Telling anecdotes and stories

telling stories and anecdotes

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INDEX

5. THE END

1. ELEMENTS OF A STORY

6 CONNECTING TO THE PRESENT

2. AROUSING INTEREST

7. TENSES

3. SETTING THE SCENE

4. THE MAIN POINT

8. REACTING

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00

introd

Your teacher will give you an anecdote that has been jumbled up. Read the strips and put the anecdote back into the correct order. When you have finished, read the text a second time and identify language that: a. creates excitement, emotion or interest b. shows the stages of the story c. speaks to the audience directly.

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Here’s some language for telling an anecdote. 1. Create excitement, emotion or interest• Oh, here’s a good story …. • I’ll never forget the day …• What a nightmare!• Funnily enough, … / Unbelievably, … / Coincidentally, … 2. Stage the anecdote• First(ly), … ; Second(ly), …. • So, …• In the end, … / Finally, … 3. Speak to the audience directly• You won’t believe it … • Believe me, …• Can you imagine it?

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01

Stages of an anecdote

1. Creating interest 2. Setting the scene 3. Describing the main point 4. What happened at the end 5. Connecting to the present

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02

Creating interest

• Something I’ll never forget is when …
• One of the weirdest things that happened to me was …
• I had the funniest / most embarrassing experience when …
• You won’t believe what happened to me on my last holiday …
• A really funny thing happened to me the other day...
• You'll never guess what's just happened to me...

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03

setting the scene

Main character Where, When, Who with (past continuous)

• Well, I was reading in my living room when…
• It was raining hard in the city when..

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04

the main point

What Focus on the story (predominance of past simple)

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05

the end

• It was a nightmare / so embarrassing / really funny.
• I was petrified / speechless.
• Can you believe it?

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06

connecting to the present

CONCLUSION

• When I think about it I still feel embarrassed / I start laughing …
• I’ll never forget it because …

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07

tenses

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which tenses should we use?

Past perfect

Past simple

Past continuous

We were having dinner when...The sun was shining S + WAS/WERE + -ING Setting the scene long actions surrounding the story

I had been there beforeWe had played in that field the previous year S + HAD + Participle Actions that happened before the story

We went to the cinema The film started. Anna was 5 minutes late S + -ED Actions in the story

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08

reacting to the anecdote

1.49 Listen. Match Mark’s comments 1-4 with Tom's replies a-d. 1 You won't believe what I did. a Great! 2 It was a fantastic price too. b What? 3 So I ordered it. c Sounds good. 4 It turned out l'd ordered a desk for a child. d No way!

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08

reacting to the anecdote

B Match responses a-d in with the descriptions below. a Great! b What? c Sounds good. d No way! 1 responding positively . 2 showing surprise 3 asking for more information

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08

reacting to the anecdote

1.51 Complete each sentence with one or two words. Listen and check. 1 You won't believe what I did. 2 The _____ thing is, it was really, really small. 3 It _____ l’d ordered a desk for a child. 4 But _____, I still had to find a desk. 5 In the ____, Rachel suggested I try one of those 'freecycling' websites. 6 I found the perfect desk straight away, and the _____ thing is it's free.

THANK YOU

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