Narrative Text Features structures and Types

A narrative is a piece of text which tells a story to amuse and entertain the readers or listeners. Narrative deals with problematic events or complications which lead to a crisis and ends in a resolution.

Some examples of narratives are:

— fantasy novels,
— fairy strories,
— adventure stories,
— fables,
— romances,
— horror stories,
— legends,
— ballads, etc.

The generic structures of a narrative are:

— orientation: (can be a paragraph, a picture, or an opening chapter) in which the narrator tells the audience about who is in the story, where the story is taking place, and where the action is happening. Orientation sets the scene and introduces the participants.
— complication: sets off a chain of events that influences what will happen in the story. In the complication a crisis arises. It consists a sequence of events, where the characters react to the complication.
— resolution: in which the characters finally sort out complication.
— coda: provides comments or moral values based on what has been learned from the story (an optional step).

The language features of a narrative are:

— specific characters,
— time words that connect events to tell when they occur,
— verbs to show the actions that occur in the story,
— descriptive words to portray the characters and settings,
— the use of past tense.
The social function of a narrative text is to retell events for the purpose of amusing or entertaining the readers or listeners.

Example Narrative Text:

There WaS once upon a thr ar old goat, who had seven little kids. She loved them with all the love of a mother for her children. One day, she wanted to go into the forest and fetch some food. So, she called all seven to her and said, “Dear children, I have to go into the forest. Be on your guard against the wolf. If he comes in, he will devour you all -skin, hair, and everything. The wretch often disguises himself, but you will know him at once by his rough voice and his black feet.” The kids said, “Dear mother, we will take good care of ourselves, you may go away without any anxiety.” Then, the old one bleated and went on her way with an easy mind.

It was not long before someone knocked at the house-door and called, “Open the door, dear children, your mother is here, and has brought something back with herforeach of you.” Butthe little kids knewthat itwasthewoif bythe rough voice. “We will not open the door,” cried they, “You are not our mother. She has a soft, pleasant voice, but your voice is rough, you are the wolf.” Then, the wolf went away to a shopkeeper and bought himself a great lump of chalk, ate this, and made his voice soft with it. Then, he came back, knocked at the door of the house, and called, “Open the door, dear children, your mother is here and has brought something back with her for each of you.” But the wolf had laid his black paws against the window and the children saw them and cried, “We will not open the door, our mother has not black feet like you, you are the wolf.” Then, the wolf ran to a baker and said, “I have hurt my feet, rub some dough over them for me.” And when the baker had rubbed his feet over, he ran to the miller and said, “Strew some white meal over my feet for me.” The miller thought to himself, the wolf wants to deceive someone, and refused, but the wolf said,” If you will not do it, I will devour you.” The miller was afraid and made his paws white for him.

So, now the wretch went for the third time to the house-door, knocked at it and said, “Open the door for me, children, your dear little mother has come home, and has brought everyone of you something back from the forest.” The little kids cried, “First show us your paws that we may know if you are our dear little mother.” Then, he put his paws in through the window. When the kids saw that they were white, they believed that all he said was true. They opened the door. But who should come in but the wolf, they were terrified and wanted to hide themselves. One sprang under the table, the second into the bed, the third into the stove, the fourth into the kitchen, the fifth into the cupboard, the sixth under the washing-bowl, and the seventh into the clock-case. But the wolf found them all and used no great ceremony, one after the other he swallowed them down his

-oat. The youngest, who was in the clock-case, was the only one he did not find. Aen the wolf had satisfied his appetite, he took himself off, laid himself down ...rder a tree in the green meadow outside, and began to sleep. Soon afterwards € old goat came home again from the forest. Ah... what a sight she saw there.

The house-door stood wide open. The table, chairs, and benches were thrown wn, the washing-bowl lay broken into pieces, and the quilts and pillows were Iled off the bed. She sought her children, but they were nowhere to be found. e called them one after another by name, but no one answered. At last, when e came to the youngest, a soft voice cried, “Dear mother, lam in the clock-case. ne took the kid out and it told her that the wolf had come and had eaten all the c,ers. Then, you may imagine how she wept over her poor children.

At length in her grief she went out. The youngest kid ran with her. When they came to the meadow, there lay the wolf by the tree and snored so loud that the anches shook. She looked at him on every side and saw that something was ving and struggling in his gorged belly. “Ah, heavens,” she said, “Is it possible that my poor children whom he has swallowed down for his supper can be still arve?” Then, the kid had to run home and fetch scissors, a needle, and thread. The goat cut open the monster’s stomach. Hardly had she make one cut, than one little kid thrust its head out. When she cut farther, all six sprang out one after another and were all still alive. They had suffered no injury whatever for in his greediness the monster had swallowed them down whole. What rejoicing there was. They embraced their dear mother and jumped like a sailor at his wedding. The mother, however, said, “Now go and look for some big stones and we will fill the wicked beast’s stomach with them while he is still asleep.” Then, the seven kids dragged the stones thither with all speed and put as many of them into his omach as they could get in. The mother sewed him up again in the greatest haste, so that he was not aware of anything and never once stirred.

When the wolf at length had had his fill of sleep, he got on his legs. As the nones in his stomach made him very thirsty, he wanted to go to a well to drink. When he began to walk and move about, the stones in his stomach knocked ainst each other and rattled. Then he cried, “What rumbles and tumbles against ‘y poor bones. I thought it was six kids, but it feels like big stones.” And when ,e got to the well and stopped over the water to drink, the heavy stones made nim fall in. He had to drown miserably. When the seven kids saw that, they came running to the spot and cried aloud, “The wolf is dead. The wolf is dead.” The children danced for joy round about the well with their mother.
Taken from www.legend.com

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