NARRATIVE

What is a narrative?

A narrative is a text that tells a story and, in doing so, entertains the audience. The
purpose of a narrative, other than providing entertainment, can be to make the audience
think about an issue, teach them a lesson, or excite their emotions.

Written narratives often take the form of novels. The story is usually told by a
narrator. If the narrator is one of the characters in the story, the story is said to be told
in the first person. If a person outside the story is the narrator, then the story is being
told in the third person.

Examples of narrative texts include:

 myths
 fairytales
 Aboriginal dreaming stories
 science fiction
 historical fiction
 romance novels
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The narrative scaffold
1. Orientation
In this paragraph the narrator tells the audience who is in the story, when it is
happening, where it is happening and what is going on.
2. Complication
This is the part of the story where the narrator tells about something that will begin a
chain of events. These events will affect one or more of the characters. The
complication is the trigger.
3. Sequence of events
This is where the narrator tells how the characters react to the complication. It includes
their feelings and what they do. The events can be told in chronological order (the
order in which they happen) or with flashbacks. The audience is given the narrator’s
point of view.
4. Resolution
In this part of the narrative the complication is sorted out or the problem is solved

5. Coda
The narrator includes a coda if there is a moral or message to be learned from the
story.
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Features of a narrative

Constructing a narrative
The steps for constructing a narrative text are:
 an orientation in which the narrator tells the audience about WHO is in the story,
WHEN the story is taking place and WHERE the action is happening
 a complication that sets off a chain of events that influences what will happen in the
story
 A sequence of events where the characters react to the complication
 A resolution in which the characters solve the problem created in the complication
 a coda that provides a comment or moral based on what has been learned from the
story (an optional step).

Grammatical features of a narrative

Narratives usually include the following grammatical features:
 nouns that identify the specific characters and places in the story
 adjectives that provide accurate descriptions of the characters and settings
 verbs that show the actions that occur in the story
 time words that connect events, telling when they occurred.
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MODEL OF A NARRATIVE
Structures Grammatical
The Drover’s Wife features
(adapted from a short story by Henry Lawson)
ORIENTATION
The two-roomed house is built of round timber, slabs and stringy-bark and SPECIFIC
TELLING WHO
floored with split slabs. Bush all round-bush with no horizon, for the country is CHARACTERS
AND WHERE
flat. The drover, an ex-squatter, is away with sheep. His wife and children are
COMPLICATION left here alone.
THAT TRIGGERS Four ragged, dried-up looking children are playing about the house. ADJECTIVES
A SERIES OF Suddenly one of them yells ‘Snake! Mother, here’s a snake!’ PROVIDING
EVENTS DESCRIPTION
It is near sunset, and she knows the snake is there. She makes up beds
SEQUENCE OF for the children and sits down beside them to keep watch all night.
EVENTS WHERE She has an eye on the corner and a green sapling club ready by her USE OF TIME
THE side. Alligator, the dog, lies nearby. WORDS TO
CHARACTERS It must be one or two o’clock in the morning. The bush woman watches CONNECT
REACT TO THE
and listens, thinking about her life alone whilst her husband is gone. EVENTS
COMPLICATION
It must be near daylight now. The hairs on Alligator’s neck begin to
bristle. Between a crack in the slabs an evil pair of small, bead-like eyes glisten.
RESOLUTION VERBS SHOWING
The snake-a black one-comes slowly out. ACTIONS
IN WHICH THE
PROBLEM FROM Alligator springs. He has the snake now. Thud, thud as the woman
THE strikes at the snake. The dog shakes and shakes the black snake. The snake’s
COMPLICATION back is broken. Thud, thud is head is crushed.
IS SOLVED She lifts the mangled reptile and throws it on the fire. The eldest boy ADJECTIVES
watches it burn and looks at his mother, seeing tears in her eyes. SHOWING
CODA THAT DESCRIPTIONS
GIVES THE He throws his arms around her and exclaims, ‘Mother, I won’t never go
MORAL TO THE droving; blarst me if I do!’
STORY
 SNOW WHITE

Once upon a time, there lived a little girl, named Snow White. She lived with her aunt
and uncle because her parents were dead.
 
One day, she heard her aunt and uncle talking about leaving Snow White in the castle
because they both wanted to go to America and they did not have enough money to take
Snow White.
 
Snow White did not want her uncle and aunt to do this so she decided that it would be
the best if she ran away. The next morning, she ran away from home when her aunt and
uncle were having breakfast. She ran away into the woods.
 
In the woods, she felt very tired and hungry. Then, she saw a little cottage. She
knocked the door but no one answered. So, she went inside and fell asleep.
 
Meanwhile, the seven dwarfs were coming from work. They went inside. There they
found Snow White sleeping, then, Snow White woke up. She saw the dwarfs. The dwarfs
said, “What is your name?”. Snow White answered “My name is Snow White”. Then, she
told the dwarfs about her problem. Doc, one of the dwarfs said, “If you wish, you may live
here with us”. Snow White said, “Oh, could I? Thank you!”. Finally, Snow White and the
seven dwarfs lived happily ever after.