Creating voice in our narratives
Lesson details
Learning outcome
I can consider what makes a distinct and compelling narrative voice.
Key learning points
- Prompts can help spark ideas for interesting narratives.
- Authorial and narrative voice are different things.
- Narrative voice is often distinct to our own, with endless possibilities
- To shape a compelling voice we should hint at a character's personality, background and thoughts
- Planning a complete profile for a character can help us adhere to a compelling, consistent voice in our narrative
Keywords
Distinct - recognisably different from something else
Compelling - if something is compelling, it makes you believe it because it is so strong
Façade - a deceptive outward appearance
Common misconception
You can never use slang, colloquialisms and idioms in narrative writing.
If slang, colloquialism and idioms are part of your narrative voice, it is okay to use them but you have to ensure your use of them comes across as deliberate, consistent and that you have secure grammar and control over the piece of work.
Teacher tip
You may want to model the creation of your own narrative voice before students plan their own in Learning Cycle 2.
Content guidance
Depiction or discussion of sensitive content
Supervision
Adult supervision recommended
Licence
Lesson video
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Prior knowledge starter quiz
6 Questions
Q1.What is narrative voice?
Q2.What does compelling mean?
Q3.Which of the below has an indignant tone?
Q4.Which of the below examples might signal a non-human voice?
Q5.What might help you to make your narrative voice distinct from your authorial voice?
Q6.How would you describe the narrative voice in 'The Yellow Wallpaper' by Charlotte Perkins Gilman?
Assessment exit quiz
6 Questions
Q1.What is the difference between authorial and narrative voice?
Q2.If you have an idea for a narrative but cannot relate to it, what might best bring the story to life?
Q3.What is most important to consider when choosing a voice to tell your story?
Q4.Which of these may not help to shape a compelling voice?
Q5.How might the tone of voice in 'The Yellow Wallpaper' be described?
Q6.Which of these sentences crafts the most compelling voice?
To help you plan your 11 English lesson on: Creating voice in our narratives, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your 11 English lesson on: Creating voice in our narratives, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs.
The starter quiz will activate and check your pupils' prior knowledge, with versions available both with and without answers in PDF format.
We use learning cycles to break down learning into key concepts or ideas linked to the learning outcome. Each learning cycle features explanations with checks for understanding and practice tasks with feedback. All of this is found in our slide decks, ready for you to download and edit. The practice tasks are also available as printable worksheets and some lessons have additional materials with extra material you might need for teaching the lesson.
The assessment exit quiz will test your pupils' understanding of the key learning points.
Our video is a tool for planning, showing how other teachers might teach the lesson, offering helpful tips, modelled explanations and inspiration for your own delivery in the classroom. Plus, you can set it as homework or revision for pupils and keep their learning on track by sharing an online pupil version of this lesson.
Explore more key stage 4 English lessons from the Fiction: inner musings unit, dive into the full secondary English curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.