Julia M. Biagiarelli
Narrative Writing
Narrative is synonymous with story. As most children are familiar with hearing stories, telling stories, and reading stories, the teacher is in a good position to begin the instruction necessary to write a narrative piece. What are the critical components of a narrative? What does narrative writing need to have to attract readers?
All narrative pieces of writing, works of visual art, music or dances can be composed and analyzed according to the "Composition Toolkit" as described by Donald McQuade and Christine McQuade in Seeing and Writing 4. The toolkit contains: purpose, structure, audience, point of view, tone, metaphor, and context. Written work produced by fourth graders will use a modified version of the toolkit, mainly purpose, structure, tone, point of view and audience.
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Structure and Purpose
Above all, the purpose of a narrative piece is to tell a story. The story can be written as a first-person or third-person narrative, where the writer tells of his or her experience or the experience of another, respectively. It does not necessarily have to be completely true or even partially true, although many of the most compelling narrative pieces are direct expressions of a person's experiences and deep inner feelings. The experience described should also have a reason for being told. It could teach a lesson, or simply reveal a truth that allows the reader to know the writer in a deeper and more personal way.
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Quite often while instructing children, teachers will hear students say, "What's the point in learning this?" A narrative piece of writing will provoke the same question if its purpose is not clear. Children will most likely be amused if the teacher can playfully mimic this question and then warn the emerging authors that they surely would not want anyone to say that about their pieces! Also, encourage them to write as if they were famous authors themselves. Lucy Caulkins recommends telling children that when they are creating written compositions, "they are doing the same thing Wilson Rawls did when he wrote Where the Red Fern Grows, or Roald Dahl did when he wrote Charlie and the Chocolate Factory."
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Ask students if Charlie and the Chocolate Factory would have been such a wonderful story if Charlie had been selfish or spoiled instead of generous and humble. Would he have discovered the golden ticket in the first place? Would he have made it to the end of the factory tour or would he have gotten trapped by one of the strange components of the factory? The lesson of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is that obedience, humility, patience and kindness bring long-term rewards whereas selfishness gets you in trouble. The selfish, spoiled children became entangled or injured in factory equipment when they greedily sought out their desired item despite warnings from Willy Wonka, but Charlie in his humble obedience triumphed in the end. If Charlie had also been selfish, he probably would have met a similar fate as the other children experienced, making it a depressing and uninspiring story.
There are many tools used by writers that attract and keep the attention of readers. Writing often begins with a "hook" that you "hang" your piece upon for display. An enticing opening will increase the likelihood of a reader taking interest and reading the whole piece. Here are two famous examples: "Many years later, as he faced the firing squad, Colonel Aureliano Buendía was to remember that distant afternoon when his father took him to discover ice." This first sentence from One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez (trans. Gregory Rabassa) provokes the reader to ask, "Why was he being executed and what does that have to do with discovering ice?"
From 1984 by George Orwell comes another example: "It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen." Readers may take a moment to realize, "Hey, clocks don't strike thirteen!"
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Hooks can bring a question to the mind of the reader, be humorous, mysterious, dramatic, or they can simply take in the reader by provoking genuine feelings, as is the case with the following excerpt from a narrative I wrote based on my experience volunteering in a nursing home:
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There was a colorful, new, handmade quilt on Jean's bed and a matching miniature
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quilt on the wall outside her room under her nametag.
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I stood by her bed, barely able to see the outlines of her emaciated body under this
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exquisite covering. On the dresser was an opened box of Marlboros, missing the
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one cigarette she had smoked last Sunday during my visit. The oxygen equipment
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had been moved to the corner, instructions taped across the controls, "DO NOT
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RESUSCITATE."
The reader may ask, "What happened to Jean? ...Is she in a hospital? ...Nursing home? ...Is the writer a friend of Jean?" The reader may relate to the writer or the subject, "That reminds me of my grandmother….I wish I could quit smoking….I wouldn't want to be resuscitated either."
Readers may also connect to the image of a quilt, which may bring about the feelings of comfort and warmth that it represents. A quilt can also stand for the sewing together of ideas and experiences as in the many textures and hues of life.
The narrative continues as I use more details to expand and clarify the purpose of the story, although I do not state the purpose directly. As the reader continues, the piece will answer some of the questions provoked.
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I said, "Hello." Her head turned slightly towards me and I thought I saw her eyelids
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attempt to open. Her breathing was loud and labored. I held her hand in mine
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examining every bone and vein that appeared shrink-wrapped under her dry,
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speckled skin.
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I asked the nurse about the quilt. "That's how we indicate those who are on
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Hospice care." She smiled. I'd felt Jean was close to dying for weeks now and
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seeing the quilt brought me comfort, the peace of knowing.
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Several months ago the recreation director introduced Jean to me. Through the
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whir of the oxygen machine, Jean spoke of fond memories of a childhood home, a
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daughter, who lived minutes away but did not visit, prayer and cancer.
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The next evening after the quilt arrived I received a call, "Jean will most likely not
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make it through the night," the nurse informed me. I drove quickly to the Home
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and sat with her until nearly dawn. There was no change in her condition. Weeks
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passed but still her corpse-like body breathed its struggling breath without a sign of
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giving up….
As the story proceeds, readers are given the explanation of the purpose of the quilt. In addition to being an item that brings comfort and protects from the cold and elements, it is being used to communicate, without spoken words, that Jean is actively dying. Those working at the home have this common knowledge, and the quilt creates an atmosphere of respect around the dying person. The quilt can also now become a metaphor, being seen as a visual object in its completion, sewn together over many years to reach its present state, like the person's life that is reaching its completion now.
The narrative should conclude with a paragraph that sums up its purpose, providing insights and lessons learned from the author's experience. The story of Jean ends with a meeting between Jean and her daughter Susan. The two had been estranged for several years, and a few days after their tearful reunion in which they are able to forgive each other, Jean dies peacefully. The lesson learned from this story is that healing and peace can come through forgiveness.
When the purpose is demonstrated clearly in the closing paragraph, the details and the questions provoked by the opening lines are usually answered and brought into relationship with the lesson of the story. Readers may reconnect with the feelings of comfort and warmth from the quilt at the beginning of the story with the comfort and peace of forgiveness and reconciliation at its end. This will give the piece a feeling of completion, of coming full circle.