- Definition
The narrator is the person or character telling the story. Sometimes they know everything happening (omniscient), and sometimes they are just one of the characters involved.
In a story that begins, 'Goldilocks was a curious girl,' the narrator is the outside voice telling us about Goldilocks.
How to teach this in 30 seconds
Try this analogy: A narrator is like the person telling you a bedtime story, explaining what happens to the characters.
Ask your child: Who do you think is telling us this story?
Common mix-up: Kids may think the narrator is always a character in the story. The narrator is the voice telling the story, and sometimes that voice is outside the action.
Examples
- A story that says, 'I went to the store,' has a character as the narrator.
- When you tell a grown-up what happened at school, you are the narrator of that story.
narrator is a term used in Ontario’s Kindergarten to Grade 8 curriculum.
Where this shows up
- Grade 2 The Arts
- Grade 1 Language Arts
- Grade 2 Language Arts
- Grade 3 Language Arts
- Grade 4 Language Arts
- Grade 5 Language Arts
- Grade 6 Language Arts
- Grade 7 Language Arts
+1 more mention across the curriculum
The descriptions on this page are SmartStudy’s own original, plain-language writing — not the Ministry’s wording. They are aligned to the Ontario Curriculum, © King’s Printer for Ontario. For the Ministry’s official wording, see the source link below. SmartStudy is an independent service and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by the Government of Ontario or the Ministry of Education. Ontario Curriculum and Resources ↗
