Assignment 3: Narrative Writing (Cambridge (CIE) IGCSE English Language)

Assignment 3: Narrative Writing

Assignment 3 of your coursework portfolio is a piece of narrative writing. To reach the highest levels of the mark scheme you are required to create a developed, well-defined plot and include features of fiction writing, such as characterisation and setting.

Overview

In this assignment you are only examined on your writing skills, and your piece of writing should be between 500 and 800 words in length. There are 10 marks available for content and structure, and 15 marks available for style and accuracy, as follows:

Narratives may be written in any relevant form, such as the opening or closing chapter of a longer story, or a short story in itself, but features of fiction writing should be evident. Your ideas should be explored and developed imaginatively. Remember, a story that entertains is normally a successful one!

Assignment examples

You may be asked to write a story that creates suspense and atmosphere, or something that explores relationships and emotions. Alternatively, you may be asked to write about adventure, achievement or something that contains unexpected events. Any possibility that addresses specific readers and maintains the reader’s interest and engagement are valid. The best short stories are based on a single plot idea, have a maximum of two main characters and tend to be set in a place familiar to you.

How to write to narrate

Narrative story writing develops an idea to a conclusion. The way to achieve this in an exam is by planning an ending with a resolution (you should plan whether your story will end happily or not).

In order to adhere to the conventions of story writing, it is best to: 

• Plan your writing in an order which takes your character (and reader) on a clear journey:

  • The best way to do this is to plan one main event

  • Ensure your plot is simple enough to be coherent and cohesive

• Consider employing structural techniques, such as a flashback:

  • This can give background information to the reader and provide context

  • Ensure you use past-tense verbs for this

• Develop your characters:

  • Consider essential narrative character archetypes, such as “villain”, “victim”, “hero”, etc.

  • Decide on how your characters fit these descriptions 

• When describing people, focus on relevant details only:

  • You could focus on their body language or movements

  • If using dialogue, the verbs you use to describe how your characters speak can reveal more about them than what they say, e.g. “shrieked”, “mumbled”, “whispered”

  • It is effective to repeat ideas related to colour

  • You can repeat ideas for emphasis:

    • For example, black and grey or green and blue

Narrative writing responses should be structured into five or six paragraphs. You should plan your response carefully as you have limited time to create a cohesive plot. Writing a response which has not been planned is likely to have an abrupt ending, or no ending at all, which will not get you high marks.

There are lots of different narrative structures or arcs that you could use to plan your story. Bearing in mind you only have 15 minutes to plan, your story needs to be controlled and concise. One of the easiest ways to achieve this is to consider a five-part narrative structure, such as Freytag’s Pyramid:

Remember, each paragraph does not have to be the same length. In fact, better answers vary the lengths of their paragraphs for effect. What is important is to develop separate ideas or points in each paragraph, and to avoid repeating the same descriptions throughout your response. 

Narrative writing techniques

Once you have planned out the structure of your narrative, it’s a good idea to consider how to incorporate methods and techniques into your response. Below we have included some guides to help you when thinking about setting, characterisation and other linguistic techniques to make your narrative as engrossing as possible.

Setting

As this task assesses the ability to communicate clearly, effectively and imaginatively, it is important to consider how to use language constructively in a short story to convey an atmosphere or mood. Building an effective setting is key as it contributes to atmosphere and mood.

• Your setting should reflect your main character’s mood:

  • You may know this as pathetic fallacy, which reflects the character’s mood in the environment, e.g., “the lonely road”

• As your setting reflects your character’s mood, your setting may change as the story progresses:

  • Contrasting scenes is an effective way to convey ideas and to engage your reader:

    • For example, your story may have started on a sunny afternoon, but may end as the sun sets or as a storm approaches 

  • Whatever way you decide to contrast the scenes, ensure it reflects your character’s mood

• The best answers build a clear setting before introducing other information, such as introducing character:

  • Describing setting is best done with sensory language as we experience places with all of our five senses

  • This means you could describe the dark, light, colours, sounds, smells and weather

  • The best way to clearly create setting is to allow an entire paragraph to describe the scene without confusing readers with other information like who is there

  • Ensure all of your descriptive language builds the same mood and avoid mixing ideas. For example: “The graveyard was dark, cold and smelled like fragrant flowers” is confusing for your reader

• However, do not give too much away all at once!

  • Keep your reader guessing and asking questions, such as “What is going on?”, “Why is this like this?” and “Who is this?”

  • Think of establishing a setting a bit like the game “Taboo”, in which you have to describe something without stating explicitly what it is

Characterisation

This question asks you to create a short story and therefore you will need to build some elements of detailed characterisation. This means you need to consider what your character(s) represent. They may represent an idea, such as hope or strength or abandonment, or you could include a villain to represent injustice or evil. It is best to limit yourself to two characters in the time you have.

Well-rounded characters are taken on a journey: a character should undergo some form of development or change. The mark scheme rewards answers which clearly and effectively convey ideas, meaning that you need to consider the most effective ways of building a character in a short piece of writing. Ideally, you should focus more on indirect characterisation than direct characterisation:

Here, we will consider how to plan your character(s) effectively to engage your reader. This is what the examiner is looking for in your answer:

Linguistic devices

When considering your choice of language and the techniques you wish to employ, you must always remember that you are making deliberate choices for effect. It is important to consider the connotations of words and phrases, and how these may add depth to your writing. For example, do your word choices evoke certain emotions or feelings in the reader, or do they reveal aspects of a character’s personality, background or emotions? You should employ the principle of “show, not tell” in order to bring your writing to life in the reader’s mind.

Below you will find a brief explanation of some of the key techniques you could employ in your narrative (or descriptive) writing:

Top tips

• Ensure that your response is a well organised and thoughtful interpretation of your title

• Demonstrate your ability to shape a narrative, including incorporating moments of tension and drama

• Use characterisation to create believable protagonists and characters

• Avoid cliches or over-used narratives, such as abandoned cabins in the woods

• Do not just “tell” a series of events:

  • Consider imaginative ways to tell your story, apart from just a chronological account

  • Include your characters’ thoughts and feelings, not just what happens

• Do not over-complicate your language unnecessarily:

  • Do not underestimate the power of simple words and sentences to create significant impact

• Start at your story’s main setting, not in the journey or build up

• Ensure that all of the words you choose contribute to the overall atmosphere and effect you want to create

• Vary your sentence and paragraph lengths to keep the style and tone dynamic

• Do not over-use dialogue:

  • Only use dialogue if it drives forward the plot and you are able to punctuate it correctly

• Consider the “message” of your story and how your characters represent this

• Consider the narrative perspective which will work most effectively for your story