NAME: CLASS: DATE:

Lesson Objective
I will be able to write an effective introduction for a narrative essay.

What should you include in your introduction?

1. Introduce the . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . and . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . of your story to your
readers.

2. Your introduction should be . . . . . . . . . . . . . and

. . . . . . . . . . . First impressions count!
A narrative hook is an opening sentence or a series of
opening sentences that . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

A narrative hook . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . readers and

makes them want to read more.

A good narrative hook is . . . . . . . . . and . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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

Examples

1. My mother always told me not to play with fire. Clearly,

I did not heed her advice.

2. Amy was going through her usual make-up routine in

her bedroom when she realized that she was not
alone.

3. I used to believe that there was some good in every

person. I’m not so sure anymore.

4. It was a bright, cold day in April and the clocks were

striking thirteen. (1984, George Orwell)

5. George woke up one morning and wondered if he

was in hell. The air in his bedroom was filled with the
acrid smell of smoke and ashes.
Write three narrative hooks and share them with your
friends!
Describing the setting of your story can help to engage
the . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . of your readers.

Clint Teo was so drunk it took him ten tries before he finally
managed to insert his room key successfully. He stumbled into
his room and headed straight for the bed which looked invitingly
soft and springy. His room was in apple-pie order: the floor had
been vacuumed, the mess he had left earlier had been cleaned
up and the room was filled with the comforting smell of
disinfectant. Just as he was about to fall asleep,he heard
muffled noises coming from outside his room. He sat up and
listened intently. It sounded as if someone was knocking on the
room door and whimpering like a wounded dog.

Can you identify the setting? How do you know this?

A cliffhanger is a scene which ends with . . . . . . . . . . The
reader does not know what’s going to happen next.

The house stood in stark contrast to the lush greenery of

the forest that surrounded it. It looked rotten to the
core; as if a disease was eating away at it from the
inside. Windows were falling off their hinges and there
were gaping holes in the walls. Natasha looked up at
the house and her heart did more than a few
somersaults. She was reluctant to enter it but she had
nowhere else to go. Her attackers were hot on her trail.
She approached it with trepidation, pushed open the
main door, and gasped in horror at what she saw …
  A flashback involves a character . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
an important event.
 You can describe your main character’s . . . . . . . . .

 .Use
. . . .this
. . . device
. . . . . . . in
. . .your
. . . . introduction
. . . . . . . . . . . .with
. . . .caution.
.......
and
You his may or end
her .up . . .producing
. . . . . . . . . .an. . with other people.
introduction that is
corny and clichéd. Avoid using this introduction
“I amtype
on my unless
wayyou are extremely
to becoming confident.
a domestic goddess,” Amy
chanted silently to herself as she dropped slices of red tomatoes
Good
into example:
a bubbling pot I wonder
of lamb what Marc
stew. It was would
Adam’slook like now
favorite dish,
despite
if he wereit being so high
still alive. in cholesterol
Whenever that to
I return it could
Yolgan give you a
School,
stroke
I cannotin one gulp.
help butForrecall
someonewhatwho never bothered
happened to himtoinlearn
the
cooking seriously from her mother during her youth, Amy found
male toilet on the fourth floor when we were both in
it difficult to tolerate hours cooking over a hot stove. However,
Secondary Two. The incident is buried in my memory like
she has grown to love her new kitchen at the back of the
a glass shard—I
mansion wince
that she lives in pain
in with her whenever
husband and I think
her about
five cats.it.
I survived
Tonight, shebymade theAdam’s
skin of favourite
my teeth buttosomething
soup celebrate his died in
return
me after
from the incident
a business trip. Shehappened.
held onto a simple formula when it
came to her marriage: if he’s happy then she’s happy.”
Bad example: I picked Adapted upfrom
the “Amy’s
photo Story”
of Marc by Sharon
that was Lim

displayed
Question: on the
Based mantelpiece
on the extract above,inidentify
my living
threeroom and
things you
hugged
have it. about
learned Tears Amy.
started rolling down my face as I
recalled what had happened to him years ago.