A Narrative: Intimidated by Mice
Answer the following questions by writing your answers in the text box. After you complete the exercise, click on Email to email your work to your instructor, or click on Print to print a copy of your work.

Following is the topic sentence of the narrative titled "Intimidated by Mice."
Mice are the creatures of the earth that can make me light-headed and weak in the knees.

1. Based on the topic sentence, what do you predict will occur in the narrative?




2. In the following sentences, identify the action verbs that appear in simple past tense.

One day, my young son came in from the garage laughing hysterically. He announced that I had mice in the 50-pound bag of dog food. Believing he was pulling a prank, I boldly marched into the garage. I heard those critters gnawing. I saw them scurrying, and I clearly spotted those long, skinny, slinky tails swishing across the floor.




3. Combine the following sentences into one compound sentence.

I became light-headed. My knees shook. My stomach flipped.




4. To shorten the paragraph, the writer decided to delete one or more sentences so the action of the paragraph flows more smoothly. Which of the following sentences are unnecessary and break the coherence?

(1) I reminded myself that I was the adult and had to handle the situation swiftly. (2) I dashed to the store to buy mousetraps. (3) A wide variety of mouse traps filled the shelves at the store. (4) I got light-headed picturing myself picking up traps with squished mice, so I proceeded to buy "the blue tubes." (5) A little peanut butter on one end of the tube would draw the critters into the trap. (6) The trap door would then slam shut on them. (7) Excited that I would see only the silhouettes of these beasts, I eagerly paid my eighteen dollars for the six blue tubes.




5. Details in a narrative should flow in a logical sequence. What do you predict will happen next?




Read the following sentences and then answer the questions that follow.

I prepared the traps with peanut butter and set them next to the bag of dog food. Within fifteen minutes, the traps were full. Then I panicked. Now what was I supposed to do? The directions said to dump the mice into water and drown them. I could not muster up the courage to perform that act. Instead, I placed the traps in the bottom of the garbage can and tromped back to the store for six more traps. History repeated itself. Once again, I had six traps filled with mice.

6. What methods does this writer use to develop coherence? Explain your answer.




Read the following sentences and then answer the question that follows.

In total frustration, I returned to the store, but now there was only one blue tube remaining on the shelf. The clerk, amused by my state of anguish, asked why I was buying six more blue tubes. After I told him the story, he laughed so hard that tears sprung from his eyes. He then told me to get a product that the mice eat that causes them to become dehydrated and then shrivel up and die. It sounded morbid, but I was no longer in the mood to save the mice.

7. An effective narrative creates a vivid picture of the incident in the mind of the reader. What words in the above sentences help create a vivid picture in your mind?




Read the following sentences and the concluding sentence. Answer the question that follows.

I bought the product and returned home to administer my revenge. I walked boldly through the garage the next day and felt a sense of relief that I had won the battle. The confident feeling was short lived when I opened the garbage can to dump the trash. There they were, scurrying around the bottom of the garbage can and getting their fill of meals of peanut butter. Once again, my knees buckled and I became light-headed, for I had to acknowledge the true victors.

8. Does the paragraph end with an effective concluding sentence? Explain your answer.