Narrative paragraphs are those that describe a sequence of events or actions in chronological order. They are often found in various narrative texts , such as stories , novels , legends , myths , chronicles , biographies , and news articles .
A paragraph is a unit of text composed of one or more sentences , beginning with a capital letter and ending with a period . Texts are organized so that each paragraph addresses a central idea.
These paragraphs tell real or fictional stories or narratives because they narrate actions or events sequentially in the first, second, or third person. Temporal connectives (e.g., first, next, finally ) or punctuation marks (e.g., commas, semicolons, and periods ) are used to connect these events.
In addition, these paragraphs include other types of information, such as descriptions of people, objects, places and feelings, and they often contain dialogues and monologues .
- See also: Narrative genre
Examples of narrative paragraphs
- Maria was sleeping very peacefully until a noise woke her. She opened her eyes and got out of bed to see what had woken her, but she was alone and couldn’t think of what could have caused the noise. Suddenly, she remembered she had left the living room window open. She went into the living room, closed it, and went back to bed to sleep.
- The events occurred early Saturday morning: a tremor caused by a minor earthquake was felt throughout the city. According to official reports, there were no accidents, no one was injured, and there were no landslides. Many people say they were woken up by the tremor, but they weren’t scared because it lasted so briefly.
- Albert Einstein, the famous physicist, was born on March 14, 1879, in Ulm, Germany, where he spent his first year of life. In 1880, he moved with his parents to Munich, where he lived for fourteen years. In 1888, he began attending the Luitpold School, where he demonstrated great talent for the natural sciences. His uncle, Jacob Einstein, was a very important figure in his youth, as they conducted many experiments together in the workshop-laboratory located in Albert’s house.
- When Jimena arrived at the station, she heard an announcement over the loudspeaker that the service was interrupted. She took a deep breath and sat down on a bench to decide how she would get home. At that moment, she remembered that Sergio, her best friend, had a car and she could call him to pick her up. She got up from the bench and went to the station bar, where she asked to borrow the phone to call her friend.
- The president arrived at Government House, where he announced the measures that are already known to the entire population. After this announcement, he spent two hours answering questions from journalists, because he believes it is important to clarify any doubts regarding the changes in government leadership.
- Clarice Lispector, a Brazilian writer, published her first book, Close to the Wild Heart, at the age of 19. Thanks to this book, she received a very important award in Brazil. Eight years later, in 1952, she published her first collection of short stories, Some Stories , which was very well received by critics. In 1977, shortly before her death, she published The Hour of the Star , a novel considered by critics to be one of her best books and one of the best books in Latin American literature.
- The dog entered the house, began barking, and woke everyone in the family. They got up because it wasn’t normal for the dog to bark like that. The mother went downstairs, walked to the door with the dog, and saw him barking at a squirrel in the garden. She calmed down when she realized nothing serious was happening.
- The famous singer arrived in Mexico City on Friday night and headed to his hotel. On Saturday morning, he visited two museums and then had lunch at a well-known restaurant with two Michelin stars. On Saturday afternoon, the other musicians arrived and stayed at the same hotel. On Sunday afternoon, all the band members went to the stadium early for sound check, and on Sunday night, they gave a concert that, according to their fans, was excellent.
- The gods were gathered to decide which gods would become the sun and the moon to illuminate the earth. Tecuciztécatl said he would transform into the sun; the gods accepted this proposal and decided that Nanahuatzin would become the moon. For Tecuciztécatl to transform into the sun, he had to throw himself into the fire, but he became frightened and refused to do so. Nanahuatzin threw himself into the fire, and because of his bravery, the gods decided that he should become the sun. Afterward, Tecuciztécatl, very ashamed, threw himself into the fire and transformed into the moon.
- A soaking wet man entered the café because it was raining heavily outside. He asked the waiter if he could sit down, and the waiter agreed. The café owner, seeing the man like this, approached him and asked if he could help him with anything. The man replied that they would pick him up soon and take him home, but that he would also appreciate some toast and hot coffee. The owner said he would bring them right away.
