Writing a Narrative Paragraph

A narrative paragraph is a paragraph which tells us a story. When you tell a story either at paragraph or essay level, you need characters (people, animals or things) about whom the story talks. Second, you need main point (theme) that the reader takes as important moral lesson. Third, setting, (the time and place) where the events in the story take place, are essential.

Instructions: Use the outline given below and complete the narrative paragraph by adding three to four sentences individually.

Example of an outline to write a paragraph on punctuality.

Assume that the title of your paragraph is “My Lateness is My Enemy”

• the place where the story took place – Addis Zemen
• time – summer
• late arrival for classes
• missing a test that carried 10 points
• the declination of rank from first to second
• missing the school reward

“My Lateness is My Enemy”

The story took place in Addis Zemen Primary School in 2001 E.C. I am always punctual in my life but one day unusually I could not wake up from my bed at the right time. When I looked at my watch, the class time had gone by 40 minutes. I collected my belongings hurriedly and ran to school. When I arrived there, the school gate had already been closed. ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________.

A paragraph is a group sentences written orderly to explain mostly one main idea to the reader. The sentence that carries the main idea is called a topic sentence. Other sentences give support to the topic sentence so they are called supportive details. When you write a paragraph, first, you should produce an outline.

An outline is the raw idea that you produce in the form of phrases or short sentences before writing your final paragraph. Preparing an outline before you begin to write your paragraph helps you know the areas where you focus when you write your paragraph. Second, when you write your paragraph make sure that the ideas in each sentence should be in their correct order. If not, your readers will face difficulty in understanding what you are saying. Third, you should avoid any idea that does not have direct connection with the topic sentence.