Narrative Writing

To another week of blogging. Boy do I have an exciting topic for you this week! but before I go into this week post let us recap what we have learned so far.

For the past seven weeks I have been blogging about writing, writing and more writing. We have discussed that teachers need to become their own experts in writing in order to effectively teach writing, writing workshops this is where students are taught the writing process, the best practices for teaching writing, not forgetting the 6 + 1 traits if writing, this in my opinion the most effective tool in assessing students writing instead of using a rubric which only focus on students grammar and mechanics. The 6 +1 traits of writing focus on the way students use their word choice, organization, voice, convention, ideas, sentence fluency and presentation. we also touched on writing strategies (I think the name is self- explanatory) and descriptive writing where students need to make sure their writing include all five senses to engage the readers.

My exciting topic for this week discussion is, Drum roll Please 

 

Narrative Writing

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Narrative writing can be broadly defined as story writing, a piece of writing which is characterized by a main character in setting, who encounters a problem or engages in an interesting, significant or an entertaining activity or experience.  What happens to the main character in the story is called a plot.

It is important to note that narrative stories has three part the beginning, middle and end. When teaching students narrative writing, teachers must remember to includes plot and plot development, conflict, setting, theme, point of view and also narrative devices.

Plot - this is the sequence of events involving characters in conflicting situations that can be divided into beginning, middle and end. The plot is based on the goals of one or more characters. E.g. the main character wants to solve a problem but another character is doing everything to prevent the main character from being successful. = n--

Plot Development- This is where the authors develop the plot through four simple steps.

• A problem that introduces conflict is presented in the beginning of the story.
• Characters face roadblocks as they attempt to solve the problem in the middle of the story.
• The high point occurs when the problem is about to be solved (separate the middle and the end).
• The problem is solved and the roadblocks are overcome at the end of the story

One can see that having a beginning, middle and end is important when writing narratives. Another point to note is,

Conflict- is the tension or opposition between forces in the plot.

Setting- involves four elements which are location, weather, time and time period. it is believed that without these elements, the reader would have a vague picture forming in the mind, and not be able to keep their readers interesting.

Theme- the underlying meaning of a story which embodies general truth about society and human nature. The theme tells the reader what the story is really about. Themes can be broken down into two categories. 

• Explicit theme which are stated openly in the story and
• Implicit theme which are suggested through characters, dialogue and monologue.

Characters- the people or any personified objects and animals in a story. When developing the character students should be consider the appearance and action of the character, dialogue and monologue the character might partake in the story.

Point of view- there are four different point of view which an author can use in narrative writing.

• First person viewpoint-  this is where the story is told through the eyes of the character.
• Omniscient- where author act as the know it all
• Limited Omniscient-  this is when one over hear the thoughts of one character without being all knowing and 
• Objective viewpoint- is when authors write as if they were making a film of the story.

Narrative devices- these are the methods used to narrate the story. Narrating devices involve who is narrating the story and  how they are narrating it.

Metaphors and similes are expressions used to compare two things in an effort to help the reader have a better understanding of what the writer is attempting to convey. The difference between a simile and a metaphor is the simile uses words like 'as' or 'than' in the comparison, while the metaphor does not utilize these words.

Imagery creates visuals for the reader that appeal to our senses and usually involves figurative language: 'The bar was a dark, gloomy eyesore.' This statement appeals to our senses to help us visualize and feel the negative aspects of this location.

Personification is seen when an inanimate object is given human or animal-like qualities, like: 'The stars danced in the sky.' We know stars cannot dance. This statement is an attempt to help the reader have a better picture of how the stars appeared to move in a dancing fashion.

Hyperbole is an over-exaggeration to make a point. You might have heard someone say: 'My purse weighs a ton.' We know this is not meant to be in the literal sense but is meant to help the reader understand the excessive weight of the purse.

Alliteration is seen when the writer uses the same letters together in a sentence. Here is a classic example: 'Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.' Some writers use alliteration to help readers remember phrases or concepts, while some writers simply use this technique because it is 'catchy' and appealing to readers

I know that many of us myself included believe that students at the lower grades should not be taught about narrative writing, Oh boy, are we wrong. The concepts of stories, actually begins in preschool. Students at this age would not be able to write stories, but they are encourage to tell stories orally through picture discussion and retelling of stories.

Teachers please note that before students write stories independently, they should be engaged in a variety of guided practice activities like retelling stories which can be done as a whole class, orally and using pictures.

Using cluster charts and graphic organizers are also useful tools to help students gather their thoughts before undertaking any writing. recently I  found myself reverting to graphic organizers before I begin any writing, and I can honestly say having my thoughts written down to follow made my writing task more manageable and enjoyable. Also I can not help stress the importance of practice, practice and feedback. receiving feedback on our writing will give students the push needed to improve their writing.