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Year 10 English — Continuing a story

Carry on a story that somebody else began, keeping its narrator, its tense and everything it has already established.

Name: ________________________

  1. 1.A story begins: "I had never seen the river so high. My father would not let me cross." Which continuation keeps both the narrator and the tense?

    • a) I am waiting on the bank while he walks down to look.
    • b) He walks down to the bank and points.
    • c) She waited on the bank while he walked down to look.
    • d) I waited on the bank while he walked down to look.

  2. 2.Put the stages of a story continuation in the order they usually come.

    • Then show how the character reacts to it.
    • Finally, close on a line that settles the situation the opening set up.
    • Next, let something happen that the opening was leading towards.
    • First, pick up exactly where the opening stopped.

  3. 3.A story is written in the past tense. Rewrite "I walk to the window and open it" so that it fits, changing only the two verbs. Write the whole sentence.

  4. 4.A story reads: "I found the envelope under the door mat. My name was on it in handwriting I did not know." Which continuation actually moves the story on?

    • a) The envelope was white and rather crumpled at one corner.
    • b) It had been a very strange week altogether.
    • c) I tore it open and read the first line twice.
    • d) I stood there for a while, thinking about the envelope.

  5. 5.Match each fault in a story continuation to its name.

    • The narrator changes from I to she halfway through.
    • The verbs move from past to present.
    • A door said to be locked is walked straight through.
    • Three paragraphs describe the room and nothing happens.
    • A brand new character solves everything in the last line.
    • a shift in person
    • no movement in the plot
    • an ending the story has not earned
    • a shift in tense
    • a contradiction

  6. 6.A story begins: "I opened the gate and stepped into the empty garden. The dog was gone." Each card below is meant to be the narrator's very next sentence, and each one breaks exactly one rule. Sort them by which one.

    Groups: Changes the narrator · Changes the tense · Contradicts what was already said

    • The garden was crowded with people, as it always was.
    • I patted the dog and shut the gate behind me.
    • She crossed the garden and called again.
    • He searched behind the water tank.
    • I am searching behind the water tank.
    • I cross the garden and call again.

  7. 7.Which continuation keeps both the narrator and the tense of this opening? "We had been walking since dawn, and none of us had spoken for an hour."

    • a) They stopped at the bend to look back at the valley.
    • b) We stopped at the bend to look back at the valley.
    • c) I am stopping at the bend to look back at the valley.
    • d) We stop at the bend to look back at the valley.

  8. 8.A story opening reads: "I had never seen the river so high." Name the person the story is written in. Write one word.

Answer key — Year 10 English — Continuing a story

  1. 1. d) I waited on the bank while he walked down to look.
  2. 2. 1. First, pick up exactly where the opening stopped. 2. Next, let something happen that the opening was leading towards. 3. Then show how the character reacts to it. 4. Finally, close on a line that settles the situation the opening set up.
  3. 3. I walked to the window and opened it
  4. 4. c) I tore it open and read the first line twice.
  5. 5. The narrator changes from I to she halfway through. → a shift in person; The verbs move from past to present. → a shift in tense; A door said to be locked is walked straight through. → a contradiction; Three paragraphs describe the room and nothing happens. → no movement in the plot; A brand new character solves everything in the last line. → an ending the story has not earned
  6. 6. She crossed the garden and called again. → Changes the narrator; He searched behind the water tank. → Changes the narrator; I cross the garden and call again. → Changes the tense; I am searching behind the water tank. → Changes the tense; I patted the dog and shut the gate behind me. → Contradicts what was already said; The garden was crowded with people, as it always was. → Contradicts what was already said
  7. 7. b) We stopped at the bend to look back at the valley.
  8. 8. first