Writing

Al-Manar International School

IGCSE Section

Prepared by: Mrs. Eman Abd El-Aal Ahmed

Aims of the session

1- To recognize what the narrative letter is.

2- To have an overview of the narrative letter.

3- To set your own plan before and while writing.

4- To be able to write a simple narrative letter.

✓ Individual Work Time: 3 minutes

Read the letter and discover the

hidden mistakes then correct them.

Dear Tommy,

it was amazing to get you are letter last week and congratulations on passing

your exams. I thought I'd drop you a line to tell you that this week end I had the

happiest moment in my life.

Two weeks ago, I hear that a large marathon was going to be held all round the

city. One of my friends, George, Suggested that I could try and run the marason

which would help me to lose weight. I thought about the idea and decided to

accept the challenge. so, I joined the race and although I didn't win, I finished it

before a lot of others. The momment I crossed the finish line, I felt that I had

overcome my fear of not finishing the marathon. Since as you know, I was

overweight. Many of my friends were attending the race and was surprised that I

managed to run continuously without stopping throughout the entire race. That day

was probably the happiest and proudest moment in my life.

Now, you know all about the most exciting goal which I set myself and managed to

do. Successfully, Take good care of yourself.

I am looking forward to see you soon.

Love,

Joe

Dear Tommy,

It was amazing to get your letter last week and congratulations on passing

your exams! I thought I'd drop you a line to tell you that this weekend I had the

happiest moment in my life.

Two weeks ago, I heard that a large marathon was going to be held all

round the city. One of my friends, George, Suggested that I could try and run the

marathon which would help me to lose weight. I thought about the idea and

decided to accept the challenge.

so, I joined the race and although I didn't win, I finished it before a lot of

others. The moment I crossed the finish line, I felt that I had overcome my fear of

not finishing the marathon.

Since, as you already know, I was overweight. Many of my friends

attended the race and were surprised that I managed to run continuously without

stopping throughout the entire race. That day was probably the happiest and

proudest moment in my life. Now, you know all about the most exciting goal which

I set myself and managed to do successfully.

Take good care of yourself. I’m looking forward to seeing you soon.

Love,

Joe

Remember the last task?!

habits

Narrative letter:What is the narrative letter?

It’s a letter written to a friend to describe a

series of events in the recent past.

*Consider it a daily friendly phone call, so you

should write short form.

[ I’ve – He’s – Don’t – I’d ]

Types of Narrative Letters

O Type 1 situations: writing a letter to a friend

about something that could happen to you

in everyday life.

O Type 2 situations: writing a letter to a friend

about what you have done that is daring.

O Type 3 situations: writing a letter to a friend

about your happiest or proudest moment.

What Should I focus on before writing?

O Main target of the question.

O Important details.

O Exact number of words.

O Settings [ place, time, people].

O Vocabulary, connectives, idioms and tenses.

[Dear] followed by your friend’s name then a comma [Dear Tomas,].

Introduction of the letter.

The body of the letter [ the events].

Write chronologically .

Definite beginning.

A Climax [ most dramatic or interesting moment of it].

A clear ending of the events.

Conclusion of the letter.

Love or Yours followed by a comma.

Your name.

Set your own plan: Shape

Introduction:

Keep it short as it will give you the chance to use

more words in the body to tell the story.

*Don’t forget to mention when the incident

happened

For example:

this morning, this afternoon, just now, a few

moments ago

Imagine that you’re contacting your friend as soon

as you can after the event happened.

The main purpose of the introduction is to create interest

in the story you’re going to relate.

What is the importance of the introduction?

Examples:

I can’t wait to tell you ………………

I’m dying to tell you ………………

Wait until you hear ………………

You won’t believe ………………

You’ll never guess ………………

Your today’s homework is to create your own language for

interesting introductions and REMEMBER every student should

have his/her own vocabulary and language.

Body of the letter:

Set this scene with the FIVE Ws.

These questions are important to be

answered, so the scene you describe

should be routine and ordinary. This will

provide a contrast with the main event.

➢ My mother and I were walking in the City Centre ,early

in the morning, looking for a birthday present for Dad.

3- Climax

4-Resolution

1- Exposition

2-Complication

The situation you’re telling should contain the following:

Pair Work Time: 5 minutes

You were at the zoo recently when something

interesting happened.

You decided to write to a friend describing the

incident.

In your writing you should:

• describe what you saw.

• write what you felt.

• explain how you reacted.

Conclusion:

It should be brief just as the introduction

For two reasons:

1- Not to exceed the limited number of words.

2- You are in a hurry to tell everyone else what

happened.

Well, I must dash now; I’ve got to tell Diff all

about it.

I must go now; I want to call Sara and tell her

the news.

Examples of conclusion:

Group Work: [3 minutes]

1. The introduction.

2. The body.

3. The conclusion.

4. The five Ws.

1. The exposition.

2. The complication.

3. The climax.

4. The resolution.

Read the letter and find:In the body, cite the different

elements of the short story.

Dear Rose,

You will not believe what happened to me an hour ago. It was the most

frightening and the most exciting thing that ever happened to me.

I went up to my dad’s office to get his car keys to go to the mall with some

friends from school. My dad’s office is on the top floor so I had to use a very ancient

looking elevator. I surely wouldn’t climb the stairs all way up as you know. The

stupid elevator was really slow and it felt like hours to get the thing moving. I kept

pressing the button like crazy.

After moving, it suddenly stopped halfway. I was so terrified. I kept

pressing all the buttons I found. You know how much I lose my mind in situations

like that. I tried to call my dad but there was no signal in the elevator, not even a

security camera to let people know I was stuck in there. I was so scared! It was

really creepy. I tried my best not to panic but it was all in vain. I kept having bad

thoughts about being stuck in there forever.

Finally, after about twenty minutes, the elevator started moving! It was in a

sudden so I was really shocked and surprised. When I got to my dad’s office I was

as pale as a ghost, but everything went back to normal after the shopping trip. I

wish you were there with me when I was locked in that nasty elevator. We would

probably throw a party in there!

I must dash now. Have to tell the whole family about it.

Yours,

Jennifer

Summing Up:

The most important points in today’s session

Next Session:

Connectives:

Write a letter to a friend about a fire breaking in your

house. Your letter should be no more than 150-200

words.

Try to include the following points:

*What you were doing before the fire.

*How it happened.

*What happened after the fire.

*How you reacted to the fire.