Features of Story Genre

Features of Narrative Texts

Traditional Tales  A simple beginning, series of events in the middle leading to a predictable ending  Details and description support the plot  The story is for telling and re-telling

Language Features  A simple or traditional opening and end e.g. One day, Once upon a time, Long, long ago, And they all lived happily ever after, Always keep your promises etc.  Good and evil characters  Characters are often foolish or play tricks  Animals have human attributes e.g. bad wolves, silly sheep, cunning foxes, clever cats  People are stereotyped e.g. princesses are pretty and need to be rescued, strong men are rescuers, stepmothers are evil etc.  The number three is important e.g. three little pigs, three wishes, three fairies, three bears  Magical or supernatural forces e.g. fairies, witches, animals or objects that can grant wishes  Clear values e.g. honesty = goodness, riches = happiness, beauty = happiness, greed = badness  Literal description e.g. Red Riding hood had a red cloak the little pig’s house of straw etc.

Myths  Myths are traditional stories told to explain natural phenomena e.g. How the tortoise got its shell, and religious beliefs e.g. How the world began  Short, simple story in a believable setting  Usually begin with timeless phrases e.g. Long, long ago…  Supernatural forces are often included  Generic characters e.g. an elephant will represent all elephants,  Natural elements will often be gods e.g. the wind god or the sun god  Simple beginning leads straight into the main problem  Often a single character or group of characters create the problem  Climax usually explains why things are the way they are  Sometimes there is a final comment e.g. And to this day…

Language Features Similar to those of traditional tales

Legends  Similar to myths, but based on an element of historical truth  Often based on the achievements of historical heroes and heroines

Fables  Fables are short stories that use animals as characters to portray human behaviour and conclude with a moral  A brief simple opening with just enough information to lead to the plot.  A briefly and clearly stated complication – events unfold in a straight forward way illustrating the positive or negative traits of the characters  The ending leads to the moral e.g. Look before you leap

Language Features  Simple description  Short, simple sentences  Careful choice of vocabulary

Adventure Stories

 Series of carefully connected fiction hooks  Sketchy initial description of setting  Open with either action, dialogue or both  A series of small problems that takes the main character closer to disaster  Description contributes to the building of tension accompanying each problem  Plot unfolds quickly and dramatically  Climax comes quickly and answers all questions  Climax includes good overcoming evil, or main characters overcoming great difficulties to reach safety

Language Features  The plot twists and turns with mini climaxes along the way  Subplots that include excitement and danger  Each dilemma has some difficulty that must be overcome  Often set in exotic or unusual locations  Tension-filled climax  Dialogue infers what is happening  Written in third person  Ends of chapters often cliffhangers  Dialogue and events show character traits and plot lines, rather than description

Historical Fiction  History is the backdrop to this narrative  Characters may be fictional, but the historical time and places should be accurate  Detailed description of time and place(s)  Set in the past  Reference to historical events  Plot development rests on historical accuracy e.g. mother falls ill, eldest daughter has to leave school to look after the family  Slightly more complex ending that links historical fact and imagination

Language Features  Can be first person e.g. a diary, or third person,  Past tense  Detailed description  A mixture of simple and complex sentences  Description, action, dialogue

Science Fiction  Set in the future  Can be in space or in another world  Based on some scientific understanding  Starts in reality and moves to fantasy  Beginning includes details of time and/or place – can be revealed as story unfolds  Some scientific description is essential to the plot and its development  Setting impacts character development and plot  Several fiction hooks lead to the central problem and solution  Can include good v. evil in a scientific world  Scientific knowledge overcomes the problem

Language Features  Real and invented scientific language  Imaginative concepts linked to science  Vivid description

Mystery Stories  A problem needs to be solved  A ‘detective’/detectives solve the puzzle  Detective(s) collect evidence to solve the mystery  Carefully planned so that characterisation and plot interweave evidence with red herrings  Often have peaks of suspense as the plot unfolds, with the highest peaks just before the climax  Short, swift opening encouraging reader’s curiosity about the culprit  As the plot unfolds more characters are introduced. Characters are always linked in some way to the mystery  Each character is a suspect  Each character has motives, actions and alibis that are revealed through action and dialogue  End comes quickly and is brief  It solves the mystery by clearly showing how the culprit is guilty and everyone else is innocent  The resolution of the problem always involves some in-depth knowledge e.g. of tidal movements or train times

Language features  Written in 3rd person  Detailed description linked to clues and evidence  ‘red herrings’ and clues are included by: o inferences in dialogue o relationships and meetings between characters o characters’ implied motives