reading narrative texts

8/3/2019 Reading Narrative Texts

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/reading-narrative-texts 1/3

Reading a Narrative Text

Read the following text and answer the questions provided!

The Princess who loved to Sing

Once upon a time, there was a princess who lived in a city. Her name was

Isabel. She loved to sing very much. She sang anytime and everywhere. When she

was singing, everyone must be quite. If not, she would punish them.

One day, an old beggar asked her some money while she was singing. Princess

Isabel was very angry, but the beggar was angry, too. The beggar was actually a

witch. She cursed Isabel, “From now on, you cannot sing!”

Fortunately, there was a fairy. She was a good one. She said, “You can sing

again after you do a god thing to someone else.” From then on, Isabel was always

good to everybody. She wanted her voice back. However, it never came back. So,

she travelled from one city to another to do good things.

One day, when she took a rest in a forest after her long journey, she saw a little thin boy. The boy was

hungry. Without thinking of herself, Isabel gave her only sandwich to the boy. Suddenly, she sang. The beautiful voice was back again.Taken from Smart Steps

A. Answer the following questions. Discuss with your friends!1. Who is the main character of the story? In which paragraph is the main character introduced?

____________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

2. What was the main character’s problem?_________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

Why?

____________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________

3. How did she/he solve the problem?______________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

4. What tense does the writer use in the story?_______________________________________

5. What is the moral value of the story?____________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

B. Now, choose whether each of the following statements is true (T) or false (F) by circling the correct letter!

1. The old beggar asked for some food. T F

2. The old beggar did not curse Isabel. T F

3. The fairy made Isabel lost her beautiful voice. T F

4. Isabel run to the forest because she lost her voice. T F

5. Isabel’s kindness made her voice back. T F

1



Reading a Narrative Text

1. The purpose of narrative texts is to entertain the readers with our stories.

2. Generic structure: A narrative text has three main parts which should be well ordered:

Orientation : It tells about the setting in time and place, and the characters of the story (In the story, thesetting is in a city. The main character is Princess Isabel. Minor characters are the beggar and

the fairy)

Complication: this part tells about problem(s) to be solved by the characters. It tells what happened to the

characters. (In the story, the problem was that the princess was cursed - by a witch – and made

her voice lost).

Resolution : It describes the solution to the complication and it gives a suitable ending of the story. (In the

story, the princess did good things to everyone and to a poor-hungry boy. Then, her voice was

back. She could sing again).

3. Language Features:

Tense: Past, except if it is in speech marks/direct quotation.

Use some adverbs to indicate time such once upon a time, long time ago, one day, and finally.

Exercise 1.

A. Label the generic structure of the following story!

Snow White

Once upon a time there lived a little girl named

Snow White. She lived with her aunt and uncle because

her parents were dead.

One day she heard her uncle and aunt talking

about leaving Snow White in the castle because they both

wanted to go to America and they didn’t have enough money to take Snow White. Snow

White didn’t want her uncle and aunt to do this, so she decided it would be best if she

ran away.

The next morning she ran away from home when her aunt and uncle were

having breakfast. She ran away into the woods. Then she saw a little cottage. She

knocked but no one answered. She went inside and fell asleep.

Meanwhile, the where were seven dwarfs that were coming home from work.

They went inside. There they find Snow White sleeping. Then Snow White woke up.

She saw the dwarfs. The dwarfs said, “What’s your name?” Snow White said, “My

name is Snow White.”

Doc, one of the dwarfs said, “If you wish, you may live here with us.” Snow

White said, “Oh could I? Thank you.” Then Snow White told the dwarfs the whole story

and Snow White and the seven dwarfs lived happily ever after.Taken from: http://www.ardianrisqi.com/2009/11/narrative-text-snow-white.html

.............................

............................

.............................

B. Answer the following questions briefly based on the story above!

1. Where did Snow White live before she met the dwarfs?

____________________________________________________________________________________

2. Why didn’t Snow White go along with her uncle and aunt to America?

_____________________________________________________________________________________

3. How was Sow White’s life with the seven dwarfs?

______________________________________________________________________________________

4. Search the fourth paragraph! Can you find a language feature error in it? If yes, mention it and writedown your correction!

______________________________________________________________________________________

5. Which paragraphs present the complication of the story?

2

http://www.ardianrisqi.com/2009/11/narrative-text-snow-white.html





_____________________________________________________________________________________

3

reading narrative texts

Documents