Narrative Development

1. OBJECTIVES KEY TERMS
NARRATIVE
PERSPECTIVE
NARRATIVE
ORGANISATION
PRACTICE
EXERCISES
Welcome to this review on Narrative
Development. To start, point and click on
the OBJECTIVES button to get an idea of
what it expected of you after going through
the review. Read through the sections,
think about the questions posed and then
try the practice exercises to apply what you
have learnt.

2. OBJECTIVES KEY TERMS
NARRATIVE
PERSPECTIVE
NARRATIVE
ORGANISATION
PRACTICE
EXERCISES
OBJECTIVES
By the end of this tutorial you will
• Gain flexibility in employing narrative
perspective and narrative organization of your
short stories.
• Use appropriate perspective and organization
in keeping with the stimulus given
• Consider the impact of narrative perspective
and organization on the mood, tone and
atmosphere of stories.

3. OBJECTIVES KEY TERMS
NARRATIVE
PERSPECTIVE
NARRATIVE
ORGANISATION
PRACTICE
EXERCISES
KEY TERMS
ToneMood Atmosphere

4. OBJECTIVES KEY TERMS
NARRATIVE
PERSPECTIVE
NARRATIVE
ORGANISATION
PRACTICE
EXERCISES
KEY TERM: MOOD
Mood is a feeling that is
conveyed to the reader in
a literary work. The
writer can develop mood
through word choice,
dialogue, sensory details,
description, and plot
complications.
ToneMood Atmosphere

5. OBJECTIVES KEY TERMS
NARRATIVE
PERSPECTIVE
NARRATIVE
ORGANISATION
PRACTICE
EXERCISES
KEY TERM: TONE
Tone is the overall attitude
of the writer and can be
detected from the writer's
diction (particular choice
of words)
ToneMood Atmosphere

6. OBJECTIVES KEY TERMS
NARRATIVE
PERSPECTIVE
NARRATIVE
ORGANISATION
PRACTICE
EXERCISES
KEY TERM: ATMOSPHERE
Atmosphere - The emotional feelings inspired by a work.
How do you want your readers to feel as they read your
story?
ToneMood Atmosphere

7. OBJECTIVES KEY TERMS
NARRATIVE
PERSPECTIVE
NARRATIVE
ORGANISATION
PRACTICE
EXERCISES
CHALLENGE QUESTION
Which perspective could heighten the
portrayal of a character’s inner feelings?
Which perspective could heighten a
character’s overall tension in a story?

8. OBJECTIVES KEY TERMS
NARRATIVE
PERSPECTIVE
NARRATIVE
ORGANISATION
PRACTICE
EXERCISES
NARRATIVE PERSPECTIVE
Narrative Perspective is the point of view from which a
story is written.
Point of View means who is telling the story. A story is
always told by a narrator (who is not the author).
Remember that sometimes the narrator is a character in
the story, and sometimes the narrator remains outside of
the story. You need to choose which perspective would
make your story more interesting.

9. OBJECTIVES KEY TERMS
NARRATIVE
PERSPECTIVE
NARRATIVE
ORGANISATION
PRACTICE
EXERCISES
NARRATIVE PERSPECTIVE
When a narrator expresses his/her own thoughts and
feelings, the story has a first person narrative point of
view. It often uses the first person pronouns of “I” and
“me.”
When the narrator is outside of the story and not a
character in the story, the story has a third person
narrator .The narrator uses third person pronouns, for
example, “he” and “she.”
See the site below
http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/beauty.html

10. OBJECTIVES KEY TERMS
NARRATIVE
PERSPECTIVE
NARRATIVE
ORGANISATION
PRACTICE
EXERCISES
NARRATIVE ORGANISATION
There are two main ways that you can use to organize
your stories. These are the flashback technique and the
chronological technique.
ChronologicalFlashback

11. OBJECTIVES KEY TERMS
NARRATIVE
PERSPECTIVE
NARRATIVE
ORGANISATION
PRACTICE
EXERCISES
NARRATIVE ORGANISATION -Flashback
The Flashback technique introduces the character at the
resolution and then narrates the story in retrospect.
Flashback is a device used in literature to present action
that occurred before the beginning of the story.
Flashbacks are often introduced as the dreams or
recollections of one or more characters.
Flashback Chronological

12. OBJECTIVES KEY TERMS
NARRATIVE
PERSPECTIVE
NARRATIVE
ORGANISATION
PRACTICE
EXERCISES
NARRATIVE ORGANISATION -Flashback
The trigger in narratives employing the flashback technique
An effective strategy is to use a trigger. Do you remember
the Titanic? Rose’s mirror became the trigger for the
unfolding of the story. A “trigger” is anything that arouses
memories.
Please remember to use your ellipses (… punctuation to
show reflective contemplation in the case of short stories)
to go from the memory to the recounting of the plot.
Flashback Chronological

13. OBJECTIVES KEY TERMS
NARRATIVE
PERSPECTIVE
NARRATIVE
ORGANISATION
PRACTICE
EXERCISES
NARRATIVE ORGANISATION -Chronological
Chronological technique tells a story in sequential order
as it unfolds.
This means following a time order.
A chronological recitation of events starts at the
beginning and proceeds to relate actions in the order in
which they occurred.
ChronologicalFlashback
MORE

14. OBJECTIVES KEY TERMS
NARRATIVE
PERSPECTIVE
NARRATIVE
ORGANISATION
PRACTICE
EXERCISES
NARRATIVE PERSPECTIVE & ORGANISATION
ChronologicalFlashback
Narrative Perspective and Narrative Organisation become
even more important as one considers the stimulus that
can be given in a particular examination.
Remember that your particular choice of narrative
organization and perspective will affect word choice,
dialogue, sensory details, description, and plot
complication of your story.

15. OBJECTIVES KEY TERMS
NARRATIVE
PERSPECTIVE
NARRATIVE
ORGANISATION
PRACTICE
EXERCISES
PRACTICE EXERCISES
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16. OBJECTIVES KEY TERMS
NARRATIVE
PERSPECTIVE
NARRATIVE
ORGANISATION
PRACTICE
EXERCISES
PRACTICE EXERCISE 1
“The door was closed and the cobwebs in the front
suggested it had not been opened for a while. Moor
turned the key and pushed the door open.”
(CXC English A. June 2009)
1. Consider the differences if this story were to be
written chronologically or using the flashback
technique.
2. Could this stimulus be changed from a first person
perspective to a third person narrative
perspective?
1 2 3

17. OBJECTIVES KEY TERMS
NARRATIVE
PERSPECTIVE
NARRATIVE
ORGANISATION
PRACTICE
EXERCISES
PRACTICE EXERCISE 2
“I bent at the corner to tie my shoelace and never knew
that action would become the bane of my existence.”
Lisanne Edwards.
1. Consider the differences if this story were to be
written chronologically or using the flashback
technique.
2. What differences would you have to consider if the
stimulus were changed from a first person
perspective to a third person narrative
perspective?
1 2 3

18. OBJECTIVES KEY TERMS
NARRATIVE
PERSPECTIVE
NARRATIVE
ORGANISATION
PRACTICE
EXERCISES
PRACTICE EXERCISE 3
1. Choose a classmate to work with you on this exercise.
2. Outline the plot of the stimulus in Practice Exercise 1
or 2.
3. Using the same plot, write the story using opposite
narrative perspectives and organisation. Note which is
more effective but be careful to also analyse why one
may have been more effective that the other.
4. Grade each other’s stories with full explanation for the
grade as assigned.
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