1. Colorado Northwestern Community College Developmental English ENG 075
Paragraph Mastery
Module PM2
Narration
Created by Sheila Harper and Victoria Berardi at CNCC, 2012
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License

2. You will learn to … Define narration Identify the purpose of narration
Identify the elements of a narrative paragraph
Write a well developed, purposeful, grammatically correct narrative paragraph

3. What is narration? A story told in time order that makes a point.
Purpose: to make readers feel happy, sad, amused, inspired, etc.
Uses specific, descriptive language to help readers share the experience.

4. What do we use narration for?
Fiction
Newspaper articles
Jokes
Letters
Stories shared in conversation
Insurance reports
College writing
This is the same kind of writing that fiction writers do, but newspaper reporters and joke writers also use narrative to make a point. But narrative isn't limited to fiction or joke-telling. You use it when you tell your family what happened at work or school today to explain why you don't feel like talking tonight, when you write a letter to a friend that explains how and why you were hired for your new job, when you share a personal story with a new friend in order to show how you feel about gun control or aggressive drivers or taking care of the land. The reports you might have to write for insurance agencies or workman's comp claims are important uses of narrative, too. Narrative is also used in expository writing, the kind of writing that you do in college classes. There, narrative can provide a powerful illustration of the topic sentence of your paragraph.

5. Elements of narrative paragraphs
Main idea
Usually expressed as a topic sentence
Tells the topic (which is an event) and sets up the point of the narration
Often can appear at end of narration
Setting
When and where the events take place; specific description makes it real to readers
Characters
Who is involved in the event; often includes yourself
Action
What happened; the events in the story; either something that happened or something made up
Setup or backstory
Necessary information about who the characters are and how or why the events occurred
Must be short
Writing Strategies:
Time order describes the events in the order they happened; usually written in past tense
Specific, descriptive language helps readers share the experience
Dialogue or the exact words someone said makes the narrative seem more real; usually written in present tense; requires quotation marks; introduced by I (or he or she) said instead of I said that

6. Putting a narration together
Think of an interesting story from your life
You may have to brainstorm or freewrite to think of one
Decide what point you want to make about it (it was tragic, boring, embarrassing, frightening, exciting, wonderful)
Think about where you want to put your point—at the start so the narration explains it, or at the end so the narration leads up to it
Make a timeline of events
Use the order the events occurred in; a paragraph is too short to use flashbacks, so keep the tense consistent
Use brainstorming, clustering, or freewriting to come up with specific details of action and setting
The details make the narration interesting
Draft the narration

7. Parts of a narrative topic sentence topics are in italics; points are in bold
A narrative topic sentence tells the topic (which is an event) and sets up the point of the narration
Example: I got a rough reintroduction to fatherhood when my wife went into premature labor six weeks before her due date.
Notice the topic or event, which tells us about a specific event in time: when my wife went into premature labor six weeks before her due date.
Notice the point the writer is making, which makes us expect a story about what made the event so difficult: I got a rough reintroduction to fatherhood.

8. Problems with narration
Tense shifts
Narration is telling a story that happened in the past, so stay in past tense.
Example: I lose my grip and fell down the rock face should be written as I lost my grip and fell down the rock face, with both verbs in the past tense.
Summarizing the action
Show the event by describing what happened
Example: “On June 4, 2007, at 4:00 am I had my son Trystin, who weighed 3 pounds 2 ounces” contains specific details, but it summarizes the action (I had my son). Use details to describe the action like this so the reader can share the experience: In the delivery room just before 4 a.m., I grunted, growling with the effort of pushing. The rest of the baby slid out in a rush, and for the first time, I glimpsed my son--his skinny red-and-white streaked backside--as the doctor lifted him away.
Irrelevant details
Pick out only the details and actions that support the point your narration is trying to make.
Example: If you’re writing about a car accident and how it brought your family closer, the only details that matter are the ones that explain how your family felt before, what happened in the accident, and how they felt afterwards.
Trying to cover too much
Focus only on the event in a single period of time. Don’t drag on past the event or start way before it started. In a paragraph, you only have one or two sentences to set up the situation or conclude it.
Example: If you’re writing about how you finally climbed a mountain, leave out the two failed attempts before. Save them for the essay, and just tell the story of your successful attempt...

9. Example of a narrative
I got a rough reintroduction to fatherhood when my wife went into premature labor six weeks before her due date. This set off a whole series of heart wrenching events. My wife had a previous emergency c-section that made this one a life-threatening emergency and required her to be air-lifted by Flight for Life to Denver. I wasn’t allowed on the flight, so I had to drive to Denver alone 1. I didn’t know at the time, but there were multiple aircraft dispatched just to get one off the ground to Denver. The first aircraft had engine trouble2, and the second had hydraulic trouble3, and neither would be able to lift off from Craig. In all of the turmoil, the doctor had decided to do an emergency c-section in Craig and send just my daughter to Denver on a later flight4. In all of the confusion the hospital staff had forgotten that I was already driving to Denver, and my mother-in-law reminded them where I was. I would not be able to take my wife from Craig to Denver unless I got turned back around to Craig, so a state wide APB was put out for my vehicle5. While I was traveling to Denver, my anxiety continued to grow, and my speed increased in proportion. Despite my speed and the fact that there was a state-wide APB for my vehicle, none of the seven law enforcement vehicles I saw en route to Denver bothered to stop me6. The fact that I didn’t get pulled over turned out okay because a third and final aircraft was able to transport my pregnant wife to Denver7. This series of events started a whole new chapter in my family’s life, especially mine as a father.
Color, bold & italics code: Topic sentence (topic or event, point), Setup, Characters, Action, Concluding statement, No purpose in the paragraph. Superscript numbers 1 : the major events in the narration.

10. Practice with narration
Using one of the following prompts, write a narration paragraph. Be sure to include a topic sentence that explains the point of the event you are describing. Use descriptive language and be specific when you describe actions. Check your paragraph for correct grammar before you turn it in. Put your name on the paragraph and place it in the D2L drop box for Paragraph Mastery: Narration for your instructor to review.
Prompts:
Your first day of school or work
A few moments that changed your or someone else’s life
An important choice or decision
The most adventurous thing you ever did
Your most embarrassing experience

11. If you have trouble writing a narrative paragraph …
Watch the videos at and
Read Ch 10.1, pp , at in your textbook.
Talk to your instructor about more practice.

12. Show your mastery of narrative paragraphs
Write either a factual or a fictional narrative paragraph on any topic.
Use prewriting to come up with and organize your ideas.
Write a rough draft of the paragraph.
Revise the paragraph
Check for a clear topic sentence that shows the point of the story
Make sure the events are in correct order
Use specific descriptive details and language
Complete the Revision Worksheet (in the handouts folder of the Writing Process--Revision module)
Put the final draft of the narrative in the D2L dropbox for Paragraph mastery: Narration to be graded and give the rest of your prewriting to your instructor.

13. You have learned to … Define narration
Identify the purpose of narration
Identify the elements of a narrative paragraph
Write a well developed, purposeful, grammatically correct narrative paragraph

14. Why does the video say to make the first sentence the topic sentence?
Questions?
Are there other kinds of paragraphs?
Is a hook always necessary?
Do I have to include all that stuff in my paragraphs?

15. Thank you for viewing the narration module
Thank you for viewing the narration module. Check with your instructor before you go to your next assigned module.
Instructor’s Name Office Hours: Live Class Announcement: If they want to schedule one Phone: