Narrative Conventions

Student Name: __________________________________________________________________________

 What Are Narrative Conventions?

Authors write stories with a purpose and target audience in mind.

Narrative conventions are the parts of a story and the techniques authors use to achieve
their purpose, within their target audience.
They are the common elements in a story, that authors use in a unique way.

Plot:

Plot is what happens in a story (the order of events/action). Authors use plot to control how/when content
is delivered to the audience and manipulate their readings.
Plot can be either:
 Chronological: Things happen one after another. The plot follows a straight line.
 Non-Chronological: The order of events is not the same as the order they happen in.
These texts use flashbacks, flashforwards, memories and alternate timelines.

The Elements of Plot:

Exposition: The way things are before the action starts. Here characters and setting are introduced.
Rising Action: The series of conflicts and crisis in a story which lead to the climax.
Climax: The turning point. The most intense moment.
Falling Action: All of the action which follows the climax.
Denouement (Resolution): The conclusion/tying together of all the threads.

Freytag’s Pyramid
Nothing Special
1. Is the plot of this short story chronological or non-chronological?

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2. What effect does this order of events have on the viewer?

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3. Identify each part of this short story’s plot, in the diagram below.
Individually:
 Read the short story ‘Death in Baghdad’ by Jeffrey Archer.
 Answer the questions on plot.

Jeffrey Archer – Death in Baghdad

There was a merchant in Baghdad who sent his servant to market to buy provisions and in a little
while the servant came back, white and trembling, and said, Master, just now when I was in the
market-place I was jostled by a woman in the crowd and when I turned I saw it was death that
jostled me.

She looked at me and made a threatening gesture; now, lend me your horse, and I will ride away
from this city and avoid my fate. I will go to Samarra and there death will not find me.

The merchant lent him his horse, and the servant mounted it, and he dug his spurs in its flanks
and as fast as the horse could gallop he went.

Then the merchant went down to the market-place and he saw me standing in the crowd, he came
to me and said, "Why did you make a threatening gesture to my servant when you saw him this
morning?"

"That was not a threatening gesture", I said, "it was only a start of surprise. I was astonished to
see him in Baghdad for I had an appointment with him tonight in Samarra."

1. Is the plot of this short story chronological or non-chronological?

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2. What effect does this order of events have on the reader?

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3. Identify each part of this short story’s plot, in the diagram below.
 Setting:

Setting is where the story takes place. A story can have multiple settings.
Setting includes:
• Sights
• Sounds
• Colours
• Textures
• Place/surroundings/location
• Time of day
• Time of year/season
• Era (year/decade/century)
The setting of a story is central to its tone and mood. It plays a crucial role in how a story ‘feels’.

Setting

1. What mood does the elements of this setting create?

Sights:

Colours:

Textures:

Place/Surrounds:

Time of year:
 1. What mood does the elements of this setting create?

Sights:

Colours:

Textures:

Place/Surrounds:

Time of year:

Individually:
 Read the extract from Narnia by C.S Lewis.
 Answer the questions on setting.

Narnia – C.S Lewis

And so Lucy found herself walking through the wood arm in arm with this strange creature as
if they had known each other forever. Lucy followed the Faun Mr Tumnus through the dark
bewildering wood.

They had not gone far before they came to a place where the ground became rough, and
bumpy, and there were small jagged looking rocks all about and daunting hills up and down.

Mr Tumnus turned suddenly aside as if he were going to walk into a large rock but at the last
moment Lucy realised it was the entrance to a dark, gloomy looking cave. As soon as they
were inside she found herself blinking in the light of a pleasant wood fire.

Lucy thought she had never been in a nicer friendlier place. It was a little, dry, clean cave of
reddish stone with a carpet on the floor and two miniature chairs. Lucy glanced round to see
more furniture such as a large table and comfy chairs where Lucy imagined Mt Tumnus having
his friends round. Lucy felt comfortable and warm in this lovely homely dwelling.

1. Describe the mood of each setting in this extract. Then, identify quotes that gave each setting this
mood.
 The Forrest

Mood:

Quotes:

Mr Tumnus’ Cave

Mood:

Quotes:
 Recap: Plot & Setting

1. What is plot?

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2. Define chronological and non-chronological plot structures.

Chronological Order: Non-Chronological Order:

3. Label the diagram of Freytag’s Pyramid below:

4. Describe the mood of the setting below. In the table, give examples from the image that create this
mood.
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Sights:

Area/
Surrounds
:

Textures:

Colours:
 Characterisation:

Characterisation is the way authors create and develop their characters.

Characters are created to achieve certain responses from a specific target audience.
These include:
 To be liked.
 To be trusted.
 To be disliked.
 To be distrusted.

How characters are developed can be remembered through the mnemonic STEAL.
 S: Speech (what the character says)
 T: Thoughts (what the character thinks)
 E: Effect on others (How other characters respond to them/what they make other characters do).
 A: Actions (what the character does).
 L: Looks (what the character looks like).

Characterisation

1. What is the audience supposed to think/feel about this character?

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 2. How has this response been created through STEAL?

Speech:

Thoughts:

Effect on Others:

Actions:

Looks:

1. What is the audience supposed to think/feel about this character?

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1. How has this response been created through STEAL?

Speech:

Thoughts:
 Effect on Others:

Actions:

Looks:

Individually:
 Read the extract from Boy by Roald Dahl.
 Answer the questions on characterisation.

Boy – Roald Dahl

Her name was Mrs. Pratchett. She was a small skinny old hag with a moustache on her upper
lip and a mouth as sour as a green gooseberry. She never smiled. She never welcomed us
when we went in.

By far the most loathsome thing about Mrs. Pratchett was the filth that clung about her.
Her apron was grey and greasy. Her blouse had bits of breakfast all over it, toast-crumbs
and tea stains and splotches of dried egg yolk.

It was her hands, however, that disturbed us most. They were disgusting. They were black
with dirt and grime. They looked as though they had been putting lumps of coal on the fire all
day long. The mere sight of her grimy right hand with its black fingernails digging an ounce
of Chocolate Fudge out of the jar would have caused a starving tramp to go running from the
shop.

2. What is the audience supposed to think/feel about this character?

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2. How has this response been created through STEAL?

Speech:

Thoughts:
 Effect on Others:

Actions:

Looks:

Figurative Language:

Figurative language are figures of speech that are not supposed to be taken literally.
Figurative language features:
 Make descriptions more vivid.
 Make writing more interesting.
 Create a visual sense.
 Create emotional responses.

Common Figurative Language Features:

Similes: A direct comparison between two things, using like or as.
Example: When attacked in his home, he will fight like a caged tiger.

Metaphors: An indirect comparison between two things. When something is described as ‘being’
something else.
Example: My friend is a Shakespeare when in English class.

Personification: Giving non-human objects, human attributes.

Example: The wind whispered through the dry grass.

Hyperbole: Overexaggerating for effect.

Example: The boy was dying to get a new school bag.

Oxymoron: Joining two opposite ideas together.

Examples: Bittersweet, seriously funny, open secret.

Onomatopoeia: Words that imitate the sounds things make.

Examples: buzzing, splash, thump, wack, screech.
 Figurative Language Features

Neil Gammon – Coraline

That was how she spent her first two weeks in the house – exploring the garden and the grounds.

Her mother made her come back inside for dinner, and for lunch; and Coraline had to make sure she
dressed up warm before she went out, for it was a very cold summer that year; but go out she did,
exploring, every day until the day it rained, when Coraline had to stay inside.

"What should I do?" asked Coraline.

"Read a book," said her mother. "Watch a video. Play with your toys. Go and pester Miss Spink or Miss
Forcible, or the crazy old man upstairs."

"No," said Coraline. "I don't want to do those things. I want to explore."

"I don't really mind what you do," said Coraline's mother, "as long as you don't make a mess."

Coraline went over to the window and watched the rain come down. It wasn't the kind of rain you
could go out in, it was the other kind, the kind that threw itself down from the sky and splashed
where it landed. It was rain that meant business, and currently its business was turning the garden
into a muddy, wet soup.

Figurative Language Quote Effect on the Reader

Feature

1. What figurative language features can you find in this extract? In the table below, write the name
of the feature, a quote and briefly describe its effect on the reader.

We Do:
 Untitled Extract – Author Unknown
Perched on top of the steep yet small cliffs, the huts encircled their inhabitants, hugging them
warmly. Lights, inside and out, shone brightly - golden; contrasting with the ghostly orb hanging in the
sky. At a glance, a visitor would assume the dwelling places to be built from the same plan, but upon
closer inspection each was unique.

One had a multitude of emerald eyes, rather like a spider, in its roof, another had a covered veranda
and a tall slate chimney stack. Yet another had a lower floor dug out from the sharp slope down to
the water, surrounded on one side by a two-tier balcony. All had one thing in common: wooden
decorations, intricately carved, forming the framework of each dome-roofed house.

1. What figurative language features can you find in this extract? In the table below, write the name
of the feature, a quote and briefly describe its effect on the reader.

Figurative Language Quote Effect on the Reader

Feature

Individually:
 Read the extract from Harry Potter by J.K Rowling
 Answer the questions on figurative language.
 Harry Potter by J.K Rowling
The train came to a stop with a jolt, and distant thuds and bangs told them that luggage had fallen out of the
racks. Then, without warning, all the lamps went out and they were plunged into total darkness.
“What’s going on?” said Ron’s voice from behind Harry.

“Ouch!” gasped Hermione. “Ron, that was my foot!”

Harry felt his way back to his seat.

“D’you think we’ve broken down?”

“Dunno…”

There was a squeaking sound, and Harry saw the dim black outline of Ron, wiping a patch clean on the window
and peering out.

“There’s something moving out there,” Ron said. “I think people are coming aboard…”

The compartment door suddenly opened and someone fell painfully over Harry’s legs.

“Sorry! D’you know what’s going on? Ouch! Sorry —”

“Hullo, Neville,” said Harry, feeling around in the dark and pulling Neville up by his cloak.

“Harry? Is that you? What’s happening?”

“No idea! Sit down —”

There was a loud hissing and a yelp of pain; Neville had tried to sit on Crookshanks. “I’m going to go and ask
the driver what’s going on,” came Hermione’s voice. Harry felt her pass him, heard the door slide open again,
and then a thud and two loud squeals of pain.

“Who’s that?”

“Who’s that?”

“Ginny?”

“Hermione?”

“What are you doing?”

“I was looking for Ron —”

“Come in and sit down —”

“Not here!” said Harry hurriedly. “I’m here!”

“Ouch!” said Neville.

“Quiet!” said a hoarse voice suddenly.

Professor Lupin appeared to have woken up at last. Harry could hear movements in his corner. None of them
spoke. There was a soft, crackling noise, and a shivering light filled the compartment. Professor Lupin
appeared to be holding a handful of flames. They illuminated his tired, gray face, but his eyes looked alert and
wary.

“Stay where you are.” he said in the same hoarse voice, and he got slowly to his feet with his handful of fire
held out in front of him. But the door slid slowly open before Lupin could reach it.

Standing in the doorway, illuminated by the shivering flames in Lupin’s hand, was a cloaked figure that
towered to the ceiling. Its face was completely hidden beneath its hood. Harry’s eyes darted downward, and
what he saw made his stomach contract. There was a hand protruding from the cloak and it was glistening,
grayish, slimy-looking, and scabbed, like something dead that had decayed in water…

But it was visible only for a split second. As though the creature beneath the cloak sensed Harry’s gaze, the
hand was suddenly withdrawn into the folds of its black cloak.

And then the thing beneath the hood, whatever it was, drew a long, slow, rattling breath, as though it were
trying to suck something more than air from its surroundings.

An intense cold swept over them all. Harry felt his own breath catch in his chest. The cold went deeper than
his skin. It was inside his chest, it was inside his very heart…

Harry’s eyes rolled up into his head. He couldn’t see. He was drowning in cold. There was a rushing in his ears
as though of water. He was being dragged downward, the roaring growing louder…

1. What figurative language features can you find in this extract? In the table below, write the name of the
feature, a quote and briefly describe its effect on the reader.

Figurative Language Quote Effect on the Reader

Feature