Introductory%20Paragraph

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Narrative Paragraphs
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WHAT IS A NARRATIVE PARAGRAPH?

• Narratives tell stories. Everyone has read
  narratives, watched them on television or heard
  them from other people. A narrative paragraph
  tells a short story or describes an event.
• In other words, it is a story about a personal
  memory.
• Its about a time so important that you dont
  ever want to forget.

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What Would Make a Good Narrative and What
Wouldnt?

• Good Choice
• A house fire
• A car accident
• A death
• Getting lost
• A scary time

• Bad Choice
• Getting out of bed
• Eating dinner
• Meeting your friend

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A Personal Narrative is...

• a story that really happened ( a true story).
• a story that happened to or observed by the
  writer.
• a story that makes the reader think or feel the
  same as the writer felt at that time
• a story that shows strong feelings.
• a story that is written in the first person. Use
  these words
• I, me, my, us, we

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A good Narration

• It reveals something of importance to you (your
  main point)
• It includes all of the major events of the
  story.
• It uses details to bring the story to life.
• It presents the events in a clear order, usually
  according to when it happened.

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Common time transitions

• Before
• After
• During
• First
• Next
• Second
• Then
• Finally
• while

• Later
• At last
• Last
• Eventually
• Meanwhile
• Since
• Now
• Soon
• when

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Writing a Narrative Paragraph

• A narrative paragraph has 3 parts
• The topic sentence introduces the experience
• The body sentences share details that re-create
  the experience
• The concluding sentence reflects on the
  experience

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Guidelines of a Narrative Paragraph

1. Write out the topic sentence and circle the point
   of view.
2. List any background information.
3. Briefly summarize the incident (write several
   sentences telling what happened in your own
   words)
4. Write all of these sentences support your point
   of view?
5. Are the events in the story in chronological
   order?

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A UFO Sighting

• I never believed in aliens before one night last
  year. It was a cold, dark winter evening, and I
  was walking home from a friends house. I stopped
  to tie my shoe. When I looked up again, I saw a
  round object coming toward me. It was very large
  and shiny. I couldnt believe what I was seeing.
  Before I could shout or run, the object suddenly
  moved and then disappeared. After the object
  disappeared, I ran all the way home and called my
  best friend. When she picked up the phone, I
  couldnt say anything. I knew she would think I
  was crazy. I never told anyone about my UFO
  sighting.

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Ask yourself questions

1. When was an important time in my life?
2. What has happened in my experience that I would
   enjoy writing about?
3. Is there an event in my life that other people
   would enjoy hearing about?
4. How did I feel about a particular experience?
5. Who was involved?
6. Why do I remember this event so strongly?
7. What effect did it have on me?
8. Did anything change because of this experience?
9. What interesting experiences do I know of that
   happened to other people?

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1. Write about a recent experience or incident
you witnessed that left a strong impression on
you.
2. Write about an event when you were proud of
someone in your family.
3. Think of a time when you had to do something
against your wishes. Or4. Think of a memorable
experience you have had it could be frightening
or amusing.
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Activity Complete the middle parts of the two
stories below.

• A Fright in the forest
• Suddenly I felt very cold and scared.
• I grew up in a small town in the countryside.
  Near my house was a large forest, and my parents
  told me not to play there.
• After that day, I never went back to the forest.
• One day, I was playing in the forest with some of
  my school friends.
• 2)- A Strange Day in Class
• I have been studying English for a few years and
  I really enjoy the classes.
• I heard everyone laughing. I woke up and realized
  it was a dream.
• One day something unusual happened in class.
• The teacher was explaining grammar when I saw
  something strange

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Verb Tenses in Narration

• (1)- Simple Past It is used to express a
  completed action at a definite time in the past.
  It is also used to describe the sequence of
  events in a narrative.
• Mohammed was driving along the road when suddenly
  he saw a camel run out in front of him. He braked
  as hard as he could but couldn't stop in time.
  The car hit the camel. The man got out of the car
  and checked to see if the animal was alive.
• The two men were crossing the desert when they
  heard a loud bang. It sounded like a rifle but
  they were not sure. They heard another shot but
  this time something hit the side of the car. Now
  they were sure it was a gunshot.

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Verb Tenses in Narration

• (2)- Past Continuous (1) It is good for setting
  the scene it is used to describe the situation
  in which the events of the narrative occurred.
• 1- When I woke up at 8am (1) the sun was shining
  (2) and the birds were singing (2). I had a
  shower (3), ate some breakfast (4) and left for
  work at 9am.(5)
• (2) It is used for an action that was in progress
  for some time and is usually used with an action
  in the simple past.
• Mohammed was driving along the road when suddenly
  he ran out of petrol.
• As the two men were crossing the desert, they saw
  a camel.
• When the lights went out, I was talking to my
  brother.

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Verb Tenses in Narration

• (3)- Past Perfect Simple It is to show an action
  or situation happened BEFORE another event in the
  past.
• When I woke up at 8am (1), the sun was shining
  and the birds were singing. I had slept (2)
  really well the night before. I had a shower (3),
  ate some breakfast (4) and left for work at 9am.
  (5)
• The car was speeding down the deserted highway
  when the accident happened. The driver had fallen
  asleep at the wheel and driven straight into a
  tree. Another car passed by. The driver saw what
  had happened and stopped his car. He called the
  police and said that he had witnessed an
  accident.
• I woke up at 7am and left for work after I had
  had a shower and eaten some breakfast.

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Verb Tenses in Narration

• (4)- Past Perfect Continuous It is used for
  longer activities that were happening
  continuously up until a specified time in the
  past.
• He looked very tired (1) because he had been
  working very hard (2) over the past three weeks.
• He hadn't heard the telephone ring because he had
  been reading.

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Activity 1 Change the verbs in brackets to the
past tense simple, continuous, or perfect

• While I _______________________(play) football
  I_______(hurt) my leg.
• The police _____(go) to the bank after a
  neighbour ______(phone) to tell them what
  __________(happen). They soon ____________
  (discover) that the robbers _____________
  (escape) in a stolen car. The men _________
  (kill) one of the guards who _________(try) to
  stop them as they _____________ (drive) away. The
  guard ______________ (jump) out in front of them
  but they just _________________ (run) over him. 
• Suddenly they _________(hear) a strange noise and
  _______(look) at each other in terror. All
  evening they ___________ (play) cards and
  ____________ (watch) TV without thinking of the
  ghost.

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Activity 2 Change the verbs in brackets to the
past tense simple, continuous, or perfect

• The Unlucky Burglar
• One evening Paul (watch) ____________ the
  television and (eat)____________ his supper when
  the door suddenly (open) ____________ and a
  burglar (come) ____________ in. He (wear)
  ____________ a mask and (carry) ____________ a
  sack. Before doing anything else, he (tie)
  ____________ Paul to the chair. Then he went
  upstairs to look for money. Although he (not
  find) ____________ any money, he (find)
  ____________ a lot of jewelry, which he (put)
  ____________ into his sack. In his rush to get
  downstairs, he (not see) ____________ the dog
  that (lie) ____________ at the bottom of the
  stairs, and he (fall) ____________ over it,
  losing his glasses. ____________ the burglar
  (look for) ____________ them, Paul (try)
  ____________ to free himself. Finally, Paul
  (manage) ____________ to escape and he (phone)
  ____________ the police. When the burglar (find)
  ____________ his glasses, he (run) ____________
  out of the house. However, unfortunately for him,
  the police (wait) ____________ for him at the end
  of the garden.

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Activity 3 Complete the following with a
suitable past tense

• My landlord threw me out of my flat because (not
  pay the rent for six months and break all the
  windows)
• When I eventually got to the meeting, I was bad
  tempered and exhausted! I (sit in traffic jam for
  45 minutes, a motorist bump into me, and get
  completely lost)
• By the time 5 o'clock arrived, Brenda was
  furious. She (wait for an hour, drink six cups of
  tea, and they not arrive.
• I was so depressed that I couldn't do the exam. I
  (study every day for two months and give up see
  my friends)
• After I (finish) my lunch, I went back to work.
• When the police (interview) me, they let me go
  home.
• As soon as I got home my brother (go out).
• The children had to stay in until the rain
  (stop).

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Activity 4 Correct the mistakes with the simple
past and the past continuous tense

• When I am a university student about two years
  ago, I enrolled in a scuba diving course. My
  scuba diving teacher was having a big surprise I
  wasnt knowing how to swim. In fact, I had a big
  fear of water. When I was a child, my parents try
  to help me, so they make me take many swimming
  lessons. Although I try hard, I didnt learning
  to swim. When I enrolled in the scuba diving
  course, I was still afraid of water. Everyday I
  entered the swimming pool, I battle my fear.
  Fortunately, my courage won every time. Finally,
  one day while I practicing my dive, I realized I
  was do very well. So, finally, after six months
  of hard work, I completed the course. It is true
  that I was always the worst of the group, but in
  my own evaluation, I was a champion because I
  conquer my fear of water. For me, this experience
  was very important. It was a test of courage, and
  I pass it.