Narrative Essay – JSS1 English Lesson Note (Third Term)

A narrative essay tells a story about something that happened, usually in the order it took place. The sample below, “An Accident I Witnessed”, describes a road accident outside a school. It gives the setting, the event, what people did afterwards and the writer’s feelings.

Behavioural objectives

By the end of the lesson, students should be able to:

• read a sample narrative essay and say what happened in it;
• explain the meaning of the words “jostle” and “dazed”;
• describe how the writer set the scene, told the event and ended the story;
• write a narrative essay on the same topic.

Sample narrative essay: An accident I witnessed

Setting the scene

The road in front of my school is a narrow one. It is also very busy. Every afternoon when school is dismissed, the road becomes almost impassable as children, bicycles, cars and buses jostle and struggle to use it. Sometimes, a policeman is there to help things out, but generally, chaos reigns and we have to be careful not to get involved in an accident.

The accident

A few accidents had already occurred. I was a witness to one. It happened just after school. As usual, the road was an utter madhouse. Children were running across the road to get to their cars and buses. Cars and buses honked angrily at them. Just then I saw a young boy dash across the road. There was a blare of horn, a squeal of brakes and I saw a car knock into the boy. He fell as though his feet were swept from under him.

What happened next

Fortunately, the car was not moving very fast and the driver managed to stop the car before a wheel could run over the fallen boy. All traffic stopped. I ran over to the boy and saw blood on the road. He was bleeding from a cut on his head. A man came and examined the boy. Then he lifted the boy and carried him to a car. They sped off, presumably to the hospital.

The ending

Many people surrounded the driver, who looked dazed and bewildered. A policeman came to calm things down. As there was nothing I could do, I turned and walked down the road carefully. It was terrible to witness an accident. I certainly would not like to be involved in one.

Word meanings

• Jostle: to knock or push roughly against someone to move past them.
• Dazed: very confused, unable to think clearly.

Evaluation

Study the article above, then write an article on the same topic.