Text types: Stories

Linking clauses to create a story

Vocabulary patterns 

The vocabulary patterns in a story tells us what the story is about, for example a visit by sisters to a theme park, animals having a race, a girl hero of Ancient China. In longer stories the vocabulary patterns can be quite complex. Vocabulary patterns help build up and weave together all the different elements of the story world, ie setting, characters, plot and atmosphere.

A common vocabulary pattern in stories is repetition. Storytellers repeat words which tell us who and what the story is about. For example, the narrative Adventure at Ocean Park is about a visit by two sisters to a theme park. For this reason the names of these two main characters are repeated through out the story:

Words used to describe the setting are also repeated:

The storyteller also uses words which refer to parts of the theme park setting:

	parts of a theme park
	rides roller coaster entrance path hill cable car

There are also clusters of words, or collocations, we can predict the storyteller will use to write about this setting:

	collocations
	fast fun scary crowd children people

When people visit a theme park, they go to see the different attractions. In the ORIENTATION stage of the narrative, Adventure at Ocean Park, the storyteller tells us which attractions Rosie likes. As the PROBLEM stage of the story unfolds, Lara tries to find Rosie by going to these attractions. She also goes to another attraction by following Rosie's trail. As the story unfolds, the storyteller uses the vocabulary which refers to these attractions. Many of these words are repeated. The table below shows some of the patterns the storyteller makes with these words.

Vocabulary Pattern
words which refer to different types of attractions	Kids' World	Panda Habitat	Butterfly House	Ancient World
words which refer to parts of the attractions	merry-go-round train	pandas front Jia Jia	butterfly cocoon	ruins cave
collocations of words associated with the attractions	horse with the blue ribbon bob up and down whistle track chugged laugh wave	pandas bamboo munching interesting pointing	dazzled colour thousands	bat

The storyteller uses one of the words from Rosie's favourite attraction, the Butterfly House, for Rosie's clue, the trail of butterfly clips. This creates further repetition of the word butterfly. Here are the words which are used to write about Rosie's clue.

The storyteller also uses sets of words, or collocations, which go together to describe Lara's physical and mental feelings. These words help shape the plot and build the atmosphere and suspense. 

	physical		mental
	walked slowly followed deep breath heart beating run palms	sweaty puffing scream tears hug giggle laugh wink	worry uneasy calm scared petrified relief pleased

The vocabulary patterns of the narrative Adventure at Ocean Park are quite complex. In contrast the vocabulary patterns of the short fable The Hare and the Tortoise are more straightforward. The fable is about two characters, a hare and a tortoise, and a race, so the words Hare, Tortoise and race are repeated throughout the story. There are different types of animals mentioned in the fable (hare, tortoise, fox). There is also a set of words which are collocations of the word race (mark out, course, judge, sprinted, catch up, beat, end of the course, raced, finish line, crossed).

To see how the vocabulary patterns are used to link all the clauses of the fable The Hare and the Tortoise, click here: