narrative features

1. What does it take to have a good
narrative?

2. The day after his death all the ladies
prepared to call at the house and offer
condolence and aid, as is our custom. Miss Emily
met them at the door, dressed as usual and with
no trace of grief on her face. She told them that
her father was not dead. She did that for three
days, with the ministers calling on her, and the
doctors, trying to persuade her to let them
dispose of the body. Just as they were about to
resort to law and force, she broke down, and
they buried her father quickly.
-A Rose for Emily by William Faulkner

3. “I want some poison,” she said to the
druggist. She was over thirty then, still a
slight woman, though thinner than usual,
with cold, haughty black eyes in a face the
flesh of which was strained ought the
temples and about the eye-sockets as you
imagine a lighthouse keeper’s face ought
to look. “I want some poison,” she said.
-A Rose for Emily by William Faulkner

4. “Why did I become an architect? My
mother gave me a couple of musical
instruments to try and I was dreadful. In
writing compositions, I was worse. The
many things I tried, from sports to culture,
were only done adequately. The thing I did
well was to draw, so I decided I would
become an architect.”
-From Michael Graves and the
Portland Building by Gail Schiller Tuchman

5. The sunshine and the loud chirping of birds are
coming through my window. I could hardly open my
eyes but a blurry glimpse at my clock just reminded me
of something…I’m late for school! I stood up and
jumped off my bed and rushed to the bathroom for a
quick shower. As I dried myself up, I can hear my mom,
who is set to go, saying “Don’t forget to eat your
breakfast!” I couldn’t reply cramming my self back to
my room to dress up. I was near my bedroom door
when I saw our pet dog, Spot. He was nearly inside my
room looking for a cozy surface, trying to get some
sleep. Extremely in a hurry, I pushed him out of my way,
banged the door and dressed up. Finally, I wore my
shoes, grabbed my bag, and was ready to go. It was
going to be my first time to be late!
-The Literary Folio, Vol. 2, 2003-2004

6. Questions
1. Did the narrative use action verbs? What are the
action verbs used in the narrative?
2. In what tense are the verbs?
3. Is the narrative using first person or third person
point of view?
4. Who is the main character? Are there other
characters? Who are they?
5. How was the main character described?
6. Did it use dialogue? What are the dialogues
used? What were the punctuation marks used?

7. Features of a Narrative
1. Well-defined characters
2. Descriptive language
3. Action verbs
4. Past tense
5. Dialogue
6. First Person or third person

8. What feature of narrative is described?
1. This feature uses lines exchanged by
characters.
2. This feature refers to the words or phrases
used to describe people, places or events.
3. This feature refers to the people or animals
playing a part in the story.
4. It is from whom the story was told.
5. These are words used to describe actions of
characters and they are mostly in past form.

9. 1. Juan Tamad lives up to his name. He is lazy.
When his mother tells him to clean, he
always says, “Nay, I’ll do it later” or “Nay, you
do it. I’m too tired to do it.”
Feature of Narrative: Well-defined characters
a. How was Juan Tamad described?
b. What adjective was used to describe him?
Feature of Narrative: Point of View
c. What point of view was used?

10. 2. While on his knees, Juan Mapagmahal, holding Maria’s
hands, with all love said, “Maria, you are the love of my life.
Please marry me.”
But Maria took her hands from his and ran away. A few meters
away, she stopped running. With the sun behind her, she
turned, took one last look and with tears on her eyes shouted,
“I love you but I could not be with you!”
Feature of Narrative: Dialogue
a. What were the lines exchange between Maria and Juan?
b. What punctuation marks were used to introduce the
lines?
Feature of Narrative: Action Verbs
c. Give at least 3 action words used in the text?
d. In what tense are the verbs?
Feature of Narrative: Descriptive Language
e. Which is more descriptive? With all love said OR said.

11. What does it take to have a good
narrative?
A good narrative
should have all or at
least all of the
features of narrative.