Narrative Text

Narrative Text is a text which contains about story (fiction/ non fiction /tales/ folktales/ fables/ myth/ epic) and its plot consists of climax of the story (complication) then followed by the resolution.

A narrative text is a text amuse, entertain and deal with actual or vicarious experience in different ways. Narrative deal with problematic events which lead to a crisis or turning point of some kind, which in turn finds a resolution.

The generic structure of a narrative text:

       Orientation        : it sets the scene and introduces the participants of the story.

       Complication     : it shows when the crisis arises.

    Resolution     : it shows when the crisis is resolved, for a better or worse condition.

The structure of narratives occurs in the text variously. A text may have only one complication and resolution, but another text may have more than one complication and resolution. The grammatical features of narrative are:

Use of adjectives to build noun groups to describe the people, animals or things in the story, such as… a nice, diligent and kind-hearted man.

Use of time connectives and conjunctions to sequence events through time, such as however, although, later, then.

Use of adverbs and adverbial phrases to locate the particular events, such as once upon a time, long time ago.

Use of past tense

Use of action verbs to indicate the actions

Use of saying and thinking verbs to indicate what characters are feeling, thinking or saying.

Example of narrative text:

Golden Eggs

Long time ago a remote village, in central China was inhabited mainly with farmers and hunters. One day, a poor farmer lost his entire livestock to flood. He prayed hard to God for help or his family would lie of starvation.

Few days later, an old man with long grey beard, passed by his house took pity on him. He gave him a goose and said, “I don’t have any expensive things to give you and hope this goose will help you to ease your hardship”.

A week later to almost surprise the farmer found an egg in his yard. This was no ordinary egg. It was a golden egg. He was suddenly overcome with joy.

Thereafter, his livelihood had rapidly improved but the farmer had forgotten his earlier hardship. He became lazy, arrogant and spendthrift.

Strangely, the gooses only laid one golden egg every six months. The greedy farmer lost his patient and slaughtered his goose thinking there were plenty of golden eggs inside its stomach. Though he very much regretted for his foolishness, it’s already too late.