English 4: Preparing To Write A Narrative/Story
Table of Contents
Preparing To Write A Narrative/Story
Choose a topic in the references and create a story from around it, by filling in the 1.14 submission sheet.
Picture Shakespeare sitting at his desk about to put his pen to a blank piece of parchment… You are now in that same position—on the verge of greatness.
Every Story Begins With an Idea
Sometimes the hardest part about writing is deciding where to begin. Luckily, you have already chosen a topic to inspire the narrative you will write. The pre-writing process will help you build on that topic to develop your ideas and plan your writing.
During the pre-writing process your focus is on three of the six traits of writing
Add the topic you selected for your story to the Pre-Writing graphic organizer to begin the pre-writing process. Need a reminder of the topic choices? See below.
Reminder of Narrative Topics—Choose One
· Banquo has been murdered; discussions and suspicions regarding his death can be heard throughout the castle. Write a narrative that tells a story about what you think transpires between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth as they prepare to attend Banquo’s funeral.
· During a visit to Macbeth’s castle, Macduff discovers that King Duncan has been murdered. What if the weird sisters had appeared and spoken with Macduff at this moment? Write a narrative that tells a story about what might have transpired between Macduff and the weird sisters.
· You are a guest at Macbeth’s coronation; during dinner, Macbeth sees Banquo’s ghost. Using first person point of view, write a narrative that tells a story about the events at the coronation
· You have gotten to know the characters while reading Macbeth; now it is time to give them starring roles in your story. To start generating ideas, determine which characters need to be featured in your narrative. Your story is inspired by Macbeth, so your characters need to reflect those created by Shakespeare. List the characters and some of their traits on yourPre-Writing graphic organizer.
Generating Ideas: What?
The next step is to determine the conflict that is driving the story.
· What is happening at this time in the play?
· What are the characters thinking and feeling?
· What decisions are they making?
The characters encounter conflict with each decision they make. There are four types of conflict:
Man vs. Man (external)Man vs. Nature (external)Man vs. Society (external)Man vs. Self (internal)
Think about the conflicts that are affecting the characters in your scene. Add some reflections about them to your Pre-writing graphic organizer. Use those ideas to plan how your characters will act and react to the events in your narrative.
Generating Ideas: Where?
Now is your chance to think about the setting of your narrative. What type of scenery fits the backdrop of your story? You can probably picture what it would look like, but you might try finding an image that can inspire even more ideas about physical aspects of the setting.
Another thing to consider is how the setting feels. As a writer, you can use mood and imagery to give your reader the feeling of being in the scene with the characters.
Mood
© 2012 Jupiterimages Corporation
Imagine you are in a room full of people standing around laughing. There is music playing in the background. Sun is shining through the windows. How do you feel in this room?
Now, imagine you are in a room where everyone is sitting down and talking in a low whisper. Many of them seem sad. They are wearing black. The shades are drawn on the windows and the light in the room is dim. How do you feel in this room?
That feeling is created by the atmosphere in the room.
Similarly, writers create atmosphere, or mood with the words they choose. Writers deliberately choose words to evoke feelings in their readers. Mood, like diction and tone, adds another layer to the reader’s experience.
Words that can be used to describe mood include:
| Examples of Mood | ||
| Gloomy | Comforting | Lonely |
| Peaceful | Suspenseful | Hopeful |
| Threatening | Violent | Desperate |
Imagery
Writers communicate mood through imagery. Imagery is more than just a visual description. Writers choose words that bring a scene alive by touching any or all of a reader’s senses—sound, touch, temperature, smell, taste, and movement.
Visualize the setting of your narrative and add notes to the “Where?” section of your Pre-writing graphic organizer.
Organization: When?
At this point, you have thought about the characters you will include in your narrative, how they are affected by conflict, and where the events take place. Now it’s time to outline the plot to establish what happens in your story and when it happens. Use your Pre-Writing graphic organizerto plan the plot elements for your narrative. Keep in mind, your narrative does not have to be long; it just has to have a clear beginning, middle, and end.
Review the key elements of plot.
Reminder
Exposition:Rising Action:Climax:Falling Action:Resolution:
Establishing Voice: How?
© Vico Collective/Alin Dragulin/Blend/ Learning Pictures/Universal Images Group/Image Quest 2013
Now that you have a rough idea of the story you are going to tell – the Who? What? When? Where? – you need to think about how you are going to tell it. You need to establish the voice.
Tone
Tone is an important aspect of voice. You previously learned that writers express a particular attitude, or tone, in their work. As the author of this story, you need to determine the tone you will use in your narrative. As a reminder, here are a few words that can be used to describe tone:
| Examples of Tone | |||
| Tender | Impatient | Confident | Joyful |
| Humorous | Grim | Solemn | Enraged |
Point of View
Establishing who will tell, or narrate, your story is important in developing voice. Consider the tone you would like to communicate through your narrative and what you want your readers to know, then determine the point of view that will help you accomplish those goals.
· First Person Point of View: the main character is the narrator and tells the story from his or her point of view using “I.” This narrator does not know, but can infer, what other characters are thinking or feeling.
· Third Person Point of View: the narrator is not a character in the story. However, the narrative is omniscient, meaning he or she knows how the characters feel and can give the reader unlimited information about them.
Pace
In addition to tone and point of view, pace is a key element in establishing voice. To make their writing more interesting, authors creatively combine words and phrases to set pace in their stories.
To create a sense that time is going quickly and to make hearts race, an author might use fast-paced writing. Characteristics of fast pace:
· Repetition of words
· Short sentence
· Short phrases separated by commas
To create a sense that time is going slowly and to build suspense, an author uses slow-paced writing. Characteristics of slow pace:
· Long sentences
· Punctuation that makes the reader pause or stop
· Repetition of sentence structure
· Formal diction
Think about a tone, point of view, and pace that would fit the story you want to tell and complete the final section of your Pre-writing graphic organizer.
Lesson Summary
Begin planning your narrative using the elements of the pre-writing process by completing the Pre-writing graphic organizer .
Need a reminder of the topic choices? See below.
Reminder of Narrative Topics—Choose One
· Banquo has been murdered; discussions and suspicions regarding his death can be heard throughout the castle. Write a narrative that tells a story about what you think transpires between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth as they prepare to attend Banquo’s funeral.
· During a visit to Macbeth’s castle, Macduff discovers that King Duncan has been murdered. What if the weird sisters had appeared and spoken with Macduff at this moment? Write a narrative that tells a story about what might have transpired between Macduff and the weird sisters.
· You are a guest at Macbeth’s coronation; during dinner, Macbeth sees Banquo’s ghost. Using first person point of view, write a narrative that tells a story about the events at the coronation.
Assignment
Your pre-writing plan will be evaluated using the Beginning Your Narrative rubric.
1. Complete the reading for this lesson.
2. Complete the self-checks in the lesson.
3. In the Assessments area, submit your Pre-writing graphic organizer for 01.14 Beginning Your Narrative
Pre-writing Graphic Organizer
Topic:
Generating Ideas
Who? List and describe the characters involved in the narrative you are creating.
Character Name:
| How would you describe this character? | Why? | |
| Physical Appearance | ||
| Feelings | ||
| Attitude |
Character Name:
| How would you describe this character? | Why? | |
| Physical Appearance | ||
| Feelings | ||
| Attitude |
Character Name:
| How would you describe this character? | Why? | |
| Physical Appearance | ||
| Feelings | ||
| Attitude |
What? Conflict
Where? Write some words or phrases that will help you describe the setting of your story. Where do the events take place? What does it look like there? What does it feel like there?
Organization
When? Plan the course of events in your narrative.
| Exposition | Rising Action | Climax | Falling Action | Resolution |
Voice
How? Think of the overall effect you would like your narrative to have on the reader. How will you create that effect? Brainstorm ways to establish voice.
| Point of View: | |
| Tone – What is the attitude of your story? | Pace – How fast is your story going to move? |
| Words to describe the tone:How will you communicate that tone?How do you want readers to feel after they read your story? | What pace fits your narrative:Why?How will you create that pace? |
