THE NARRATIVE PARAGRAPH

1. DEFENITION: According to Aquino (2002) a narrative paragraph

describes a sequence of events or tells a story; in other words, narrative
paragraphs describe an experience. In this type of paragraph the logical
arrangement of ideas and sentences is chronological that is to say according
to time order.

1.1. NARRATION: Aquino (2002) says that there are several ways to
organize sentences in paragraphs. The arrangement of the sentences and
details depends on the writer´s purpose. The chronological
development refers to ordering the sentences and ideas in order of time.
There are two types of writings that require chronological development:
narration and process description.

Narration usually refers to telling a story, but also to describe the

relating of an experience; in other words a sequence of events. That
experience could be in the past (past narration), or it may be a typical
experience (what people usually do), or it may be going on now (present
narration).

Cariaga (2018) explains that a narrative is a story (fiction or real - facts)

about one person, animal or an object at one place (many) and at one
moment. The events are happening in a sequence so it is chronological. It
includes a point of view, that is to say your own version of the story. On
the other hand, the tenses used in the narrative paragraph could be the
present, the past and the future, but mainly the past tense. Example:

When snow white gest young the stepmother gets jealous of her
beauty and has her taken to the woods to be killed. Later snow
white escapes and runs into a cottage. When the seven dwarves
arrive and let her stay to live there. One day a witch gives a
poisoned apple to her and she dies. But a riding prince kisses her
and she wakes up and marries her.

2. PRESENT NARRATION: The present narration describes a sequence of

events in the present time.
2.1. COHERENCE: Aquino (2002) says that it is important in narrative
writing to show the reader the time relationship between sentences and
ideas; clarifying the time relationships helps to achieve coherence. The
paragraph is incoherent if any of the sentences could be switched around
without any significance in meaning.

 Adverbial expressions of time and sequence: They clarify the time

sequence. These expressions fall into two groups: time expressions of
more than one word and one-word expressions of sequence. The first
group generally introduces a sentence and is followed by a comma.
Examples:

By + time By nine o´clock, the avenue is lined with

At + time people.
After + time At around eight o´clock, the excitement
Before + time mounts.
After + noun After eleven o´clock, the people go home.
Before + noun Everyone gets there before eight o´clock.
During + noun After about an hour, the parade passes by.
Before the parade, everyone is excited.
During the morning, the people have a good
time.

The second group generally introduces a sentence and is followed by

a comma. Examples:

First First, there are the welcome sounds of sirens.

Next Next, the masked men arrived on the horseback.
Second Second, they wave and the crowd waves back.
Then Then, they wave and the crowd waves back.
Last Last, the big floats come.
Finally Finally, the parade is over.

 Prepositions in time expressions: Since expressions indicating time

sequence are important in achieving coherence and clarity, it is
important to use the correct prepositions in time expressions:
 Adult students usually go to school at
At indicates a time of night.
day Most Americans eat lunch at noon.
My first class begins at 8 o´clock.
I like to get up early in the morning.
I enjoy eating out in the evening.
In indicates a part of
Final exams take place in June.
the day, month, year, or
My little sister was born in 1999.
season
We get a week off from school in the
spring.
There is usually no school on weekends.
On indicates a specific My brother was born on May 5, 1997.
date On the morning of May 5, 1997, my
brother was born.
I usually get up by 6:30, sometimes
By indicates up to but
earlier but never late.
no later than a point in
They always try to arrive home by
time
noon.
During indicates an
I have classes during the day.
amount of time
I sometimes fall asleep during the
(followed by a noun
biology lecture.
phrase)
Until indicates time up I usually don’t get home until midnight,
to a point, but not rarely before and sometimes after.
limited to that point in I like to sleep until noon, and
time. sometimes I sleep later.