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Year 8 - English

Writing a full narrative piece using the five part narrative structure

Myths, legends and stories that inspire

Unit Summary

In this unit, pupils read and explore a range of text types in connection to classical myths and legends. They first look at poetry before doing some descriptive writing inspired by poetry and paintings. They then explore Chaucer and modern retellings of myths to inspire their narrative writing.

Lesson Summary

You will learn to write a well-structured and developed piece of narrative writing inspired by a character from a story you have read.

Key Notes

  • The 5 part narrative structure divides a story into exposition, rising action, climax, falling action and resolution.
  • Each section of the narrative does not have to have the same number of paragraphs.
  • You can engage your reader by using interesting methods in each paragraph.
  • To structure your piece, you could link the concluding sentence of paragraphs to the next topic sentence.
  • To further structure your piece, your first and final paragraph could repeat selected ideas or images.

Vocabulary To Learn

  • flashback: a transition in a story to an earlier time in the life of one or more characters
  • alliteration: when two or more words close by to each other start with the same consonant
  • plosives: use of letters 'p', 't', 'k', 'b', 'd' and 'g' to make a harsh sound; unlike alliteration, these letters don't have to be found at the start of a word
  • methods: the tools a writer uses to create their work; flashback, alliteration and plosives are all examples of methods
  • dejected: unhappy

Common Mistakes To Avoid

  • You can't repeat any ideas in creative writing. Once you have used them once, you must create new ideas in every successive paragraph.

3 Quick Questions (With Answers)

1. Explain this English learning goal in two key points.

The 5 part narrative structure divides a story into exposition, rising action, climax, falling action and resolution. Each section of the narrative does not have to have the same number of paragraphs.

2. Define this language term and use it in a sentence. 'flashback'

a transition in a story to an earlier time in the life of one or more characters.

3. Correct this common English misunderstanding.

Mistake: You can't repeat any ideas in creative writing. Once you have used them once, you must create new ideas in every successive paragraph. Correction: Repetition of certain ideas or images can give your writing a sense of structure. This is particularly true in your final paragraph where repeating ideas from your first paragraph can alert your reader to the idea that you are about to finish.

More Lessons In This Unit

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