Narration Historical Narratives

1
Narration Historical Narratives

• School of Foreign Languages,
• Chongqing Jiaotong University
• Winter, 2007
• zhangbc_at_cquc.edu.cn

2
Warming up

• Review
• Short historical narratives are brief accounts of
  a persons life, the history of a family, the
  establishment and development of an organization,
  etc.
• Basic structure of a historical narrative
• Open with a brief introduction of the person or
  organization.
• Name, date of birth, birthplace, etc. of a
  person
• Official name, date of establishment, purpose,
  etc. of an organization

3

• Provide
• A brief account of major phases/stages/events,
  particularly turning points in the persons life
  or the organizations history.
• What the person/family/organization has
  achieved.
• Conclude with a remark or two to summarize what
  is said or to emphasize a specific point.

4
Effective Sentences Emphasis

• Ways for emphasizing an idea
• Emphatic sentences
• Short sentences
• Sentence fragments
• Inverted sentences
• Parallel constructions
• Rhetorical questions
• Negative-positive statements
• Sentences with repeated words or phrases

5

• Emphasis within sentences
• Placing
• Repetition
• The verb and the active voice
• Subordination
• Emphatic words and phrases
• Alliteration

6

• How to emphasize your point in English writing?
• Emphasize through coordination
• Emphasize the main clause through subordination
• Use sentence endings for emphasis
• Use parallel structures to give equal importance
  in a sentence
• Use active verbs whenever possible
• Use the performer of an action as the subject

7
Practicing emphasizing your point

• 1. Study the following examples and learn ways
  of emphasis.
• Coordination
• We found a clearing and pitched the tent,
  starting a small fire.
• We found a clearing, pitched the tent, and
  started a small fire.

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• Subordination
• Ethel turned the corner, and she noticed a large
  truck in her lane. She was frightened, but she
  avoided the truck
• Turning the corner, Ethel noticed a large truck
  in her lane. Although she was frightened, she
  avoided the truck.

9

• The professor walked into the classroom and he
  carried a bag of books with him.
• The professor walked into the classroom, carrying
  a bag of books with him.
• The professor walked into the classroom with a
  bag if books under his arm.

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• Placing Sentence ending
• Mario forgot garlic, the tomato sauces most
  important ingredient.
• Mario forgot the tomato sauces most important
  ingredient, garlic!

11

• Parallelism
• The president enjoys reading, fishing and
  speaking with young people.
• The president enjoys reading novels, fishing in
  Maine, and speaking with young people.

12

• Using an active verb
• A surge of power was responsible for the
  destruction of the coolant pumps.
• A surge of power destroyed the coolant pumps.

13

• At the sight of the disorderly crowd, he was
  aware that something bad would be possible.
• The moment he saw the disorderly crowd, he knew
  that something bad would happen.

14

• Choosing the right subject
• Exposure to Dr. Martinezs excellent teaching had
  the effect of inspiring me to major in education.
• Dr. Martinezs excellent teaching inspired me to
  major in education.

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• 2. Revise the following sentences for emphasis,
  following the specific instruction in the
  brackets.
• Coordination
• Martin will take the final exam to pass the
  course.
• Martin will take the final exam, or he will fail
  the course.
• Alices car is an antique, which was built in
  1927.
• Alices car is an antique it was built in 1927.

16

• Subordination
• Charlotte was visiting her uncle in Knoxville,
  and she decided to drive through the Great Smoky
  Mountains.
• Visiting her uncle in Knoxville, Charlotte
  decided to drive through the Great Smoky
  Mountains.
• Angel planned to visit Moscow, so he began to
  study Russian.
• Planning to visit Moscow, Angel began to study
  Russian.

17

• Sentence ending
• Zora Neale Hurston is remembered for her novels,
  not for her work in anthropology, the field in
  which she was trained.
• Zora Neale Hurston is remembered not for her work
  in anthropology, the field in which she was
  trained, but for her novels.

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• Parallelism
• They vowed to battle the invaders on the land,
  and fight on the sea and in the air.
• They vowed to battle the invaders on the land, on
  the sea and in the air.
• We must stop talking about the American dream to
  listen to the dreams of Americans.
• We must stop talking about the American dream and
  start listening to the dreams of Americans.

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• Using an action verb
• Burying nuclear waste in Antarctica would be in
  violation of an international treaty.
• Burying nuclear waste in Antarctica would violate
  an international treaty.
• Escaping into the world of drugs, I was
  rebellious about every rule set down by my
  parents.
• Escaping into the world of drugs, I rebelled
  against every rule my parents set down.

20

• The use of cocaine by pregnant women can be a
  cause of severe brain damage in infants.
• Cocaine used by pregnant women can cause severe
  brain damage in infants.
• Her letter was in acknowledgement of the
  students participation in the literary program.
• Her letter acknowledged the students
  participation in the literary program.
• There were fireworks exploding all around us.
• Fireworks exploded all around us.