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D2.1 · Draft original narrative, persuasive, and informational texts

Learn to draft original narrative, persuasive, and informational texts through clear examples and targeted practice.

Ontario Grade 9 English

Composition: Expressing Ideas and Creating Texts

Ontario Grade 9 English — D2.1: Draft original narrative, persuasive, and informational texts

Drafting is the stage when ideas become a first version that a reader can follow. A draft does not need to be perfect. It needs to give you something specific to review and improve. This lesson focuses on three kinds of original text: a narrative tells about an experience or imagined event; a persuasive text gives reasons for a point of view; and an informational text explains a topic. Each kind can sound different, but each benefits from a clear purpose, an audience in mind, and careful choices about words and details. The examples use an invented school situation. They are models, not answers to copy. Your own experience, interests, and wording should shape your writing.

What you will learn

Draft an original narrative, persuasive text, and informational text for a clear purpose and audience.
Use details and organization that suit the kind of text being drafted.
Use feedback and reflection to revise while keeping your own voice.

Begin with a situation, purpose, and audience

Invented example: “At lunch, the courtyard benches were wet from the morning rain. Maya noticed that three students were carrying their lunches back inside. She asked the office whether anyone could put out a drying cloth. The next day, a cloth and a small sign appeared beside the benches.” This brief scene gives a writer a starting point. It does not tell us everything about Maya’s feelings or why the office responded, so those details should not be treated as facts.

Before drafting, decide what you want the text to do and who might read it. A narrative might invite classmates to imagine a small problem and its outcome. A persuasive text might ask school staff to try a practical change. An informational text might explain simple ways to care for shared outdoor seating. The same situation can lead to all three, but the purpose changes what details belong and how they are arranged.

A useful plan can be brief: name the purpose, picture the audience, and jot down the details you already know. If you are using a digital document, keep a working copy and use comments or version history to track changes. Do not add a claim just because it sounds convincing: check that it comes from your own observation or from information you have actually verified.

Purpose answers: What should this text do?
Audience answers: Who might read it, and what will help them understand?
Separate supplied details from guesses; a reasonable interpretation is not automatically a fact.

Model the choices in a narrative draft

A narrative draft shapes events so a reader can follow what happened and why it mattered to the narrator or characters. A beginning can establish a situation, the middle can develop a difficulty or decision, and the ending can show what changed. These are useful choices, not a rule that every story must follow in exactly the same way.

Model reading move: observe first, then infer. Observation: the invented passage says the benches were wet and that three students carried their lunches inside. Reasonable inference: the wet benches may have made it inconvenient to sit outdoors. That is plausible because the passage connects the wet benches with students going inside, but it does not prove what each student was thinking. Another defensible reading is that the students simply preferred to eat indoors that day. A writer can use this distinction to avoid pretending to know more than the details support.

When drafting your own narrative, choose which details the reader needs. A specific action can reveal a problem more clearly than a general statement such as “everything was bad.” You can add an invented character’s thoughts if you are writing fiction, but make sure the thoughts fit the scene you have created. Read the draft aloud or use a device’s read-aloud feature to notice places where the sequence or wording is hard to follow.

Use actions and details to help readers picture events.
Mark the difference between what the text states and what a reader infers.
Read or listen to your draft to check whether its events are understandable.

Draft to persuade or inform

A persuasive draft states a position and supports it with reasons that suit the audience. A request to school staff may need a practical, respectful tone. A writer could suggest trying a drying cloth near the courtyard benches and explain that it may make the benches easier to use after rain. The writer should not claim that the cloth will solve every problem or that all students want the same thing unless there is evidence for that claim. A fair draft can also acknowledge a concern, such as who would replace the cloth if it became dirty.

An informational draft helps readers understand a topic. It uses clear explanations and relevant details rather than relying mainly on a request or an emotional appeal. For example, a short explanation might describe that rain leaves outdoor surfaces wet, and that a dry cloth can be used to wipe a surface before sitting. If you add information from a website, check who created it, when it was updated, what evidence it provides, and whether another reliable source supports the information. Do not invent a source or present an unchecked online claim as fact.

The forms can overlap, but the main purpose guides the draft. A persuasive text can include information, and an informational text can be interesting to read. Ask whether each paragraph is helping with the intended purpose. If you are making a digital poster or slide, keep text readable, choose images you have permission to use, and make sure visuals clarify rather than distort your message.

Persuasion: make a clear request or position and give relevant reasons.
Information: explain the topic clearly and check the basis for factual claims.
Digital choices—readability, image use, and source checks—affect how a message is understood.

Use feedback to revise without losing your voice

A first draft is not a final judgment of your ability. Revision means making choices that help the intended reader. Ask a peer a focused question, such as “Can you tell what I am asking the school to try?” Invite feedback about a particular part rather than asking someone to rewrite the whole piece. Then decide which suggestions fit your purpose and voice.

A useful response points to evidence in the draft. For example: “I understood your request, but I could not tell who would look after the cloth because that detail is not included.” This identifies a reader’s difficulty without taking control of the writer’s work. The writer might add a sentence proposing that a volunteer check it, if that is an idea the writer wants to express. Revision may also mean removing an unsupported claim, changing the order of ideas, or replacing a vague word with a precise one.

Before sharing a digital draft, check that comments or personal details are appropriate for the audience. Save a copy before making major changes. The goal is not to make every student sound alike: keep words and examples that feel true to your meaning, while making the text clear and responsible.

Ask for feedback connected to purpose and audience.
Use a reader’s comment as information; you decide what to revise.
Keep your own ideas and voice while improving clarity and support.

Worked example

Shape a narrative moment

Use the invented courtyard situation to model a short narrative opening. Notice how a concrete detail establishes the moment, then draft a next action without claiming to know what every student thought.

Choose the focus
The opening can focus on the wet benches and the narrator’s decision to ask for help. That keeps the moment small and gives the reader a clear situation.
Draft the opening
Model draft: “Rainwater shone on the courtyard benches at lunch. I watched three students turn back toward the doors, balancing their lunches. I wondered if a cloth would help, so I went to ask the office.” The first two sentences use details from the invented situation; the narrator’s wondering is a possible fictional addition, not a fact from the original passage.
Check the effect
The actions make the problem visible and move the scene forward. A student could choose a different narrator, mood, or next event. Keep the version that fits the story you want to tell.

Answer: A focused opening uses relevant details and gives the narrative a direction.

Check: The draft distinguishes supplied scene details from an invented narrator’s thought.

Worked example

Draft a persuasive request

Model a short request to school staff about trying a drying cloth by the courtyard benches. Keep the suggestion practical and avoid claiming that every student wants it.

State the position
A direct opening helps busy readers understand the request: “Could the school try keeping a drying cloth near the courtyard benches?”
Give a reason
Connect the request to the observed situation: “After rain, the benches can be wet, and students may choose to eat indoors.” The word “may” avoids treating one observation as proof of what all students prefer.
Consider the audience
A useful next sentence could ask who would check or replace the cloth. That anticipates a practical concern. Revise the wording to sound like you, and include only a plan you genuinely support.

Answer: A persuasive draft makes a clear request, supports it with a relevant reason, and stays accurate.

Check: The sample uses a real detail from the invented scene and does not claim universal student preference.

Worked example

Draft an informational explanation

Create a short informational draft explaining a simple way to prepare a wet courtyard bench for use. The explanation should be clear without adding unverified claims.

Name the topic
Start by telling the reader what the explanation covers: “A wet outdoor bench can be wiped before someone sits down.” This is a practical description, not a claim about how often benches are wet.
Give usable detail
Add a relevant step: “Use a clean, dry cloth and check the seat before using it.” If you want to explain how a cloth should be cleaned or stored, verify that information rather than guessing.
Review the purpose
The draft explains an action; it does not mainly ask the school to provide supplies. If the audience needs to know where a cloth is kept, add that detail only when it is known.

Answer: An informational draft stays focused on explaining and distinguishes known details from information that needs checking.

Check: The sample gives a simple explanation and flags additional details that require verification.

Common mistakes and how to avoid them

Treating an inference as a fact, such as saying every student disliked the wet benches.

Correction: State the observed detail, then use careful wording for a possible explanation. Add evidence before making a broader claim.

Trying to make a narrative, persuasive text, and informational text sound exactly the same.

Correction: Let the purpose guide the selection and order of details, while keeping your own voice in each form.

Accepting every peer suggestion or letting a peer rewrite the draft.

Correction: Ask for specific reader feedback, consider whether it serves your purpose, and make your own revision decisions.

Using an online claim because it looks polished or appears in a search result.

Correction: Check who made it, when it was updated, what evidence is offered, and whether trustworthy sources support it.

Lesson summary

Drafting turns an idea into a first version that can be reviewed and revised.
Narratives shape events; persuasive texts support a position; informational texts explain a topic.
Purpose and audience guide choices about details, tone, and organization.
Feedback is most useful when it points to a specific reader experience; the writer keeps control of the revision.

Check your understanding

Question 1

In the invented passage, which statement is an observation rather than an inference?

The benches were wet from the morning rain.
Every student wanted to eat inside.
The office placed the cloth because it agreed with Maya.
The students felt frustrated.

Show answer and explanation

The benches were wet from the morning rain.

The passage directly says the benches were wet. The other choices claim motives, feelings, or opinions that the passage does not establish.

Question 2

Which sentence best fits a persuasive draft asking staff to try a drying cloth?

Could the school try placing a drying cloth near the courtyard benches?
A courtyard is an outdoor area near a building.
I imagined the rain as a silver curtain.
All students refuse to sit outside.

Show answer and explanation

Could the school try placing a drying cloth near the courtyard benches?

It makes a clear request. The informational definition, narrative image, and unsupported universal claim do not serve this request as well.

Question 3

A peer says, “I could not tell who would look after the cloth.” What is a strong next step?

Consider whether to add a realistic care plan that fits your purpose.
Delete the entire draft immediately.
Copy the peer’s words as your final version.
Ignore all feedback because the draft is yours.

Show answer and explanation

Consider whether to add a realistic care plan that fits your purpose.

The comment identifies a reader’s question. You can decide whether a care-plan detail belongs and express it in your own words.

Key terms

Draft: An early version of a text that can be reviewed and changed.
Inference: A reasonable idea drawn from details, but not directly stated as a fact.
Purpose: What a writer wants a text to do.
Audience: The people a text is intended for.
Revision: Changing a draft to make it clearer, more focused, or better suited to its purpose and audience.

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About this lesson and its review

Published by DoAssignment. This reviewed lesson follows Ontario Grade 9 English (ENL1W), expectation D2.1. It is a study resource, not an official curriculum publication.

Before publication, content is checked for structure, mathematical or chemical notation, calculations, course boundaries, and readability. Errors can still occur, so corrections are welcomed.

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