TIPS FOR MONOLOGUE 1: TELLING A STORY

Stories are made up of people, places, and events… Putting them all
together is not always easy if you do not follow some basic steps.
First, let INSPIRATION come, choose an IDEA you like and…

SET your story in a place and time

BUILD your CHARACTERS slowly. Don’t give all the information at

once.

PLAN your story. Make sure you have at least 3 parts:

– Part 1 – SETTING, i.e. background information (when, where,…)
– Part 2 – PLOT, i.e. the main part of the story.
– Part 3 – CLIMAX/key moment of the story OR what happened after
the climax.

Give your story a TITLE and write it on the forum.

Careful with tenses:
Use *past continuous* for background information. For example –
It was raining heavily as we left the house….
Use *past perfect* before the main events of the story. ...but Anne
had kindly lent me her umbrella.
Use *simple past* for the main events. There wasn’t a single person
on the street.
If you feel you need to revise the pronunciation of - ed, please check
this linkand practise what you learnt in the files attached: a summary
chart and an exercise to complete.
You may also feel like listening to the pronunciation of irregular verbs
too, check it here.

Include some of the following phrases to highlight the different parts

of your plot and to help your listener follow the storyline:
Time phrases: Phrases/adverbs for dramatic effect:
It all began… Suddenly,
Shortly afterwards, All of a sudden,
Meanwhile, Without warning,
Not long afterwards, Out of the blue,
Some time later, Just at that moment,
Later that day, Quite unexpectedly,
Finally, As if from nowhere,
In the end,
Eventually,
Direct speech: Concluding stories:
“…..”, said Fred When it was all over,
“..…”, shouted Fred Looking back now,
“…..”, whispered Fred In retrospect,
”…..”, thought Fred In the end,
“..…”, cried Fred After all that had happened,
“..…”, promised Fred