The Narration Paragraph

The Narration Paragraph

     The narration paragraph (which can also be called Narrative Paragraph) is developed by using the technique of narration. This indicates that the purpose of a narrative paragraph is to present actions or events in series. In other words, it gives an orderly account of events forming a story. It presents a sequence of events in a chronological order.

     As for the structure of a narration paragraph, it sometimes conforms to and sometimes deviates from the general rule. This kind of paragraph may or may not begin with the traditional topic sentence introducing the main theme of the narrative. When it does not have such a topic sentence, the beginning of the paragraph seems to merge into its body. If you look at the concluding sentence of a narration paragraph, you will see that instead of restating the first sentence it generally makes a finishing comment on the entire narrative.

     Here are two different model narration paragraphs for the student to follow.

1. A clash in the University Campus

     There was a violent clash in the university campus yesterday between two rival groups of students. It began at 10 o'clock when one group was processing and shouting slogans against the other group. Suddenly their opponents made a chase after them from behind. For a while, the - procession was dispersed. But very soon they also gained strength to make a counter-attack. The campus then turned into a battle field. Although both the groups started their fight by flinging bricks and stones, they were found using deadly weapons later. One student was stabbed to death and many others were seriously injured. When

     police came, several arrests were made and the situation came under control. The university, however, was declared closed sine die. This kind of anti-academic activities have become a regular phenomenon in the Universities of Bangladesh.

2. A Road Accident

     Last evening I was loitering on the road beside my house. Not very far from me, I s was rickshaw with a female passenger coming towards me. Suddenly a fast running truck came from behind and knocked the rickshaw down. As a result, both the woman and the rickshaw puller were thrown off. They were lying on the road and crying in pain. In a moment J rushed to the spot and a big crowd gathered there. The woman's head was bleeding seriously. But the people were just making noises and doing nothing to help her. I thought that the condition of the injured might turn worse. Therefore, without making any more delay I took some two or three people with me and took the lady to the hospital. The memory of this accident is still haunting me.

       Of the two paragraphs above, the former contains the usual topic sentence which introduces the main theme of the narrative. But in the latter, the beginning sentence does not give the main idea., it is inseparable from the body and the theme is found only in the concluding sentence. In neither paragraph the last sentence is a paraphrase of the first sentence. The body of each paragraph presents a chain of events.

MAIN POINTS

      i) The narrative paragraph is based on the technique of narration.

      ii) A narrative paragraph narrates a series of events in a chronological order.

     iii) The structure of a narrative paragraph may follow the usual pattern or it may have a structure of its own.

VOCABULARY ENRICHMENT

     chase - act of running after to capture or kill

     chronological - in order of time

     clash — conflict; disagreement

     (to) conform (to) - be in agreement (with); comply with generally accepted rules

     (to) deviate (from) — turn away

     (to) fling — throw violently

     (to) haunt - visit repeatedly

     (to) loiter — go slowly and stop frequently

     (to) merge (into) - become one

     opponent - person against whom one fights

     process — to walk in procession

     sequence — succession; connected line of events or ideas

     sine die - indefinitely.

EXERCISES

Read each of the following paragraphs and every time answer the set of questions below:

       1. The marriage ceremony of my sister took place on the 15th of May this year. It was a memorable day for all of us. The house was beautifully decorated for the occasion. All arrangements were made for the entertainment of the guests. The wedding party was expected to arrive at 3 p.m. But they were late by more than an hour. However, the dinner was ready and served immediately. After the dinner some people began gossiping, while others walked around the house. After an hour or so the marriage registrar came and then the marriage was solemnised. The wedding party left our house at 10 o'clock

     The parting scene was really sad. The ceremony came to an end in the midst of tears.

     2. The village life in Bangladesh has three major disadvantages. First of all, most of the villages in Bangladesh do not have electricity, as a result of which the villagers cannot enjoy the modern amenities of life. Secondly, most of the villages here do not have proper medical facilities. And thirdly, the villages in this country do not have easy communications. These are only a few of the many drawbacks faced by the village people in Bangladesh.

     3. Ours is the most beautiful house in the town. It is a two storeyed building with a large yard in front of it. We have a nice flower garden in this yard. As the house faces the south, we always get fresh air. The house is fenced by a quadrangular row of coconut and areca-nut trees. The greenery of these and other trees inside the house wears a very pleasant look in spring. Everybody appreciates this lovely natural atmosphere of our house.

     4. There are many words in Bengali which have come form many different languages. For example, the word chair has come from English. On the other hand, kitab, which means book, is borrowed from Arabic. Another example of such Bengali words is 'cha' which means tea and is derived from Chinese. Still another example is Bachcha', a word of Hindi origin now used in Bengali to mean infant. In fact, there are lots of such Bengali words which have foreign origins.

     5. The failure of the Catholic University of Ireland of which Newman was invite 1 to become the rector may be attributed to three main reasons. Initially, there was a wide difference of opinion over whether there should be a Catholic University for Ireland or a Queen's college. Secondly, a gradual rift was found between Newman and Dr. Paul Cullen, one of the foremost enthusiasts for the university over their differing theories of education. And finally, there was no

sufficient financial support to sustain such a university. Naturally, the demise of the University was inevitable.

    6. Despite their differences as tragic protagonists, there are some similarities between Macbeth and Faustus. For example, Macbeth is a renowned personality at the beginning of his career. Likewise. Faustus is also a prominent man, a doctor of divinity. Secondly, Macbeth has an inordinate ambition to become the king and that is his tragic flaw. Similarly, Faustus also has this flaw of an inordinate ambition. Thirdly, Macbeth is killed at the end. Faustus also meets with death at the end of his career. These similarities between Macbeth and Faustus prove that Shakespeare and Marlowe believed in the same conception of tragedy.

     7. The sentences in a paragraph fall into three major categories. They are Introducers, Developers and Terminators. The Introducers introduce the main idea of the paragraph and they generally occur at the beginning. The Developers usually follow the Introducer / s and their function is to develop or support the main idea. And the terminators come most commonly at the end to bring the main idea of the paragraph to a satisfactory end. Apart from these main kinds of functional sentences, some paragraphs also contain a Context Modulator.

     8. 'Tele' means distance and. 'Vision' means sight. So the term 'television' means 'seeing from a distance'. In fact, it is a process of transmitting a view of things by radio to a distant receiver with synchronized sound. As a result, through a television receiving set we can both hear the sound and view the picture of the performers at the television station. It is one of the most wonderful inventions of modem science. It can also telecast any event taking place at any part of the world live from its place of occurrence. It is, indeed, a great blessing for us.

Questions

     (a) What is the theme o; main idea of this paragraph?

     (b) Give an appropriate litle (topic suggestion) to this paragraph.

     (c) Does the topic sentence of this paragraph contain a controlling idea? I f it does, identify it.

     (d) What technique of paragraph development has been used in it?

     (e) Does the concluding sentence of this paragraph paraphrase its topic sentence or summarise its body? I f it  does not, what else does it do?

     (f) Does this paragraph contain any Context Modulator?

     (g) What are the sentence linkers used in this paragraph?

     (h) Write a paragraph of your own using this one as your model.