What is narrative?

The narrative text type tells a story. Its purpose is to present a view of the world that entertains or informs the reader or listener. Narrative text types: Fantasy novels, Bedtime stories (spoken), Historical fiction and Stories.

Constructing a narrative

The steps for constructing a narrative text are:

• An orientation (can be a paragraph, a picture or opening chapter) in which the narrator tells the audience about who is in the story, when the story is taking place and where the action is happening.
• A complication that sets off a chain of events that influence what will happen in the story.
• A sequence of events where the character react to the complication.
• A resolution in which the characters finally sort out the complication.
• A coda that provides a comment or moral based on what has been learned from the story ( an optional step)

Language features of a narrative

The language features usually found in 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.  

Source: Text Type In English; Mark and Kathy Anderson; MACMILLAN; 2003