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Narrative Writing Study Guide

1. I understood what I was asked to write about. (I underlined or circled important words in the prompt.)
Always underline or circle important words and phrases in a prompt to help you understand what you are asked to write about. Important words and phrases will be about WHO, WHEN, WHERE, WHAT, or WHY. Here is an example:

Imagine that you are able to spend a day with anyone you want. Write a story about what happens during that day. A. WHO will your narrative be about? It is about you and anyone you want. B. WHEN will your narrative happen? It will happen during one day. C. WHAT is your narrative about? It is about spending a (one) day with anyone you want and what happens during that day. D. Since the prompt does not give directions about WHERE (the setting,) or WHY, you can decide. For example, you might go to the zoo to see baby pandas. You might go to a football game to see the 49ers play.

2. I used a graphic organizer to plan. I used some or all of my ideas from my organizer in my narrative.
A. Always do some planning (prewriting) for a narrative. Get your thoughts going by writing ideas that spark your imagination. B. Write about WHO, WHEN, WHERE, (the setting,) WHAT, and WHY. Plan problems that your characters may have and their attempts to solve them. C. Reread the prompt to make sure that you are following directions. D. Do not try to plan every detail of your final narrative. E. When you write your final narrative, you might not use all of the ideas from your graphic organizer. Page One

Here is an example of a prompt and a graphic organizer. See the final narrative on the next page.

Imagine that you are able to spend a day with anyone you want. Write a story about what happens during that day.

my best friend, John go to the Reptile House at the L.A. Zoo look for Coco, the alligator, with eyes glowing like fire the extraterrestrial gets angry, and pokes us. We fly into the spaceship for a ride to Earth. (Wed been on Mars.)

Coco chases us, the people of Litel a ship beams down a light, creature walks out of the UFO

John pokes creature, and we refuse to do what it said to do.

We arrive on Earth, and see an alien. Its all a dream and my alarm clock goes off.

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3. I wrote in paragraphs, correctly, and I indented. My essay is well-organized. A. Indent and change paragraphs when your topic changes. B. If you are using dialogue, change paragraphs when someone new begins to speak. 4. I used vivid descriptive language and sensory details that help my reader visualize (imagine) what happened and how I felt. A. Write vivid descriptive language by using interesting verbs, adjectives, and adverbs. Use comparisons. Instead of writing I saw an alien. you can write This creature had about nine or ten arms, three legs that looked like tree trunks, about three thousand pea-sized and tomato-shaped eyes, and six ears that looked like tunnels. To sum up my description of the alien, he was downright ugly. B. Write sensory details by describing sights, sounds, smells, touches, and experiences. Instead of writing I was surprised. write I was so flabbergasted, my mouth literally dropped open. Instead of writing I was happy. write I was so happy I jumped up and down and smiled from ear to ear. 5. I used a variety of sentence structures. a) I used both shorter and longer sentences. Run! I screamed. John and I ran through the corridors, hoping that Coco didnt somehow gain fire powers. b) Along with statements, I used questions, commands, and exclamations. No, we were on Mars, duh! Dont you know anything? Why else would there be a red alligator? c) I used both simple and compound (,and ,so ,or ,but) sentences. Simple sentence: The alien was not at all pleased. Compound sentences: His eyes were glowing like fire, and we knew we were in for it. The first place we went was the Reptile House, so that we could see Coco. d) Perhaps I used dialogue, appositives, parentheses, or complex sentences. Dialogue: If so, how come the sign at the zoo reads L.A. Zoo? I shot back. Appositive: Is it true that you, the good people of Litel, are trying to have a nice, clean, fun filled day? Parentheses: The alien (you know, the angry one) lunged at John. Complex sentence: Although I had never seen an alien before, I was sure this was an extraterrestrial. Page Four

6. I proofread my narrative, and it is in correct sequence (time and event order.) My essay has a beginning, middle, and ending. A. Proofreading is very important. Proofread often when you are writing. Read every word in your narrative from beginning to end. B. Make sure your sentences and paragraphs are written in order. C. Does your narrative have a beginning, middle, and ending? 7. My narrative makes good sense and is focused. My whole essay has one point of view. A. Proofread to make sure that you did not leave words out. B. Write from one point of view. (The narrative on page three is written from the authors point of view. It does not change to Johns or Cocos point of view.)

8. I wrote neatly so that another person can read my work.

9. I made few, if any, mistakes in conventions (grammar, punctuation, capital letters, or spelling). A. Proofread after you finish each paragraph, and proofread the whole summary when you are all finished.

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