Narrative Chain – Paul Revere

I have a story I’d like to share with you about a party I went to on Labor Day.

  • I was invited to my friendPat’s house for afternoon tea. Since I love sweet tea, I was very excited.
  • When I found out she was going to have Boston crème pie I knew I wasn’t going to miss this tea party.
  • When I arrived,Pat brought out her finest silver tray with a silver tea set sitting on it.She poured each of us a warm cup of a new kind of tea she had just purchased.
  • We were enjoying the tea and had just started eating a slice of Boston crème pie when two more of our friends arrived.Pat poured them a cup of tea and gave each of them a slice of Boston cream pie.My friends took a sip of the warm tea, but they did not like the tea. They said they liked regular tea, but did not care for this new Boston Harbor Tea. They decided to dump the tea and get a cup of water instead.
  • While we were enjoying our food, someone knocked on the door. When Pat answered the door, her neighbor rushed in and said, “You have to get the message out to everyone, tomorrow is National Good Neighbor Day.I’m planning a picnic for all of our neighbors but I haven’t decided where we’ll have it –at the park or at the lake. When I decide I’ll need your help to let everyone know.”

Pat told her friend, “I’ll be glad to help. When I get the details about the picnic from you, I’ll light one of the big spotlights in front of the church down the street if we’re having the picnic in the park and I’ll light two spotlightsif the picnic is going to be at the lake.”

  • Everyone stayed at Pat’s house to help get ready for the picnic. It was midnight when I finally left and I was asked to go to the church and turn on 2 spotlights to get the message out to our neighbors about tomorrow’s picnic at the lake. I had to ride down Boston Street and then turn on to Lexington Street to get to the church.While I was turning on the spotlights, a police officer came up to me. He wanted to know why I was out so late and why I was lighting two lights. He asked me if I was trying to send a secret message about the British coming.
  • I didn’t know what he was talking about but then I realized he had on a badge that said British Police Department, and then he arrested me!
  • It took me most of the night to convince him that I meant no harm and wasn’t doing anything wrong. The next morning he finally let me go. I got back in my car and rode down Lexington Street to the lake. I was just in time to see all my neighbors dressed in red, white, and blue – you know American colors. They were all doing some kind of new dance. They were dancing and then all at once they would turn around and around making a complete revolution. It was the craziest thing I had ever seen.
  • I was exhausted from being up all night and fighting for my independence from the British Police Department so I decided to go home and get some rest so I could come back and join everyone for our Neighborhood picnic lunch.

Framework of Narrative Chain to use when telling story

  • My friend Pat(Patriot – Paul Revere was a Patriot)
  • Boston crème pie (Paul Revere was born in Boston)
  • Silver tray, silver tea set (learned the art of silversmithing from his father)
  • Boston Harbor Tea, dumped the tea (participated in Boston Tea Party where tea was dumped in the BostonHarbor)
  • When I get the details about the picnic from you, I’ll light one of the big spotlights in front of the church down the street if we’re having the picnic in the park and I’ll light two spotlights if the picnic is going to beat the lake.”(Paul Revere delivered the message – One if by land, two if by sea.)
  • Midnight when I left, had to ride down Boston to Lexington, message British are coming(traveled from Boston to Lexington on his famous Midnight Ride to warn Patriots that the British are coming)
  • British Police Department, arrested (captured by the British)
  • Just in time to see, wearing American colors, making a complete revolution (saw the first shot fired in the first battle of the American Revolution)
  • Fighting for my independence (believed in and fought for independence)