1. NARRATIVE
What is a narrative?
A narrative is a text that tells a story and, in doing so, entertains the audience. The
purpose of a narrative, other than providing entertainment, can be to make the audience
think about an issue, teach them a lesson, or excite their emotions.
Written narratives often take the form of novels. The story is usually told by a
narrator. If the narrator is one of the characters in the story, the story is said to be told in
the first person. If a person outside the story is the narrator, then the story is being
told in the third person.
Examples of narrative texts include:
myths
fairytales
Aboriginal dreaming stories
science fiction
historical fiction
romance novels
2. NARRATIVE
Features of a narrative
Constructing a narrative
The steps for constructing a narrative text are:
an orientation in which the narrator tells the audience about WHO is in the story,
WHEN the story is taking place and WHERE the action is happening
a complication that sets off a chain of events that influences what will happen in the
story
A sequence of events where the characters react to the complication
A resolution in which the characters solve the problem created in the complication
a coda that provides a comment or moral based on what has been learned from the
story (an optional step).
Grammatical features of a narrative
Narratives usually include the following grammatical features:
nouns that identify the specific characters and places in the story
adjectives that provide accurate descriptions of the characters and settings
verbs that show the actions that occur in the story
time words that connect events, telling when they occurred.
3. NARRATIVE
The narrative scaffold
1. Orientation
In this paragraph the narrator tells the audience who is in the story, when it is
happening, where it is happening and what is going on.
2. Complication
This is the part of the story where the narrator tells about something that will begin a
chain of events. These events will affect one or more of the characters. The
complication is the trigger.
3. Sequence of events
This is where the narrator tells how the characters react to the complication. It includes
their feelings and what they do. The events can be told in chronological order (the
order in which they happen) or with flashbacks. The audience is given the narrator’s
point of view.
4. Resolution
In this part of the narrative the complication is sorted out or the problem is solved
5. Coda
The narrator includes a coda if there is a moral or message to be learned from the
story.
4. NARRATIVE
MODEL OF A NARRATIVE
The Drover’s Wife
(adapted from a short story by Henry Lawson)
The two-roomed house is built of round timber, slabs and stringy-bark and
floored with split slabs. Bush all round-bush with no horizon, for the country is
flat. The drover, an ex-squatter, is away with sheep. His wife and children are
left here alone.
Four ragged, dried-up looking children are playing about the house.
Suddenly one of them yells ‘Snake! Mother, here’s a snake!’
It is near sunset, and she knows the snake is there. She makes up beds
for the children and sits down beside them to keep watch all night.
She has an eye on the corner and a green sapling club ready by her
side. Alligator, the dog, lies nearby.
It must be one or two o’clock in the morning. The bush woman watches
and listens, thinking about her life alone whilst her husband is gone.
It must be near daylight now. The hairs on Alligator’s neck begin to
bristle. Between a crack in the slabs an evil pair of small, bead-like eyes glisten.
The snake-a black one-comes slowly out.
Alligator springs. He has the snake now. Thud, thud as the woman
strikes at the snake. The dog shakes and shakes the black snake. The snake’s
back is broken. Thud, thud is head is crushed.
She lifts the mangled reptile and throws it on the fire. The eldest boy
watches it burn and looks at his mother, seeing tears in her eyes.
He throws his arms around her and exclaims, ‘Mother, I won’t never go
droving; blarst me if I do!’
Structures
ORIENTATION
TELLING WHO
AND WHERE
SPECIFIC
CHARACTERS
Grammatical
features
ADJECTIVES
PROVIDING
DESCRIPTION
USE OF TIME
WORDS TO
CONNECT
EVENTS
COMPLICATION
THAT TRIGGERS
A SERIES OF
EVENTS
SEQUENCE OF
EVENTS WHERE
THE
CHARACTERS
REACT TO THE
COMPLICATION
RESOLUTION
IN WHICH THE
PROBLEM FROM
THE
COMPLICATION
IS SOLVED
CODA THAT
GIVES THE
MORAL TO THE
STORY
VERBS SHOWING
ACTIONS
ADJECTIVES
SHOWING
DESCRIPTIONS