Sustaining a Narrative Voice · seed 1 · A4, ink-friendly. The answer key prints on its own page for grown-ups.

Keeping one narrator's voice

English · Writing Composition · ages 15-16
Name ______________________   Date ____________

  1. What do you do with a word too fancy for the narrator?

    • Keep it to sound clever
    • Use it twice for effect
    • Swap it for one that fits them

  2. Whose eyes do you stay behind?

    • The chosen narrator's, for the whole piece
    • Your own, whenever it is easier
    • A new character's each paragraph

  3. A narrator can reveal something they do not understand about themselves.

    Circle one:   True   False

  4. A narrator keeps excusing a friend who treats them badly. What do readers gain?

    • A gap between what the narrator sees and the truth
    • Proof the friend is kind
    • Nothing, since narrators know all

  5. A plain-speaking narrator suddenly uses long, flowery sentences. What happened?

    • The story changed genre
    • The writer's voice replaced the narrator's
    • The tone improved by itself

  6. Close third person means jumping into every character's thoughts at once.

    Circle one:   True   False

  7. Which line needs repair in a plain narrator's story?

    • Neither line needs repair
    • The line stuffed with lofty Latinate diction
    • The line in short plain words

  8. A brave narrator is announced as brave, never shown. What is the better move?

    • A longer announcement
    • A change to first person
    • Small acts and remarks that let readers infer it
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Answer key

For grown-ups. Fold this page away before handing over the rest.

Keeping one narrator's voice W1-mt_Lecl8HXETd-s1

  1. Swap it for one that fits them · Diction must suit the speaker. Fancy words break a plain voice.
  2. The chosen narrator's, for the whole piece · One narrator, whole piece. That steady distance makes the voice real.
  3. True · Readers notice the pattern the narrator misses. That gap is the art.
  4. A gap between what the narrator sees and the truth · The excuses reveal the pattern. Readers see past the narrator.
  5. The writer's voice replaced the narrator's · The slip is yours, not theirs. Repair the line to fit the narrator.
  6. False · Stay with one character's eyes and ears. Do not report distant minds.
  7. The line stuffed with lofty Latinate diction · Lofty diction breaks a plain voice. Recast it in fitting words.
  8. Small acts and remarks that let readers infer it · Show through speech and notice. Readers infer the trait themselves.
Worksheet · LightMySky