One of the traditional modes of discourse that

recounts an event or a series of related events.

English for Engineers 1 SNU 1
English for Engineers 1 SNU 2
Narrate
Definition : give a spoken or
written account of.
how to narrate a story or history, whether in present or
past?
scenario 1
suppose I am going tell story of monument..
whether can start like: it was built in 1950.. or it is built in
1950
scenario 2
if a monument is destroyed but ruins still there
whether can start like: it was built in 1950.. or it is built in
1950
please help me, i am just confused with past and
present......
English for Engineers 1 SNU 3
English for Engineers 1 SNU 4
Narrative stories (usually fiction) should be
written in the present tense.
If you are writing a non-fiction historical
account, then past tense is appropriate.
Your specific statement needs to read: "It was
built in 1950."
English for Engineers 1 SNU 5
Narration means: give a detailed account of
You can take help of the outlines given here
to narrate any incidence:
1. Describe how the incidence began
2. Describe what you thought when the
incidence took place
3. Give details of the incidence
4. Describe how you found that incidence to
be uneasy or embarrassing
5. Briefly conclude how you felt.
English for Engineers 1 SNU 6
Basic qualities of a narrative essay:
A narrative essay is a piece of writing that recreates
an experience through time.
A narrative essay can be based on one of your own
experiences, either past or present, or it can be based
on the experiences of someone else.
In addition to telling a story, a narrative essay also
communicates a main idea or a lesson learned.

First steps for writing a narrative essay:

Identify the experience that you want to write about.
Think about why the experience is significant.
Spend a good deal of time drafting your recollections
about the details of the experience.
Create an outline of the basic parts of your narrative.
Scary experiences
Joyful moments
Changing places
Seasons Celebratory moments
Interesting happenings
Success stories
Inspiration
Hard timings
Admiration
English for Engineers 1 SNU 7
English for Engineers 1 SNU 8
Draft Your Recollections
Spend enough time on drafting your recollections about the details of
your experience. Here is the time to create an outline of the basic parts
of your narrative.
Scribble Down Random Sentences and Paragraphs
With the help of your outline, explain each part of your narrative. Rather
than telling the audience dryly of what happened, try to recreate the
experience creating life into it. For this, it is important to think like the
audience because the information that you present is the only one that
they have got.
Add some of the Small Details
Also, keep in mind that the minute details that might seem unimportant
to you are not necessarily going to be unimportant to the readers. Those
details might spice up your personal narrative.
Revise Your Draft
After completing the first draft, read your narrative as to have an idea
whether the entire point has been clearly made and whether the
experience is recreated through the writing.
Leave Out the Unnecessary Details
English for Engineers 1 SNU 9
The story is usually true for the narrative
essay, and might be an example, a case
study, a way to organize an interview, or a
way to show history through narrative.
A narrative essay might, for example, tell the
story of how Madame Curie discovered
radium. However, usually a narrative essay
has a point besides simply telling the story--
perhaps in the example of Madame Curie, to
demonstrate the contributions women made
in science against particular odds.
English for Engineers 1 SNU 10
Although some narrations provide only the basic who, what, when,
where, and why of an occurrence in an essentially chronological
arrangement, as in a newspaper account of a murder, others contain
such features as plot, conflict, suspense, characterization, and
description to intensify readers' interest."
(Lynn Z. Bloom, The Essay Connection, Houghton Mifflin, 2001)
"Narration is . . . a component of much of the writing done in the
workplace. Police officers write crime reports, and insurance
investigators write accident reports, both of which narrate sequences
of events. Physical therapists and nurses write narrative accounts of
their patients' progress, and teachers narrate events for disciplinary
reports. Supervisors write narrative accounts of employees' actions
for individual personnel files, and company officials use narration to
report on the company's performance during the fiscal year for its
stockholders."
(Barbara Fine Clouse, Patterns for a Purpose, McGraw Hill, 2003)
English for Engineers 1 SNU 11
An Example: (open hyperlink **)
(attached in a word file)
Activity #1: Narrate an uneasy / embarrassing
incident in your life
Activity #2: Think of a short story related to
your childhood. Choose a title to your story,
also select a main character for your story,
therefore, do not use I in your story. Write
down your thoughts in bullet points on a
piece of paper. Now, you are ready, come in
front of the class to narrate the story to your
friends.
English for Engineers 1 SNU 12