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Year 11
AQA

Planning the opening to an impactful narrative

I can plan the opening to an impactful narrative.

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Year 11
AQA

Planning the opening to an impactful narrative

I can plan the opening to an impactful narrative.

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Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. Stories might have an impact on someone's life by changing their perspective, or revealing something about humanity.
  2. All stories are composed of five different elements: exposition, rising action, climax, falling action and denouement.
  3. In order to write an effective opening, we need to know the rest of the narrative to set up the atmosphere.

Keywords

  • Impactful - having a powerful effect on a situation or person

  • Atmosphere - the overall mood of a story or poem

  • Exposition - sets up the setting, characters and atmosphere of the story

  • Climax - the most intense moment within a story, marking a turning point for the protagonist(s)

  • Denouement - the end of the story; the resolution of conflict

Common misconception

You can write the opening of a story without knowing the ending.

An effective opening builds up the atmosphere in order to lead the reader to the ending; therefore, you have to know what the ending is in order to create a cohesive atmosphere in the opening.


To help you plan your year 11 english lesson on: Planning the opening to an impactful narrative, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

It would be useful for pupils to share their ideas about what an impactful narrative might be as it is a big question and they might struggle for ideas.
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This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2025), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

Lesson video

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Starter quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
'An intention or decision about what one is going to do' is the definition of which word beginning with 'p'?
Correct Answer: plan
Q2.
'The overall mood of a story or poem' is the definition of which word beginning with 'a'?
Correct Answer: atmosphere
Q3.
'The main idea or underlying meaning a writer explores in a novel, short story or other literary work' is the definition of which word beginning with 't'?
Correct Answer: theme, themes
Q4.
'Having a powerful effect on a situation or person' is the definition of which word beginning with 'i'?
intentional
Correct answer: impactful
incidental
Q5.
'The most intense moment within a story, marking a turning point for the protagonist(s)' is the definition of which word beginning with 'c'?
Correct Answer: climax
Q6.
Starting with the first, put these events from Shakespeare's 'Romeo and Juliet' in chronological order.
1 - Audience learns about the Montague and Capulet feud.
2 - Romeo and Juliet meet and fall in love.
3 - Romeo kills Tybalt.
4 - Juliet fakes her own death.
5 - Romeo and Juliet both commit suicide.

Exit quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
Which of the following is the definition of the 'rising action' in a narrative?
It sets up the setting, characters and atmosphere of the narrative.
Correct answer: The story builds toward its central conflict.
The most intense moment in the narrative.
The end of the story.
Q2.
Which of the following is the definition of the 'falling action' in a narrative?
It sets up the setting, characters and atmosphere of the narrative.
The most intense moment in the narrative.
Correct answer: It can foreshadow the final outcome of the story.
The end of the story.
Q3.
Starting with the first, put the five stages of a narrative in chronological order.
1 - Exposition
2 - Rising action
3 - Climax
4 - Falling action
5 - Denouement
Q4.
'Sets up the setting, characters and atmosphere of the story' is the definition of which word beginning with 'e'?
Correct Answer: exposition
Q5.
'The end of the story; the resolution of conflict' is the definition of which word?
Correct answer: denouement
atmosphere
climax
Q6.
The five distinct stages of a narrative are known as Freytag's .
Correct Answer: pyramid