Narrative Paragraph

Topic: narrative paragraph
Monsieur Seguin's Goat

A Folktale from France
A long time ago, high in the Alps, an old man lived with his goat,
Blanchette. She was a wonderful white goat and was very kind to her
master, Monsieur Seguin. They had lived together for many years.
Blanchette was always fastened to a tree. She was often sad and
sometimes she didn't eat her food. Every day, she looked at the big
mountains and dreamed of being free to explore them. One day, she
asked her master for more freedom. "You can tie me with a longer rope
or you can build a special enclosure for me," said Blanchette. At first, he
tied her with a longer rope.but Blanchette was still sad. A few days later,
he built a special enclosure. . For a while, Blanchette was very happy
about this decision but soon the enclosure seemed very small in front of
the big mountains. One summer morning, Blanchette decided to leave
for the mountains so she jumped out of the enclosure and ran away. "I
am free," she said. She ate many varieties of plants and enjoyed meeting
new friends. All day, she ran in the Alps. Finally, the sun set behind the
hills. It became very dark. Blanchette was suddenly afraid. She heard a
noise. She decided to go back to her enclosure. She walked for a long
time. She couldn't find the road. Finally, she became very tired. She tried
to rest. Her fear prevented her from sleeping. Suddenly, a wolf appeared.
The wolf looked at her hungrily. She shouted for help. No one heard her.
The wolf ate Blanchette. The poor old man never saw his little goat
again. Blanchette wanted to be free. Freedom can be dangerous when we
disobey.
*Narration is story writing. When you write a narrative paragraph, you write about events in the order that
they happen. In other words, you use time order to organize your sentences.
As you read the model paragraph, look for words and phrases that tell when something happened.
Earthquake!
An unforgettable experience in my life was a magnitude 6.9 earthquake. I was at home with my older
sister and younger brother. Suddenly, our apartment started shaking. At first, none of us realized what
was happening. Then my sister yelled, "Earthquake! Get under something!" I half rolled and half crawled
across the room to get under the dining table. My sister also yelled at my little brother to get under his
desk. Meanwhile, my sister was on the kitchen floor holding her arms over her head to protect it from
falling dishes. The earthquake lasted less than a minute, but it seemed like a year to us. At last, the
shaking stopped. For a minute or two, we were too scared to move. Then we tried to call our parents at
work, but even our cell phone didn't work. Next, we checked the apartment for damage. We felt very
lucky, for nothing was broken except a few dishes. However, our first earthquake was an experience that
none of us will ever forget.
Questions on the Model
1. In which four sentences does the word earthquake appear?
2. What words and phrases show when different actions took place? Circle them.
In the model narrative paragraph, the writer used time order to tell what happened first, what happened
next, what happened after that, and so on.
Notice the sequence of words and phrases used to show time order. These are called time order signals
because they signal the order in which events happen.
Time Order Signals Words Phrases
Finally, At last,
First (second, third, etc.), At 12:00,
Later, After a while,
Meanwhile, After that,
Next, Before beginning the lesson, Now In the morning, Soon The next day,
Put a comma after a time order signal that comes before the subject at the beginning of a sentence.
(Exception: Then, soon, and now are usually not followed by a comma.)
NARRATIVE paragraph TYPES
Use first-‐person narration (autobiography). In first-‐person narration, you describe a

personal experience from your point of view. You are directly involved in the story.
You use the words I (first-‐person singular) or we (first-‐person plural). For example:
“When I was a child, I thought that the world began and ended with me. I
didn’t know, or care, how other children felt. Thus, when schoolmates ridiculed a
shy boy, I gleefully joined in.”
NARRATIVE
PARAGRAPH TYPES2.
Use third-person narration. In third-‐person narration, you do not refer to your own
experiences. Instead, you describe what happened to somebody else. The story is
told in the third person using he, she, it, or they. You might tell a story about
your mother’s childhood, or you might explain what happened during the last
election. In this type of narration, you are simply an observer or storyteller; you
are not a participant . For example:
“The students gathered to protest against the war. One student threw a chair through
the window of the student center. Suddenly, people started pushing and shoving.”
When you write a narrative paragraph, it is important to express a main point.

To make your paragraph interesting, make sure that your topic
sentence has a controlling idea.
(topic)
When somebody broke into my house,
(controlling idea)
I felt totally invaded.

(controlling idea)
Jay learned to be responsible
(topic)
during his first job.
Topic:
Moving out of the family home
Possible controlling idea:
Becoming more independent
(topic)
When I moved out of the family home,
(controlling idea)
I became more independent.
In a narrative paragraph, the topic sentence should make a point. In order to find
the controlling idea, you can ask yourself the following questions:
1.
What did I learn?
2.
How did I change?
3.
How did it make me feel?
4.
What is important about it?
THE SUPPORTING IDEAS
A narrative paragraph should contain specific details so that the reader understands
what happened. To come up with the details, ask yourself a series of questions:
1.
Who is the paragraph about?
2.
What happened?
3.
When did it happen?
4.
Where did it happen?
5.
Why did it happen?
6.
How did it happen?
THE PARAGRAPH PLAN/ORGANIZATION
Before you write a narrative paragraph, it is a good idea to make a paragraph

plan or outline.
Write down main events in the order in which they occurred. This is called
chronological order.
To make your narration more complete, include details about each event.

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Topic: narrative paragraph

Monsieur Seguin's Goat

Questions on the Model

1. In which four sentences does the word earthquake appear?

Time Order Signals Words Phrases

First (second, third, etc.), At 12:00,

Later, After a while,

Meanwhile, After that,

NARRATIVE paragraph TYPES

Use first-‐person narration (autobiography). In first-‐person narration, you describe a

When you write a narrative paragraph, it is important to express a main point.

sentence has a controlling idea.

When somebody broke into my house,

I felt totally invaded.

Jay learned to be responsible

during his first job.

Moving out of the family home

Possible controlling idea:

Becoming more independent

When I moved out of the family home,

I became more independent.

What did I learn?

How did I change?

How did it make me feel?

What is important about it?

THE SUPPORTING IDEAS

Who is the paragraph about?

When did it happen?

Where did it happen?

Why did it happen?

How did it happen?

THE PARAGRAPH PLAN/ORGANIZATION

Before you write a narrative paragraph, it is a good idea to make a paragraph

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