and uses consistent verb tenses.

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Telling A Story
Step Up American Pragmatics and Culture

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Basic Story Structure
 Introduction
 Beginning
 The Story
 The End
 Moral

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Story Structure: Introduction
 Introduce
the story by telling what kind of story it is.
 Examples:
 “This is a true story”
 “This is a story I heard from a friend.”
Sample Language:
First of all,
To start off with,
Initially,

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Story Structure: Beginning
 Tellhow the story started.
 Provide background information about the setting
& time period when the story took place.
 Mention where, what time of day, what the weather was
like, etc.
 Ex. Golden Girls – Sophia’s Storytelling
Sample Language for Continuing:
Then,
After that,
Next,
As soon as / When + full clause,
... but then
Immediately,

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Story Structure: The Story
 Tellthe main events, in the order that they
happened.
 Ex. I woke up, went to the kitchen, and saw the
huge hole in the window…

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Sample Language
 Interruptions / New Elements to the Story:
 Suddenly,
Unexpectedly,
 Examples: Suddenly, a child burst into the room with a note for
Ms. Smith.
Unexpectedly, the people in the room didn't agree with the mayor.
 Events Occurring at the Same Time
 While / As + full clause
During + noun (noun clause)
 Examples: While we were getting ready for the trip, Jennifer was
making the reservations at the travel agent's.
During the meeting, Jack came over and asked me a few
questions.

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Story Structure: The End
 Tell what has changed or how things are now.
 You could have a happy ending, sad ending, or even a
cliff hanger.
 Ex. “so we managed to get to the concert right on
time”
 Sample Language for Ending:
Finally,
In the end,
Eventually,
Lastly,

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Story Structure: The Moral
 Make final comments or provide moral conclusions
about the story.
 Ex. “In the end, it was better that it happened that way
because if it had happened the way I planned, no one
would have been happy.”

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Other Important Elements Of Story
Telling
 Cause and Effect
 Provide reasons for different actions that occur in the
story
 Link Ideas Logically
 Use proper verb tenses
 Reported Speech

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Think of your own story to tell…
 Thinkof a story that has happened to you or a friend
of yours that is remarkable. What happened?
 Was this a happy or sad story? Why?
 What were the main events of the story? In what
order did they happen?
 Howhave things changed because of this story?
What are things like now?
 What lessons did you learn from the story?

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Now You Try…
 Tell me your story.