Focus Question: What is the purpose of narration in nonfiction text?
Say, “People have always wanted to tell stories, in particular their own stories. Our earliest recorded history comes from oral traditions. Narration—the method an author uses to recount events—is most commonly associated with fictional texts, but it plays an important role in nonfiction works as well, such as autobiographies and biographies. Now you’ll have an opportunity to turn one of your own personal experiences into a narrative. Share with a neighbor one of the following scenarios.” Write the following scenarios on the board/interactive whiteboard.
- Describe one recent event.
- Describe a memorable athletic contest or musical review that you either witnessed or were involved in.
- Describe a memorable time you spent outside.
- Describe a memorable online gaming experience.
After students have had a chance to share, say, “You’ve just told an autobiographical narrative, a nonfiction story about your own life. While you may have used some techniques used in fiction—suspense, description, dialogue—fictional narratives are based on imagination, and nonfiction narratives are based on real events. In this unit, we will be analyzing narrative techniques in nonfiction.”
Have students read All Things Bright and Beautiful (the excerpt about the bull and parrot) or a similar nonfiction narrative text. Post the following questions on the board:
- From whose point of view is the narrative told?
- How does the point of view affect the author’s purpose in an autobiographical narrative?
- Why is chronological order important in narration?
- How does the author make nonfiction narration interesting?
Ask students to write the answers to the questions on a sheet of notebook paper after they finish reading the excerpt. Then, as a group, discuss their answers. The first three questions allow for a review of the concepts of point of view and chronological order. Help students see that the use of first-person point of view gives readers insight into James Herriot’s emotions, beliefs, and values as he reacts to events. In addition, it makes the reader feel more a part of the events. Remind students that while chronological order is one of the ways to present events, it is commonly used for autobiographies because it helps readers understand events in sequence.
Answers to the last question may vary. (Responses may include by giving the scenes a sense of realism, by incorporating humor, or by focusing on important actions.) Ask students to support their responses with evidence from the excerpt. For example, what do the characters say or do to create humor? What action or event dominates the excerpt? Why do the events and characters seem realistic? Emphasize that students should always return to the text for the evidence that supports their conclusions. Give students time to return to the text for support, and assist those who may have difficulty understanding the task.
Say, “Now we are going to read a biography about James Herriot. As you read, think about the ways the biography is similar to the autobiography and the ways it is different. Use a T-chart to record your comparisons.” Model the T-chart on the board/interactive whiteboard, with “Similarities” on one side of the T-chart and “Differences” on the other. Have students read a biographical sketch from an online source or an excerpt from The Real James Herriot: A Memoir of My Father, written by Herriot’s son. (Teachers may substitute other texts to provide a range of reading and level of text complexity.)
Discuss student responses in the T-chart as a group. Differences may include point of view (third person in the biography; first person in the autobiography) and objectivity (the biography giving an outside perspective on the events and as such provides more objectivity, although Herriot’s son is certainly not an objective source). Similarities may include real events, real people, and use of chronological order. Ask, “How does the point of view affect the author’s purpose?” In the discussion, guide students to see that third-person point of view allows the author to give readers insight into the strengths and weaknesses of the person, things that the individual may not perceive in writing an autobiography, and the influence of other people and events. Help them see that first-person point of view, while increasing access to the emotions and thoughts of the narrator, is limited in its perspective.
Ask students to write a word or phrase on the T-chart to describe James Herriot as he is revealed in his autobiography and a word or phrase to describe Herriot as he is revealed in the biography. Have students share their responses with a partner and offer evidence for their description. Some responses may be the same, but differences will help students understand how the author’s purpose and point of view affect both the types of information included in the text and the reader’s experience of the text. Say, “In the case of nonfiction texts, what we understand to be true depends a great deal on how an author narrates events.” Collect student responses to the questions and T-charts to monitor students’ understanding.
Extension:
- Students who need additional practice with understanding nonfiction narrative may do the following activity:
- Give small groups brief excerpts of other autobiographies/biographies of individuals. Have students compare and contrast the narratives in the texts, using questions similar to those used in the lesson.
- Students who are ready to move beyond the standard may do one of the following activities:
- From teacher-provided samples, have students examine biographical or autobiographical texts for other text structures, such as description or problem/solution, and analyze their effects on narration.
- Have students write an autobiographical narrative retelling of a serious or humorous episode from their life.
- Ask students to write a brief biography of a friend or relative.
