CHAPTER FOUR

NARRATIVE STRUCTURE OF
ROAD DAHL’S THE PORCUPINE

This chapter contains the discussion on the narrative structure of The

Porcupine, a poem written by Road Dahl which is intended for children aged 8 –

10 years old (champchild Follow, 2013). The analysis will use William Labov’s

theory of narrative structure, which consists of six elements, namely abstract,

orientation, complicating action, evaluation, resolution, and coda.

4.1 Abstract

An abstract is a summary of a story that is often in the form of one

sentence (Toolan, 2013, p. 139). However, Road Dahl’s The Porcupine does not

have any abstract.

The lack of abstract makes the target readers, who are young children,

wonder more about the story contained in the poem. This naturally increases the

children’s curiosity and supports their creativity in exploring their imagination to

gain new knowledge and ideas when reading the whole poem. Children will get

more interests in reading the poem from the beginning until the end. This is in line

with the statement that says “young children tend to be curious, have great

imagination and enormous creative capacity’’ (Tips for Building a Child's

Imagination, 2019).
4.2 Orientation

Orientation covers the characters involved in the story and the setting of

time and place in the story (Toolan, 2013, p. 139). In the poem there are seven

characters involved; they are the child, father, mother, porcupine, dentist and two

nurses.

The child is the main character in the poem. Besides, the poem applies

first-person-point-of-view technique in telling the story through this main

character. For example, it can be seen in the following two lines:

(1) Each Saturday I shout “Hurray”.

(5) Like lightning down the road I ran

The purpose of using the first person point of view is effective as it creates

an intimate relation between the child as the main character and the young

children as the readers. This is supported by Shepard’s (2000) opinion that ‘’first

person is popular with middle-grade and young-adult readers as it creates instant

intimacy and can convey lively wit and emotion.”

In addition, the fact that the main character is a child and the target reader

of this poem is also children gives a great effect as well. Since the main character

and the target reader are more or less at the same age, the reader will enjoy

reading this poem more, as stated that ‘’kids especially enjoy books that feature

children their own ages doing things they do in everyday life’’ (Marcin, 2020). In

the poem, the child experiences a lot of fun, such as getting some pocket

money, buying some chocolates, taking a walk to the forest, sitting on a comfy

little mound, and eating chocolates.

Regarding the setting of time and place of the poem, the poem does not

mention it explicitly. However, there is a clue which is written in line 60:

 (60) ‘’That will be 50 guineas please!”

This line shows the currency used by the dentist to charge the child’s mother for

the treatment given, which is guineas, a British currency. According to

(BullionByPost, n.d.) ‘’since British currency was decimalised on 15th February

1971, the Guinea has no longer been used as legal tender’’. Therefore, it is clear

that this poem is set in the past and takes place in the United Kingdom.

When the setting of time and place is known, children as the target readers

will naturally feel that the story is more realistic. They will relate more to the

characters and the plot of the story. This is in accordance with the opinion that

‘’setting can present symbolic persons, objects, place, action, or situations.

Setting can establish the mood or atmosphere of a scene or story, and develop

the plot into a more realistic form, resulting in more convincing characters’’

(Setting – Examples and Definition of Setting, 2017).

4.3 Complicating Action

The complication action is the sequence of actions that happen in the story

(Toolan, 2013, p. 139). There are only five complicating actions in the story,

which are:

1. The child gets some pocket money from her father and he buys some

chocolates.

2. The child eats the chocolates in the woods while sitting on a little

mound.

3. It turns out that the child sits on a porcupine and a hundred prickles are

sticking in his body.

4. The child runs for home to tell his mother, and his mother brings him to

the dentist.
 5. Mr. Meyers pulls out all the prickles and charges them 50 guineas.

It can be said that this poem has a simple storyline or plot. The simple

story line here is effective as it is intended to keep children as the target readers

more engaged to this poem; they can understand the sequence of the actions

more easily from the beginning, middle, and end of this poem as simple plots can

keep children engaged to the story (Fun Short Rhyming Stories for Kids, n.d.).

4.4 Evaluation

Evaluation is the element that highlights the interesting use of the

language and how it is relevant to the addressee. Evaluation is divided into two

which are External evaluation and Internal evaluation consist of intensifying,

comparator, correlative, and explicative evaluation.

4.4.1 Internal evaluation

a. Intensifying evaluation

There are 13 intensifying evaluation found in the poem which are

alliteration, anaphora, assonance, epiphany, euphemism, graphology, idiom,

imagery, metaphor, parallelism, rhyme couplets, shortened words, and simile.

Anaphora is a ‘’rhetorical device that features repetition of a word or

phrase at the beginning of successive sentences, phrases, or clauses (Anaphora

– Example and Definitions of Anaphora, 2020, para. 1). There are two Anaphora

in the poem, which is found in line 24,25, and 75.

(24, 25) A hundred red-hot bits of wire.

A hundred prickles sticking in

(75) Don’t copy me, don’t be a twit,

 The first number shows the repetition of a hundred to show how many

prickles stick in the main character’s bump. Therefore, it tells the reader about

how painful being punctured by porcupine. By knowing, the main character’s pain

will raise the target reader’s empathy to the main character, because one of the

function of anaphora is to evoke emotion (Anaphora – Example and Definitions of

Anaphora, 2020, para. 8).

The second number uses the repetition of don’t, this anaphora shows a

warning to the reader not to follow his careless act. By using repetition don’t to

tell a warning or advice will attract reader’s attention, moreover it makes the

readers fell that the warning is important. This is in line with the function of

anaphora to create an urgency or call to action (Anaphora – Example and

Definitions of Anaphora, 2020, para. 9).

Alliteration is a ‘’literary device that reflects repetition in two or more nearby

words of initial consonant sounds (Alliteration – Example and Definitions of

Alliteration, 2021, para. 1). There are six alliteration in the poem, which is called

alliterative tongue twister. These alliteration can be found in line 5, 8, 14, 32, 42,

and 73.

(5) Like lightning down the road I ran

(8) A great big bag of raspberry creams.

(14) A comfy looking little mound,

(32) To try to pull those prickles out.

(42) And there they turned me upside down.

(73) It is to stop some silly clown

This alliterative tongue twister is usually associated with children because it

helps the target readers to improve their reading skill, this is in line with the
function of alliterative tongue twister for children which are to improve
pronunciation, fluency, and articulation (Alliteration – Example and Definitions of
Alliteration, 2021, para. 2).

4.5 Resolution

Resolution is what finally happens as the conclusion of the story. It can be

a clear or unclear resolution; a sad or happy ending (Toolan, 2013, p. 140). The

Porcupine ends with the dentist being successful in pulling the prickles out of the

child’s body and he charges them 50 guineas.

This resolution shows a clear and happy ending as the problem happening

in the poem is finally solved, which is called a classical ending as the ending is

explicit and resolved (Bookfox, 2021, para. 3). This type of ending will definitely

make children as the target reader happy and satisfied (Bookfox, 2021, para. 5).

4.6 Coda

Coda refers to how the story relates to us or the moral lesson of a story

(Toolan, 2013, p. 140). The coda in the story is found in lines 71 – 76 as shown

below:

(71) I think I know why porcupines

(72) Surround themselves with prickly spines.

(73) It is to stop some silly clown

(74) From squashing them by sitting down.

(75) Don’t copy me, don’t be a twit,

(76) Be sure to look before you sit!

Lines 71 – 76 show that after what has happened to him, the child learns a

lesson that people will have to be careful by looking before they sit.

The lesson is simple but it is suitable for children as the target reader.

Besides, it can also be beneficial for children as it “… can both increase positive

behavior in children and reduce negative behavior’’ (Ward, 2020).

Total words (1297)

 REFERENCES

All About Point of View: Which One Should You Use? NY Book Editors. (n.d.).
https://nybookeditors.com/2016/01/all-about-point-of-view-which-one-
should-you-use/.

Alliteration - Examples and Definition of Alliteration. Literary Devices. (2021,

January 31). https://literarydevices.net/alliteration/.

Anaphora - Definition and Examples of Anaphora. Literary Devices. (2020,

September 15).
https://literarydevices.net/anaphora/.

champchild Follow. (2013, December 15). Book review of Roald Dahl's Dirty
Beast. SlideShare. https://www.slideshare.net/champchild/book-review-
ruhee-parelkar.

educator, L. V. I. am an. (2020, July 16). Rhyming Stories for Kids. Preschool
Inspirations. https://preschoolinspirations.com/rhyming-stories/.

Fun Short Rhyming Stories For Kids. NurseryRhymesFun. (n.d.).

https://www.nursery-rhymes-fun.com/rhymingstories.html.

How Much is a Guinea Worth? BullionByPost. (n.d.).

https://www.bullionbypost.eu/index/collectible-coins/how-much-is-a-
guinea-worth/.

Jerz, D. G. (n.d.). Short Story Tips: 10 Hacks to Improve Your Creative Writing.
Jerz's Literacy Weblog (est. 1999).
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Marcin, A. (2020, October 14). Reading to Children: Why It's So Important and
How to Start. Healthline. https://www.healthline.com/health/childrens-
health/reading-to-children.

The porcupine. (2015, July 12). https://100.best-poems.net/porcupine.html.

Setting - Examples and Definition of Setting. Literary Devices. (2017, October

10). https://literarydevices.net/setting/.

Shepard, A. (2000). Writing Your Story. Writing Your Story (Children's Stories,
Write for Children, Kids). http://www.aaronshep.com/kidwriter/Tips.html.
Tips for building a child's imagination. First Five Years. (n.d.).
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Ward, K. (2020, November 18). The 27 best moral stories for kids. The 27 Best
Moral Stories For Kids - Care.com.
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kids/amp/.

Why are Stories Important for Children? Why are stories important for children?
(n.d.). https://www.writersbureau.com/writing/why-are-stories-important-
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 APPENDIX

1) Each Saturday I shout “Hurray”

2) For that’s my pocket money day.

3) So after breakfast 50p

4) My generous father gave to me.

5) Like lightning down the road I ran

6) Until I reached the sweet-shop man,

7) And bought the chocolates of my dreams

8) A great big bag of raspberry creams.

9) There is a secret place I know

10) Where I quite often like to go,

11) Beyond the woods behind some rocks

12) A super place for guzzling chocs.

13) When I arrived I quickly found

14) A comfy looking little mound,

15) Quite clean and round and earthy brown

16) “Just right” , I thought, “for sitting down."

17) Here I will sit all morning long

18) And eat until my chocs are gone.

19) I sat, I screamed, I jumped a foot

20) Would you believe that I had put

21) That tender little rump of mine

22) Upon a GIANT porcupine.

23) My backside seemed to catch on fire,

24) A hundred red-hot bits of wire.

25) A hundred prickles sticking in

26) And puncturing my precious skin.

27) I ran for home, I shouted, “Mum,

28) Behold the prickles in my bum!”

29) My mum who always keeps her head

30) Bent down to look and then she said,

31) “I personally am not about

32) To try to pull those prickles out.

33) I think a job like this requires

34) The services of Mr. Meyers”.

35) I shouted, “Not the dentist, no

36) Oh mum! Won’t you have a go?”

37) I begged her twice, I begged her thrice

38) But grown-ups never take advice.

39) She said the dentist’s very strong,

40) “He pulls things out the whole day long”.

41) She rushed me quickly into town

42) And there they turned me upside down.

43) Upon the awful dentist’s chair

44) (While two strong nurses held me there).

45) Enter the dreaded Mr. Meyers

46) Waving a massive pair of pliers

47) “This is “, he cried with obvious glee,

48) “A new experience for me.

49) Quite honestly I can’t pretend,

50) I’ve ever pulled things from this end”

51) He started pulling one by one

52) Yelling, “My! Oh my, what fun!”

53) I shouted, “Help!” I shouted, “Ow”

54) He said, “It’s nearly over now.

55) For heaven’s sake don’t squirm about

56) Here goes, the last one’s coming out”.

57) The dentist pulled and out it came

58) And then I heard the man exclaim,

59) “Let us now talk about the fees

60) That will be 50 guineas please!”

61) My mother is a gutsy bird

62) And never one to mince a word.

63) She cried, “by gosh that’s jolly steep”

64) He said, “No, its very cheap.

65) My dear lady don’t you see

66) That if it hadn’t been for me,

67) This child would have gone another year

68) With prickles sticking in his rear”

69) So that was that, Oh what a day!

70) And what a fuss! But by the way,

71) I think I know why porcupines

72) Surround themselves with prickly spines.

73) It is to stop some silly clown

74) From squashing them by sitting down.

75) Don’t copy me, don’t be a twit,

76) Be sure to look before you sit!