Writing NarrativeParagraphs  I—— 

Things Happening Over Time

Narrative paragraphs are often used to describe what a person does over a period of time.

Read this example narrative paragraph, notice how words like 'later' are used to connect what happens.

Yesterday evening I got home from work at 6 o'clock. My wife had prepared dinner which we ate immediately. After I had cleaned up the kitchen, we watched TV for about an hour. Then we got ready to go out with some friends. Our friends arrived at about 9 o'clock and we chatted for a while. Later we decided to visit a jazz club and listen to some music. We really enjoyed ourselves and stayed late. We finally left at one o'clock in the morning.

Written Exercise

Now that you have a good feeling for the form of a narrative paragraph. 

Fill in the gaps in this paragraph with information about what you did yesterday evening.

Yesterday evening ______________ at ________ o'clock. I immediately ______________. After______________, I (or we) ________________. Then I (or we)__________________________. I (or we) _________________a while. Later I (or we)_______________________________. I (or we) finally _______________.

Practice

Try to write a number of similar paragraphs about what you did last weekend, or your last holiday, etc.

Writing NarrativeParagraphs II ——

Habits——Things that Happen Regularly

Narrative paragraphs are often used to describe our routines. 

Read this example narrative paragraph, notice how words like 'sometimes, often, etc.' are used to say often something happens.

Every Saturday morning I get up at eight o'clock. I immediately cook breakfast and my daughter and my wife and I usually have breakfast together. I usually go shopping. My daughter and wife usually go to the park to have some fun with the other children in our neighborhood. After I do the shopping, I come home and my wife and I clean the house. My wife then cooks lunch while my daughter plays in her room and then we eat together. After lunch, we sometimes go shopping. If we don't go shopping, we often go to the countryside for a nice walk. We often get home quite late and have a small dinner. We usually watch a film on TV and then go to bed at about eleven o'clock.

Written Exercise I

Now that you have a good feeling for the form of a narrative paragraph describing habits.

Fill in the gaps in this paragraph with information about what you usually do on Sundays.

Sunday is a_______________ day for me. I _______________ like _______________. I_______________ get up _______________ and then I _______________. After_______________, I often go _______________. Sometimes, I like _______________. In the evening, I _______________ like _______________ . I usually go to bed around _______________.

Practice

Ask friends about what they usually do on Sundays and write a narrative paragraph describing their Sunday habits.

注：图片是家中春天开放的大岩桐花。